Simon, Fanny, 1903-1989

Fanny Simon (1903-1989) was a labor organizer, economist, and socialist. She emigrated from Poland in 1913. After receiving a graduate degree in economics from Columbia University, she became a founder in 1936 of the New York Teachers Guild, taught at James Monroe High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., retiring in 1963. and remained an activist in the Guild's successor, the United Federation of Teachers, serving on its Women's Rights Committee, and was also a founder of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. After her retirement, she traveled throughout Latin America, training labor leaders and wrote the apparently unpublished book-length manuscript, "The Labor Movement in Latin America." She was a member of the board of the Workers Defense League, served as the Socialist Party U.S.'s representative in international organizations and forums, and was an associate of Socialist Party head Norman Thomas.