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JERRY WURF, the RISE of AFSCME, and the FATE of LABOR LIBERALISM, 1947-1981 a Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Gradu

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JERRY WURF, the RISE of AFSCME, and the FATE of LABOR LIBERALISM, 1947-1981 a Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Gradu JERRY WURF, THE RISE OF AFSCME, AND THE FATE OF LABOR LIBERALISM, 1947-1981 A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History By Joseph E. Hower, M.A. Washington, DC July 1, 2013 Copyright 2013 by Joseph E. Hower All Rights Reserved ii JERRY WURF, THE RISE OF AFSCME, AND THE FATE OF LABOR LIBERALISM, 1947-1981 Joseph E. Hower, M.A. Thesis Advisor: Joseph A. McCartin, Ph.D. ABSTRACT This dissertation explores the political ramifications of the rapid advance of public employee unionization after World War II through a study of Jerry Wurf (1919-1981), organizer, local leader, and eventually national union president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), one of the largest and yet least studied unions in postwar American history. Drawing on union records, personal papers, and a wide range of printed sources, it argues that the growth of unions like AFSCME simultaneously bolstered liberal forces and contributed to the emergence of popular conservatism. Organizing around government workers’ aspirations for equity and dignity, AFSCME surged to the forefront of a burgeoning public sector labor movement that fought for civil rights for African Americans and comparable worth for women, rebuilt the Democratic Party in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, and reinvigorated class-based, state-centered liberal social and urban policy. But Wurf’s very success in building AFSCME set in motion developments that frustrated his union’s hopes and complicated the broader liberal project. First, by winning improved wages and benefits through collective bargaining and political mobilization, unionization imposed new budgetary obligations that came under bitter attack in the poisonous fiscal climate of the 1970s. Second, the growth of unions like AFSCME transformed popular perceptions of organized labor, replacing the sympathetic figure of an exploited industrial or farm worker with the less romantic image of a government employee insulated from economic downturns, thus weakening public iii support for unions overall. Third, the emergence of public sector unions like AFSCME interjected an increasingly visible intermediary—the organized public employee—into divisive debates about taxes and services, creating an inviting target for the emerging tax revolt. Building on recent work that looks to the 1970s as the “critical decade” in postwar history, this dissertation shows that the growth of the public sector labor movement played an important and largely unrecognized role in lending popular legitimacy and political credibility to a discourse that pitted taxpayers against tax recipients and thrived on assaults on government programs—a discourse that still resonates decades later. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the faculty, students, and staff of Georgetown University’s History Department. I could not have hoped for a more cordial and stimulating home over these past seven years. The generous financial support of the department and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences offered me the resources necessary to complete the project and the opportunity to develop as both a teacher and scholar. I have had the opportunity to work as a teaching assistant to exceptional faculty members, including James Shedel, Bryan McCann, and Isadora Helfgott, experiences that shaped both my own approach in the classroom and how I thought about my research. Special thanks to Chandra Manning, who provided an exemplary model of how to design and teach a U.S. survey course in the fall of 2007, and who has never ceased to be a source of support since. John Tutino and Daniel Ernst generously gave their time and advice as I worked my way through my comprehensive exams, challenging me to think beyond the narrow confines of American labor history. The department’s incredible staff, including Lisa Chinn, Miriam Okine Davies, Kathleen Buc Gallagher, Janice Liverance, and Djuana Shields, ensured that the requisite forms got filed, the bills got paid, and that the sixth floor corridor of the Intercultural Center remained functional and welcoming. My fellow graduate students, particularly Paul Adler, Thomas Apel, James Benton, John Corcoran, Rodolfo Fernandez, Benjamin Francis-Fallon, Andrew Hazelton, Toshihiro Higuchi, Eric Gettig, Frederick Gooding, Michael Hill, Daniel Mauldin, Erin Stewart Mauldin, and Anand Toprani, listened graciously as I stumbled toward a research topic in seminars and department common spaces, interjecting with insightful observations as well as an endlessly entertaining array of distractions and tangents, from American labor and politics to “real” football and the National Hockey League. v I have been blessed with a committee that accepted and encouraged my interest in a biographically-driven dissertation. From the earliest research trips through the drafting phase, Michael Kazin proved a source of constant and constructive advice. A late addition to the group, Eric Arnesen offered insightful thoughts on the final draft. It is nearly impossible to put into words the debt that I owe to my adviser, Joseph McCartin. From my first day at Georgetown through the final phases of my defense, he never doubted my ability to complete the project, even as I added chapter after chapter to the original plan. Patiently reading and responding to draft after draft, he has provided an unparalleled model of scholarship and mentorship. This dissertation also owes a great deal to a much broader intellectual community. The sessions of the D.C. Working Class History Seminar proved stimulating, and I thank Cindy Hahamovitch and Jennifer Luff for allowing me to participate. The conferences of the Labor and Working Class History Association inspired and influenced much in this project, and I am particularly grateful to Alice Kessler-Harris, Michael Honey, and Kimberly L. Phillips for allowing me to serve as LAWCHA’s liaison to the AFL-CIO between 2007 and 2010. Portions of the dissertation were presented at the North American Labor History Conference, the Policy History Conference, and the annual meetings of LAWCHA and the American Historical Association. I wish to thank the chairs, panelists, and audiences of those sessions for their thoughtful comments. The research for this dissertation took me on a tour of the United States, and I could not have completed the project without the patient support of dozens of librarians and archivists. Limited space prevents a full list, but several deserve special recognition. Generous support from Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Cosmos Club of Washington, D.C. funded more than a month’s work at the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State vi University in Detroit, home to both Wurf’s personal papers and AFSCME’s institutional records. The Library’s diligent professional and student staff lent incredible assistance, graciously pulling box after box, just so that I could glance at one or two folders. Special thanks to Reference Archivist William LeFevre for helping me navigate the Library’s collections and Louis Jones for allowing me to view then-unprocessed collections from SEIU. I could not have completed the project without the aid of Johanna Russ, who helped me maximize my limited time in Detroit, walked me through AFSCME’s expansive and growing collections, and answered more follow- up questions than anyone ought to. Gail Malmgreen and Melissa C. Haley helped me work though the records of District Council 37 at the Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives at New York University. A generous grant from the William and Madeline Welder Smith Research Travel fund allowed me to travel to the Briscoe Center for American History in Austin, Texas to examine James Farmer’s papers. Diane Shaw and the helpful staff at Lafayette College’s Skillman Library ensured that my week with William Simon’s papers was productive, despite the intervention of Hurricane Irene. Holly Snyder helped me navigate the Hall-Hoag Collection at Brown University. The staff at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center at Boston University lent timely assistance when I learned of the existence of Ralph de Toledano’s papers with only two days left in a month-long stay in the city. Patrick Kerwin guided me through the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Collection at the Library of Congress. Finally, I spent more days than I can count traveling back and forth between my Arlington, Virginia apartment and the George Meany Memorial Archives at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland, but archivists Lynda J. DeLoach and Sarah Springer always ensured that the boxes were pulled and binders were ready upon my arrival, however delayed I might have been by Beltway traffic. vii The past seven years have been marked by major changes in my life. My actual sibling (Jim) and two cousins who feel like siblings (Rob and Dana) have each started their own families—bringing what was once a closely-knit group of four up to an ever-expanding group of twelve, including three spouses (Meg, Cristin, and Auggie), a nephew (Jack Adam), a god- daughter (Madison Adele), and two honorary nieces (Tara Grace and Lara Lynn). My in-laws, Michael and Jacki Simmon, have opened their home to me on more than one research trip to New York City and eagerly encouraged my pursuits. My parents, Mark and Cindy, have provided constant support, timely dog-sitting services, and a comfortable rural retreat from the busyness of urban academia. None of them have read a word of this project; most of them don’t even know what it is about. But they have been as critical to its completion as anyone, if for no other reason than providing a constant reminder that there is far more to life than a dissertation. I have been fortunate to share this incredible experience with my wife, Jessica.
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