Remembering Netta
Please contact us if you have a memory or image that you would like to share.
Name: Gail Long
Memory: Netta and fairness
My lasting memories of Netta are from her days as Union Organizer with Social Agencies Employees Union. As a child of union organizers, I found myself on both sides of the table in Cleveland. As a rank and file employee at West Side Community House trying to bring the Union in, and at Merrick House as management. Working with Netta was a challenge because I always knew that she was on the right side of so many issues, yet being able to come up with the money to support some of these issues was always a challenge. Netta was fair and always had the health, safety and well-being of the rank and file front and center. Cherish your memories of your Mother, your Grandmother and your friend.
— Gail Long
Name: Cydney Weingart
Memory: Netta at Myers Apt.
I often had lunch in the dining room at Myers on Sunday afternoons, since I had a long standing friend, Ralph, who lived at Myers. One day, the wonderful Netta was at his table. It was probably 2014. I found her somewhat buddha-like, wise and quiet. I took to her immediately. Eventually over the weeks, I learned about her long marriage to Norm, their involvement with the theater, her children and Japanese son-in-law, and special meals they would prepare. She seemed at peace with her life, and I enjoyed her in that small window of time. Delighted to see her life unfold in your memories here, in words and photos. I knew she was something special.
— Cydney Weingart
Name: Sally Feldman
Memory: SAEU
I hadn't seen or heard Netta's name in decades, but my late husband Bill Feldman worked at JFSA back in the 1970s and early 1980s. He was very active in SAEU and "Netta Berman" were the first words out of his mouth whenever he spoke about the union. She was an extraordinary woman.
— Sally Feldman
Name: Al Foster
Memory: Netta Berman
Netta was a powerful activist in the City of Shaker Heights. With her activism she helped me serve on the Shaker Heights Council. I will miss Netta. Netta and Norm are together again.
— Al Foster
Name: Michael A. Dover
Memory: Remembering Netta
I was privileged to be in touch with Netta from her role as a member of the Bertha Capen Reynolds society/Social Welfare Action Alliance of activist social workers, www.socialwelfareactionalliance.org. Lives like hers and others inspired us all and provide a beacon for the emerging generations.
— Michael A. Dover
Name: Laurie Berman
Memory: My mother the problem solver
When I began thinking about college, proximity to home was the last thing on my mind. My mother understood that, but she also understood about transportation expenses, so when we visited colleges together in my junior year, we went only as far west as Iowa—which is where I ended up going to school. That turned out to be plenty far.
Near the end of my first semester at Grinnell, with finals in the offing, I experienced a heartbreak and an emotional meltdown. I felt devastated, betrayed, humiliated. I called my mom collect from a pay phone and told her nothing except that I couldn’t face my dorm mates, couldn’t concentrate on my studies, and certainly couldn’t finish the semester. She did not probe, argue, cajole, or plead. She just dropped everything, flew out to Des Moines, rented a car, and booked a hotel room for the two of us. I moved in there with all my books and notes and (with nothing else to occupy me) was able to focus on my studies and survive that wretched week, finals and all. That was my mom's approach to crises, and it pretty much saved my life.
— Laurie Berman
Name: Linda Tobin
Memory: Netta
Though I did not know her well, Netta was a role model for me. I came to Cleveland in 1972 for social work grad school and became active in politics. Netta was lively, lovely and always active. She never wavered in her commitment to values of justice, equality and freedom. She was a woman I respected and liked, albeit from afar.
— Linda Tobin