Bergen Koster, Debra
Abstract
Debra Bergen Koster was born in the Bronx at Bronx Lebanon Hospital on December 14, 1955. Her family moved to the Bronx in the 1930s and she grew up there until 1964, living on Shakespeare Avenue in a predominantly Jewish and Irish neighborhood. Bergen Koster recalls a close-knit community, where her family experienced significant events like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. She also has fond memories of local spots like Featherbed Lane, where she would run errands for her mother, and of communal activities like playing on the streets with friends and attending local events.
In 1964, her family moved to Yonkers, and then later to Queens, where she attended junior high and high school. Bergen Koster graduated from Newtown High School in 1973 and later attended Rutgers University, where she studied journalism and women’s studies, one of the first programs of its kind in the country. She then graduated from SUNY New Paltz in January 1978 and obtained a joint MS degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University-Baruch College/CUNY in 1987.
After graduating from SUNY New Paltz she moved to Syracuse, NY where, while working at Syracuse University, her involvement in the union movement began when she volunteered as a member of the organizing committee with the UAW. Influenced by her husband’s family’s union background, upon returning to New York City in 1980, she became an active union organizer, working for such organizations such as the National Association of Working Women, Local 1199NY, SEIU and the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY, NYSUT. She also taught for Cornell University’s ILR program, where she held an adjunct lecturer position.
Her family background also played a significant role in shaping her identity. Her paternal grandmother, Anna Stern, was a political figure in the Bronx, deeply involved with the Socialist Party. Stern ran for political office twice in the early 20th century and testified before the Lusk Committee, defending the Socialist Party. Bergen Koster has conducted extensive genealogy research on her grandmother’s life and career and remains deeply proud of her family’s immigrant roots and political activism.
Bergen Koster retired in 2018 and after a long career in the labor movement, she currently mentors young union activists through her involvement with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). Her deep connection to the Bronx and her Jewish immigrant heritage has influenced much of her later life and interests.
