An American Matriarch

Fanny Rogarshevsky

At the time the photo was taken, Fanny’s husband Abraham was in the final year of his battle against tuberculosis, too sick to work. Between maintaining a kosher home, keeping after Philip and Henry to do their homework, shopping and cooking meals, washing laundry, balancing the family budget, and nursing her husband in is final days, it seems likely that Fanny had little time for reflection. Indeed, to the extent that it is possible to draw such conclusions from studio portraits, Fanny’s countenance suggests a forward-looking determination.

But looking back into Fanny’s past does help us interpret her life in this transitional moment. Museum researchers conclude that Fanny was born in Vilna, Lithuania in 1873. Her name at birth was Zipporah Bayard. She married Abraham Heller, and they started a family. In 1901, the family left Russia for America.

Why did they leave? Fanny’s grandson, Irving Cohen, shed some light on the question. When he was asked, “Did your mom or your grandmother ever talk about where they were from in Lithuania?” Irving replied, “Never… Because they didn’t have it good in Europe. They ran away from Europe.” Religious persecution in Russia drove entire families like the Rogarshevskys away from their homes. Irving’s recollections seem to suggest that Fanny made a conscious choice to avoid talking about painful memories.

In July 1901, the Heller family arrived at Ellis Island. They numbered eight; Fanny, Abraham, and six children: Bosse, Estr, Moishe, Scholem, Heinde, and Taube. Taube and Hinde were both 6 months old at the time. Fanny claimed they were twins, though Taube was in fact her sister’s daughter. Fanny’s sister died in childbirth and the Rogarshevskys adopted the child, bringing her with them to America. Upon arrival, Abraham changed the family surname to Rogaszewsky- the name of the uncle who adopted him (of the myriad spelling variations, Rogarshevsky is the most recurring).

July 1901 found the Rogarshevskys in the Jewish Quarter of a new country with a new name. Within a year, Fanny became pregnant with her sixth biological child, the seventh child in the family. In the early 1990’s, Museum Founder Anita Jacobson spoke to that child, Henry. He mentioned that he was born in 1902 “across the street;” researchers learned from other oral histories that “across the street” meant Orchard Street north of Delancey. This suggests that shortly after arrival, the Rogarshevskys put down roots on Orchard Street. With the family growing, perhaps everyone was focused on leaving the past behind and starting over.

Fanny likely felt a maternal obligation to maintain the religious life in the home. To Jewish housewives, the newly inflated price of kosher meat posed a direct threat to those responsibilities, and they saw it as an attack on their religious freedom. Channeling their outrage, Jewish women rose up in protest against the Meat Trust. On May 15^th, tens of thousands of Jewish mothers across the boroughs stormed their neighborhood streets, confronting police and setting meat on fire, demanding an end to the price hike. These formerly apolitical housewives adopted the language of labor unions, calling their action a ‘Strike’ and labeling anyone purchasing kosher meat during the boycott a ‘Scab.’ After days of rioting, and a sustained citywide boycott, the Trust reduced the price of kosher meat to 14 cents.

The 1910 Census also enumerates Abraham as being unemployed for 13 weeks, suggesting that the family was struggling financially and that Abraham may have already been in declining health. On July 17, 1918, Abraham passed away from tuberculosis.

The second oldest photograph of Fanny in the Museum’s collection is another studio portrait. It is labeled “Fanny as Widow.” Depicted alone in a dark, nondescript space, Fanny is focusing her attention slightly to the left. What is she thinking about as she poses for this photograph? What new direction will her life take her as a single mother?

Irving Cohen (pictured below) recalled visiting his grandmother more often on Shabbos after his grandfather passed away. These memories paint a portrait of Fanny’s later years and provide key details about how she persevered.

Abraham Rosenblatt, the owner of 97 Orchard Street in 1918, indeed employed Fanny as the superintendent of his building. Rosenblatt was also of Lithuanian origins; he came from Kovno, the same town as Fanny, and perhaps their shared roots played a role in his desire to help her. By the 1920 Census enumeration, Fanny is listed as “Janitress” for 97 Orchard. She maintained this position even after the building was sold to Moses Helpern. In this position, Fanny got to know the residents- regardless of how long they remained or where they immigrated from. She earned the respect of her neighbors, and Irving noted, “Everybody, when they spoke of her, called her Mrs. Zippy.”

“In the backyard… there used to be toilets… And the bummers would come in, and they wanted to use it, and she would yell at them, “Get out of here, you bums!” in her accent, she wasn’t afraid!  Oh, no, you think she’d be afraid of them, not her!  Not her, she was a tough old biddy.”

Unlike her children, there is no record indicating Fanny completed the process of acquiring American citizenship. This did not mean she was without agency or a political point of view. Her choices were at once deeply personal and political. As a woman whose obligations included keeping a kosher household, Fanny may have joined the street protests to draw attention to the impact of the inflated prices of kosher meat. As a single mother who kept her family together in the absence of a male breadwinner, Fanny became the respected and fearless “Janitress” of 97 Orchard Street. That she befriended her neighbors regardless of their history – the religion they practiced, the language they spoke, or their place of origin – suggests that while Fanny was a woman of her moment, grounded in the present, she kept her focus on the future, not dwelling much over the sorrows of her past.