Drasin Family Papers

The Drasin family played an integral role in the history of Jersey Homesteads, now Roosevelt, New Jersey. The family consisted of parents Boris and Hinda "Eda" Drasin and children Tamara Drasin, later Tamara Drasin Swann, and Eliezar "Lee" or "Las" Drasin. Their story begins in Ekaterinoslav, Russia on 7 January 1885 when Boris Drasin was born and two years later when Eda was born. Boris Drasin was a skilled tailor in Odessa and then Ekaterinoslav. Eda Drasin was an accomplished singer who gave up her career when her children were born, Tamara in 1909, and Lee in 1913.

When Boris was drafted into the Russian Army in 1914, he fled to America, leaving his wife and children behind in Sorochinsk with Eda's parents. It was here that Tamara learned and loved to sing folk songs. After fleeing to eastern Poland, the family finally made their way to America to join Boris in 1922. From there they moved to the Bronx and finally to Jersey Homesteads. (1)

Originally known as Jersey Homesteads, Roosevelt was one of ninety-nine communities across the country created by the federal government as part of a New Deal initiative. In early 1933, Title II, Section 208, of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) created the Division of Subsistence Homesteads, the purpose of which was to decentralize industry from congested cities and enable workers to improve their standards of living through the help of subsistence agriculture. Jersey Homesteads was unique, however, in that it was the only community planned as an agro-industrial cooperative which included a farm, factory, and retail stores, and it was the only one established specifically for urban Jewish garment workers, many of whom were committed socialists. (2)

While in the Bronx, Boris was known as a staunch supporter of the garment workers union. This trend continued in Jersey Homesteads where Boris was the chairman of the Provisional Executive Community in Hightstown (Jersey Homesteads) as well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Workers' Aim Cooperative Association. In this capacity, Drasin tried to save the cooperative coat factory, Tripod, before it collapsed. After he was unable to save the factory, he tried to bring another company to the town to take its place. He was unsuccessful, and eventually moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he died in September 1983. Eda Drasin supported him throughout all of his endeavors until she died in 1958. (3)

Tamara was an accomplished guitarist, singer, and actress. At age seventeen, Tamara began her career on Broadway. From then on she appeared in the revues Americana, Crazy Quilt, Free For All, Get Out of Town, Leave It to Me!, The New Yorkers, Right This Way, Roberta, Scandals, They All Come to Moscow, and Tide Rising. She was also in the movies Live and Laugh, No, No, Nanette, and Sweet Surrender(4). After her tour in Roberta, Tamara married advertising executive Erwin D. Swann, and took the surname Swann. During her career, she also took time out to entertain the troops during World War II. It was on a flight to Europe for a U.S.O. show that Tamara was killed when her plane crashed in Portugal in February 1943. In 1952, the Borough Council changed the name of the southern portion of Cooperative Circle to Tamara Drive. (5)

After graduating from high school, Lee Drasin went to Cornell University. Upon graduation, he returned to Jersey Homesteads, where in 1938–1939 he was in charge of crop harvesting for the town's cooperative farm. Later on he was one of three of the W.P.A. Recreation Directors in town, even buying the first piano for the local school. Lee Drasin tried to keep the memory of his family and the early Jersey Homesteads community alive by documenting their history through photographs and video footage. In 1983, his video footage was included in the documentary, Roosevelt, N.J.: Visions of Utopia. He died on 4 September 1999.(6)

(1) "When a Lovely Flame Dies" Roosevelt Borough Bulletin (December 1992), 5. (2) "History of Roosevelt, New Jersey" Available from Rutgers University Libraries. Accessed 19 November 2004. (3) U.S. Social Security Death Index. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Accessed 17 November 2004. (4) "Tamara Credits on Broadway." Internet Broadway Database Accessed 17 November 2004. (5) Warren, 5. Roosevelt Borough Bulletin (6) U.S. Social Security Death Index The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints Accessed 17 November 2004.