Sylvia Bernstein (activist)

Sylvia Walker was born on November 6, 1915, to immigrants from Russia. She attended Central High School and George Washington University.[1]

In the 1930s, she worked as secretary for the War Department.[1] In the 1940s, she and her husband were members of the Communist party; as a result, according to their son, Carl Bernstein, they were persecuted by the government.[1] When asked by congressional panels about her party involvement, Bernstein invoked her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.[1] In 1962, she worked as a statistician with Resources for the Future, an economic think tank.[1] From 1964 to 1989, she worked in the gift department at Garfinckel's.[1] She then worked for the Bill Clinton administration where she answered the correspondence of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.[1] She was an active Democratic party member and was a member of Women Strike for Peace protesting nuclear weapons and the Vietnam War.[1] She helped to desegregate District eateries, the Glen Echo amusement park and public swimming pools and playgrounds.[1] She also campaigned on behalf of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed in 1953 for espionage.[1]

Walker was married to Alfred Bernstein, a union activist. They had three children: journalist Carl Bernstein, Mary Bernstein, and Laura Bernstein.[1][3]

Sylvia Bernstein died aged 88 on November 23, 2003, in Washington, D.C.[1]

• Alfred Bernstein
• Carl Bernstein