by Sharon Abrahams

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Natalie Matlin was born in Brooklyn and went to Abraham Lincoln High School and Brooklyn College, graduating from both. The very first job she held was an eight-week Civil Service position, which was subsequently followed by picking string beans in the summer in upstate New York. Then for a number of years, she worked as a secretary “Verbatim Reporter” which entailed being present at affairs, meetings and legal proceedings and recording exactly what people said.

The story of how she met her husband, Nat, is fascinating. It took place in Times Square in New York City. The explanation went something like this. It was May 23, 1944, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews was having a program outdoors. Natalie was there as a person to record (longhand) on her stenotype machine what was said by the different participants. It was very crowded. When it started to rain, the stranger standing next to her realized she was on the job and not just there to observe, so he kindly held his umbrella over her while she worked. Standing next to the man was a soldier in uniform. Natalie didn’t pay much attention to him but just assumed he and the man knew each other and were there together. At the conclusion of the program, Natalie needed to follow up with several of the speakers, but was concerned that to do so, she’d have to leave her equipment unattended. She was just about to ask the stranger next to her if he’d watch her things for a few minutes, but he left before she could do so. The soldier remained. Natalie decided that a soldier should be an honest, dependable person to ask, so she asked him. He agreed and the rest is history. Two years later, after he returned from service in Europe, they married and subsequently had one son.

Before Natalie and Nat moved to Pennswood Village approximately ten years ago, they lived in a house in Yardley, where they had one room devoted to their book collections. On three walls of the room, hundreds, if not thousands of books were stored by categories. Natalie and Nat often spent many happy hours with their books.

I asked Natalie what her favorite subjects are to read. Natalie doesn’t read much anymore. But her subjects of choice have long been nonfiction and mysteries.

We talked about what she would wish for if given three magical wishes. We both agreed that while world peace is a worthwhile choice, it seems too obvious and too trite for an answer. So Natalie chose a very unique reply, unique in the sense that her answer was the first of its kind from all the interviews done so far. She decidedly stated, “I would wish for Spring and Autumn all year long.”

When Natalie was asked what special talents she has, she was reluctant to answer and insisted that she had none. When pressed, she answered that she was a good knitter and that she had a good memory for trivia. When Natalie was asked what advice she would give to today’s youth, she gave a very poignant answer. She said, “To pay more attention to the advice of their elders.”

Natalie first joined AAUW in 1953 in the Levittown Branch. For a number of years, she was not a member, but then subsequently rejoined and has been a member ever since.

One AAUW long term project, which Natalie worked on with Helen Sudhaus, involved assessment of career opportunities for girls who chose not to pursue an academic tract. The study and final report played a role in subsequent changes, both administrative and curricular, in the Vo-Tech programs in Bucks County.

At the end of the interview, I asked Natalie the fun question that all my interviewees are asked: what special meal would you choose, made gratis, for you and your guests. After much deliberation, she said: “I’d start with a Caesar salad, Beef Stroganoff, noodles, and snow peas. For dessert, lemon sherbet.” (I have to admit that she lost me with the lemon sherbet.)