Anne Levine Filardo was born on May 5, 1922, in Brooklyn, New York. She attended university in New York City at Brooklyn and Bank Street Colleges as well as New York University. When the war began, Filardo began working as a machinist at Ranger Aircraft, a division of the Fairchild Engine and Airplane Corporation located in Queens, New York. Later, she worked for the Swan Island Shipyard in Portland, Oregon, where she cared for and taught shipyard workers' children. The Child Service program at the Swan Island Shipyard highlights the necessity for childcare during the war as women became increasingly involved in the workforce. At the Swan Island facility, Filardo’s shift began at 3:30 pm and ended close to midnight, when mothers would end their own shifts.
After the war, Filardo remained in education and involved herself in progressive activism for teachers. She was a member of the Teachers Union of New York and Teachers Action Caucus. She married her husband, Albert Filardo, and raised two children, Peter and Emily Filardo. She passed away on April 24, 2010, at the age of 87.
View the finding aid for the Anne Filardo collection here.
Anne Filardo Collection
2.6” x 4.5”
Photograph of Anne Filardo and seven of her students in the outside playground of the Swan Island Childcare Center. Filardo is in the background of the photograph.
Anne Filardo Collection
4.5” x 5.5”
Photograph of 18 month-olds at the Childcare Center of Swan Island. The children are depicted with two teachers while they complete crafts and work on art projects. These were common activities for children to complete during their time at the center.
Anne Filardo Collection
4.5" x 5.5"
Photograph of children in the Swan Island Childcare Center playing with puzzles. This was a common activity for children that were cared for in the center.
Anne Filardo Collection
4.5” x 5.5”
Photograph of the front office space for the Swan Island Shipyard. Women held jobs within these offices and served as administrative workers. Filardo was not employed in this sector of the shipyard space but worked as a teacher at the childcare facility.
Anne Filardo Collection
11” x 8.5”
Child Service Department Memo, Swan Island Shipyard Childcare Center. The memorandum was issued throughout the Child Service Department and details specific information about teaching and living within the Swan Island Shipyard. It shares information such as costs for meals, transportation, and housing.
Anne Filardo Collection
8” x 11”
Newspaper clipping featuring a photograph of a woman demonstrating her work in the main machine shop of the Swan Island Shipyard, where Filardo was employed in the childcare center, 1945.
