Oral history interview with Judith Mohr Hochberg, 2000

Biographical Note

Judith Mohr Hochberg was an active member of Northside Chicago CORE from 1965 to 1968. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1933, Hochberg lived in Vienna, Austria until age four, when she relocated to Hyde Park, Chicago with her parents and older brother. Hochberg attended the University of Wisconsin and the University of California Los Angeles, where she received her bachelor's in sociology. She went on to University of California Berkeley for graduate school. In 1961, she met her third husband, Emmanuel Hochberg, a teacher, Communist and artist-in-residence. The two moved to Arizona where Hochberg completed her PhD at Arizona State. In the early 1960s, Hochberg moved back to Chicago, where she became involved in CORE demonstrations and NAACP lawsuits. She was arrested thirteen times her first summer in Chicago. Hochberg worked against discrimination in the school system. She left Northside CORE in 1968

Scope and Contents

The interview begins with a description of Hochberg's family history and political influences. Hochberg speaks on the strong female role models in her family, dating back to her unmarried grandmother in Sioux City, Iowa. Hochberg also recalls the liberal views of her relatives, including her father, a psychoanalyst, and her mother, an attorney with American Civil Liberties Union. After moving from Vienna, Austria at age four, Hochberg grew up in the Blackstone Apartments in Hyde Park, Chicago. Hochberg discusses her parent's lives in Vienna and their intentions for life in America. She also cites the murder of Joe Hill as significant to her upbringing. In 1950, Hochberg began her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin. Hochberg recalls the political climate there and her relationships with students of color. She married John Satler, a fellow student who died in an accident months later. Hochberg then transferred to UCLA. Hochberg describes her experience studying sociology at length and her second marriage to Gordon Jack Adelman from 1954-1961. Also discussed are Canadian politics, racial awareness, and the birth of Hochberg's three children. Hochberg describes moving to Berkeley for graduate school, her exposure to Herbert Marcuse, statistics, and her third husband, Emmanuel Hochberg. In the next portion of the interview, Hochberg describes her move to Arizona. She discusses the completion of her PhD at Arizona State. Hochberg also reminisces on her late husband's upbringing and his Communist identity. Finally, Hochberg recalls a CORE demonstration in Phoenix, Arizona. After moving to Chicago in 1964, Hochberg joined Northside CORE. Hochberg remembers the first protest in which she participated and a subsequent Illinois Supreme Court case. Hochberg describes her legal work for the NAACP and her efforts as the Education Chairman of Northside CORE. She describes the nature of discrimination faced by Black Chicago youth, the rise of the Black Power Movement, and the use of nonviolence. Hochberg names Faith Rich, Sam Riley, Meyer Weinberg, and Dick Gregory as fellow organizers. Finally, Hochberg speaks to her decision to leave CORE in 1968

Subjects

• Civil rights demonstrations--United States.
• Civil rights movements--Illinois--Chicago--History--20th century.
• Congress of Racial Equality.
• Hochberg, Judith Mohr--Interviews.
• Interviews.
• Michaels, Sheila, 1939-2017, interviewer.
• Oral histories.
• United States--Race relations--History--20th century.