Jennifer Meeropol is the granddaughter of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg and the daughter of RFC Founder, Robert Meeropol. Jenn became the Executive Director of the RFC on September 1, 2013. Prior posts on this page were written by Robert (unless otherwise noted), and represent his opinions, which are not necessarily shared by the RFC.We just completed awarding our first grants of 2015 at the RFC. In all, seven new grantees joined the RFC community this spring (five families, one targeted activist youth and one group). The new grantees include:
[guest post by RFC Communications Director, Amber Black]
Some of the Rosenberg Fund for Children’s earliest grantees were children whose parents faced targeting because they were labor organizers. Twenty-five years on, we’re still helping kids whose parents have been fired, harassed, or otherwise attacked because they’re standing up for the rights and dignity of their fellow workers. From Our Walmart and the Fight for 15, to the battle to preserve unions in Wisconsin and elsewhere, and on many other fronts, people are involved in vital efforts on behalf of workers. And activists in those struggles – many of whom are parents and some of whom are youth themselves – are in the crosshairs.
(Part 2 of the The RFC at 25 and Ethel Rosenberg at 100 series)
The first blog in this series explored the public response to the press conference my grandmother, Ethel Rosenberg, held in her kitchen in support of her husband, Julius Rosenberg, after his arrest in 1950. As I mentioned in my previous blog, an image of Ethel from that day is the centerpiece of "Unknown Secrets," a collage by Martha Rosler.* Numerous atomic images and anti-communists “frame” or surround Ethel in Rosler’s artwork.
(Guest post by Rosenberg Fund for Children founder, Robert Meeropol. Hear more from Robert about the iconic song, Strange Fruit, see its relevance to current Movement for Black Lives, and watch a powerful performance of it by artist Pamela Means, in the video below.)
(Part 1 of the The RFC at 25 and Ethel Rosenberg at 100 series)
What was the cultural context of Ethel’s trial and execution? The era of the 1950's was captivated by the idea of the housewife in her kitchen. This image was used to sell a multitude of products, to remind women of their proper place, and to reassure the war-weary populace that everything was back to normal and “cooking” again.