In Honor of Frank Schonfeld
                           By Ronda Hauben

[A Tribute to Frank presented at the Frank Schonfeld Memorial Meeting in Vladeck 
Hall at Amalgamated Housing Cooperative on February 26, 2012]  

I consider myself fortunate that Frank lived such a long life. This made it 
possible for me to know him and to learn from him about the important traditions 
that come together to make this coop a very special place.

I am a relative new comer to the Amalgamated Housing?? Cooperative as I have only
lived here 6 years.

Soon after I moved in I met Frank.

He was eager to tell me that he had gone for education in the Rochdale
Cooperative Principles early on and appreciated ??living in Amalgamated which had
been founded on these principles.

For me, Frank was a living link between the coop principles of the 19th century,
the tradition that nurtured and built this coop in the 20th century, and the
continuing evolution of Amalgamated in the 21st century

While Frank was an activist who came to meetings and contributed his views, he
also had a lifelong dedication to education and to learning.

He proudly told me of the courses he was taking at Lehman College and the
Professors there that he rated as significant educators. Frank once came to our
house after a day at Lehman College. He had with him a huge loose leaf binder
that he had carried for his class at Lehman. I could not but be impressed by the
fact that he was still an avid student even though he was over 90 at the time.

While Frank was dedicated to the Rochdale principles of the coop movement and
??to the importance of lifelong education, I soon learned about his amazing
contributions to the struggle for union democracy and to the advancement of the
labor movement.

I had been?? involved in a labor struggle in the UAW in Michigan in the 1980s.
When I was searching for help in the struggle, someone suggested I write to the
Association for Union ??Democracy in New York. Given the distance ??and their busy
schedule at the time, the Assoc. wasn???t able to be helpful to the situation I
was involved with. But this experience made me especially respectful of the fact
that Frank was able to fight ??the corruption in the painter???s union, while
working with Herman Benson ??who formed ??the Association for Union Democracy.

In Michigan I knew some of the Labor Pioneers who built the UAW. They helped me
to take the problem I had found in the UAW to the UAW Public Review Board.?? I
eventually won one of the rare positive decisions issued by the Public Review
Board. In reading Herman Benson???s account of Frank???s hard fight in the Painter???s
Union, I found fascinating that Frank had hoped to bring a public review board
structure to the Painter???s Union.

For me, Frank was an inspiration because he kept fighting for the principles he
cherished though often in difficult or frustrating ??circumstances. Jay and I
were honored to sit with Frank and Jean at the 80th ??/50th Anniversary
Celebration Dinner for Amalgamated/Park Reservoir. Two memories particularly
stand out from this event.

The first is that at one point we didn???t see Frank and we didn???t know where he
had gone. Jay, Jean and I agreed that Jay would go and look for him.

Jay went off and I later learned that he found Frank standing near those
speaking at the microphone. Frank felt that it was important to have some
mention of the labor origin of Amalgamated at its 80th birthday.?? Even though he
was not a planned speaker, he stood by those speaking, asking for a chance to
contribute this perspective to the presentations being made.

Another special aspect of Frank for me was how he welcomed new ideas and
developments. Jay and I told Frank about the importance of the Internet making
possible a more democratic world. ??We told Frank about the concept of ???netizen???
as someone who is empowered by the Net to struggle for a better world, just as
the concept of citizen developed in the transition from the king to the
republic, as ??someone empowered to struggle for a?? better nation.

We offered Frank a netizen button. He took it and put it right on. In this photo
you can see the button in his lapel. He was eager to become a netizen.

I recently told my brother who is in the labor movement, a little about Frank
and his labor achievements. My brother asked how I knew Frank. I told him that I
knew Frank because I live in Amalgamated. Frank was one of the gifts of
Amalgamated to the me and to the world.

In conclusion, I want to say that I am grateful to Frank for living such a long
and inspiring life.
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