Interview of Taime Davis about her life as an activist for women's rights and organized labour. Taime Davis was born in Northern Ontario in 1906. Her parents were Finnish emigrants who met and married in Canada. She describes the early working lives of both her father, a trapper and farmer, and her mother, who worked as a domestic before emigrating. After their marriage they settled on a small piece of land near Thunder Bay, trying to make a living from farming and hunting. Pioneer life was particularly hard on Davis' mother, who had to face the difficulties of childbirth far away from medical help. Taime Davis and her twin sister were born prematurely and because of damage sustained during childbirth, hersister had disabilities and later died in an institution. Davis describes growing up in the Finnish community of Northern Ontario. She discusses the Finnish school she attended, the life surrounding the local Finn hall and the anti-Church feelings of many progressive Finns. Although she did well at school Davis did not pursue further education after the early grades of high school. It was Davis' brother who was sent into Thunder Bay to technical school to learn a skill, for education was not seen as 'important' for young girls. Davis' brother later emigrated to the Soviet Union and was killed there during the Second World War. As a teenager, Taime Davis joined the Women's Labor Leagues (WLLs), a women's group informally linked to the Communist Party. She describes some of the WLL activities in which her mother and other Finnish women in the community participated. Social and fund raising activity predominated, she remembers, although there was a serious attempt at political education too. Davis was a promising young activist and therefore was sent to study with a local woman, Sanna Kannasto, who spoke and organized for the Communist Party. After this, Davis spent some time in the Soviet Union and when she returned she became an organizer for the Young Communist League. She was sent to Sudbury where she was arrested in 1932 during a demonstration of the unemployed. She remembers her stay in jail as an unpleasant, but brief experience as she was soon released on bail. Other activistswere not so lucky, however, and some were deported without trial. Davis was soon organizing for the YCL again, speaking and organizing camps for Communist youth. She remembers the period of police harassment during the early 1930's and some of the difficulties of organizing for the Workers Unity League. In 1933 she married Jim Forkin who was an organizer for the League. Both continued to work as organizers, which meant living on an uncertain and precarious income, often relying on donations from sympathetic Communists. In 1934 she moved to Toronto with her husband and the next year her daughter, Joan, was born. Family responsibilites kept Davis busy and prevented her from taking a very active role in politics, although she remembers the activities of groups like the League against War and Fascism, the Canadian Labour Defense Laague and the On to Ottawa Trek. She recalls the Trek which left from southern Ontario, with a small women's contingent, headed by Ann Walters. Although Davis feared her husband would be interned, he was not. During the Second World War he took a retraining course and got a job in war industry. After the war her remained active in union politics. Davis closes by talking about the WLLs and the the need for separate women's organizations. She remembers some of the activities,such as the Roll Back Prices campaign started by the Housewives Association after the war. She concludes by talking about her current involvement in the Voice of Women and in peace work. <2h 4mn 30s>
