Police, both mounted and foot patrol, attacked the peaceful picketers with nightsticks and tear gas. ![]() Ruth Simpson, 12 years old at the time, says that was the day she learned about the dangers activists faced. One summer day in 1938, a sympathy strike was called by the workers in Cleveland plants that surrounded Fisher Body's factory, and the families of union members came out to join Fisher Body workers' picket line (the union was having problems attaining collective bargaining rights). The company doctor had for years diagnosed symptoms as "flu" and, when workers became partially paralyzed, as " dropsy" in order that the Willard Company could avoid paying Workmen's Compensation. It was Ethel Simpson's research that established it was indeed lead poisoning-a little-known disease at the time-that caused the workers' illness. The strike was successful and the company was compelled to install ventilation devices over lead burning and lead grinding stations where workers had suffered, and some died, from lead poisoning.Įthel Simpson had researched the symptoms of Local 88 workers at the Cleveland Public Library while her daughter chose books for the week. In the mid-1930s through the early 1940s Ruth's parents organized a UAW, AFL-CIO Union (Local 88) and with only $14 in the treasury, called a strike against the Willard Storage Battery Company, the first factory to be struck because of health hazards in the workplace. Ruth Simpson-born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio-was the daughter of Ethel and Edward Simpson, pioneers in the labor movement. Ruth has had her poetry published in literary magazines, and she has given a number of talks on college campuses in the Hudson Valley area. She served as the board president of the Woodstock Public Library from 1982 to 2001 and continued as an Officer until her death. Ruth produced a weekly, hour-long television program, "Minority Report", in Woodstock, New York. In Ruth Simpson's 1976 pioneering work From the Closet to the Courts she documented her history in the early days of the gay movement and the actions taken to achieve justice, civil rights and equal treatment under the law for the large, diverse LGBT population. She was also arrested at a Women Against Richard Nixon (WARN) rally, along with Ellen Povill, Ti-Grace Atkinson and Flo Kennedy, and spent most of a day in jail until the women's attorney gained their release. On three occasions she was cited for court appearances by the police. Several times when NYC police, without warrants, illegally entered DOB's lesbian center in lower Manhattan, Simpson stood between the police and the DOB women. She also produced the weekly hour-long program "Minority Report" in Woodstock, New York from 1982 until her death in 2008.Īs president of the New York chapter of Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), Simpson organized gay rights demonstrations and educational programs for DOB members during the period 1969–71. Her book, From the Closet to the Courts was published in 1977 and republished in 2007. ![]() Ruth Simpson (Ma– May 8, 2008) was the founder of the United States' first lesbian community center, an author, and former president of Daughters of Bilitis, New York.
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