Organized Labor and Radio Station WEVD During the 1930S

Home , Albert Maltz, August Claessens, David Dubinsky, Fannia Cohn, Jacob Billikopf, Molly Picon

LaborHistory, Vol. 42, No. 4, 2001

Strugglingover Politics and Culture:Organized Labor and Radio Station WEVDduringthe 1930s

NATHANGODFRIED*

By theearly years ofthe Great Depression, corporate-controlled national radio networks,Hollywood-centered motion picture producers,and large-circulation daily news- papers appeared todominate the means of ideological andcultural productionin the U.S.1 Labor,progressive, andradical leaderscorrectly perceivedthe mass media asan integral part ofthe larger social andeconomic relations ofproduction. Echoing the insights ofKarl Marx, they warnedof how the nation’ s dominantpropertied classes wouldseek to control society’ s “governing ideasand motives” by manipulating the massmedia tojustify, among other things,“ great inequalities in wealth in thecom- munity.”2 EdwardNockels of the Chicago Federation ofLabor (CFL),for example, protestedthat networkradio reinforcedthe luster of consumption, the holiness of the marketplace, andthe infallibility ofbusiness. The Socialist Party contendedthat commercial radio programs wereas standardized as anything rolling outof a Ford factory. Nockelsdescribed such shows as bland entertainment“ whennot outright propaganda or delusivespecial pleading.”3 Suchcriticisms foreshadowedthe arguments of e´migre´ Europeanintellectuals who,by thelate 1930s, woulddenounce mass culture for its bourgeois “consumerism,intellectual vapidness,and political complacency,”and contendthat ruling groups usedit “tomanipulate, pacify, andcontrol” the general public.4 In recentdecades, historians have cometo comprehend popular cultureas a compli- catedarena ofsocial,political, andcultural conict. One component of this reconcep- tualization ofpopular culturehas beenan emphasis onthe active role that workersand working-classorganizations themselvesplayed in “consuming”and “ producing”cultural goods.Michael Denninghas gonethe furthest in arguing that thedecade of the

*Iwould liketo thank LynneManion and the two anonymous readersfor LaborHistory fortheir helpful suggestions. 1Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, “Creatinga Favorable BusinessClimate: Corporations and Radio Broadcasting, 1934to 1954,”Business History Review ,73(1999), 221–255; Steven J. Ross, Working-class Hollywood: Silent Filmand the Shaping ofClass in America (Princeton,NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1998); Susan Smulyan, Selling Radio:The Commercializationof American Broadcasting, 1920–1934 (Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press,1994). 2Scott Nearing,“ TheControl ofPublic Opinion in the UnitedStates,” School andSociety , 15 (April 15,1922), 421– 422 (quotations); KarlMarx and FrederickEngels, “ Manifestoof the Communist Party,” in KarlMarx and Frederick Engels: Selected Works (NewYork: InternationalPublishers, 1977),54. 3New Leader,April 24,1926, 10 and Nov. 20,1926, 10; WCFLRadio Magazine ,1(spring1928), 17, 52(quotation); Federation News ,Mar.24, 1928, 1– 2. 4Susan J.Douglas, Listening In:Radio and the American Imagination, fromAmos “ n”Andy andEdward R.Murrow to WolfmanJack andHoward Stern (NewYork: TimesBooks, 1999),127 ( rst quotation); Ross, 265(second quotation).

ISSN0023-656Xprint/ ISSN1469-9702online/ 01/040347–23 Ó 2001Taylor & Francis Ltd onbehalfof The Tamiment Institute DOI: 10.1080/00236560120085093 348 N. Godfried

1930s witnesseda “laboring ofAmerican culture”in whichworking-class Americans andtheir children helpedto advance the “ social democratization”of national culture andpolitics through their rolesas producers (i.e. laborers in cultureindustries) and consumersof mass culture. 5 Denning’s creative andmultifaceted work explores the laboring ofU.S. cultureprimarily, although notexclusively, through theoperation of thepopular cultureindustries themselves and the activities ofkey cultural andintellec- tual workers. Other historians have concentratedinstead on the efforts of radical groups,trade unions,or labor movementintellectuals tocreate their own media andcultural institu- tions.Studies of the development of labor educationprograms, alabor press,and workers’theater during the1930s, for example, have provided insights intothe dialectical relationship among radical organizations, trade unions,the working class, andpopular culture. 6 For instance,the history ofradio stationWCFL, Chicago’ s “voice oflabor,” has revealed howChicago-area unionsand their leaderseffectively utilized thestation to engage in classwarfare onthepolitical, ideological, andcultural fronts.7 The following studyconcentrates on the collaboration betweenthe managers of NewYork radio stationWEVD andof cials oflocal trade unionsto produce labor programming during the1930s. WEVD’s story illuminates, among other things,the contradictionsand tensions encountered and generated by labor movementintellectuals asthey simultaneouslysought to uplift workerspolitically andculturally while striving tosecure and enhance basic workers’rights andclass consciousness. 8 * * * * * * At aDecember1926 meeting,the Socialist Party’s National ExecutiveCommittee decidedto erect a broadcasting stationto honor the late EugeneV. Debs.The Debs Memorial Radio Fund’s Board ofTrustees—representing a spectrumof leftist groups— agreed tomake stationWEVD intoa “forum for liberal, progressive, labor andradical purposes,and not merely andsolely asa Socialist Party enterprise.”9 Financial contri- butionscame from garment tradesunions— especially theInternational Ladies’Gar-

5MichaelDenning, The Cultural Front: The Laboringof American Culture in the Twentieth Century (London: Verso,1998), xvi– xvii, passim. 6See,for example, LawrenceW. Levine,“ TheFolklore ofIndustrial Society: Popular Cultureand its Audiences,” American Historical Review ,97(1992), 1369–1399; Elizabeth Fones-Wolf, “Industrial Unionism and Labor MovementCulture in Depression-eraPhiladelphia,” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History andBiography ,109(1985), 3–26; Colette A. Hyman, Staging Strikes: Workers’Theatre andthe American LaborMovement (Philadelphia, PA: TempleUniversity Press, 1997); Robbie Lieberman, “My Song is myWeapon”. People’s Songs, American Communism,and the Politics ofCulture, 1930–1950 (Urbana, IL:Universityof Illinois Press,1989). 7Nathan Godfried, WCFL:Chicago’ s Voice ofLabor, 1926– 78 (Urbana, IL:Universityof Illinois Press, 1997),Chapts. 3–6. 8Denning,73– 74; Elizabeth Faue, “Class and Cultural Citizenship,” LaborHistory ,39(1998), 312. Denning’s conceptof working-class intellectuals has much in common with Antonio Gramsci’s construct oforganic intellectuals. Antonio Gramsci, Selections fromthe Prison Notebooks ,editedby Quintin Hoare and GeoffreyNowell Smith (NewYork: InternationalPublishers, 1971),5– 14, 340. 9New Leader,Dec.25, 1926, 1– 2; Meetingof Trustees Radio Fund, March25, 1927 (quotation), Folder 4, Box215, Miscellaneous Documents, Recordsof Amalgamated Clothing Workersof America, 5619, Labor–Management Documentation Center,Martin P. Catherwood Library, CornellUniversity, Ithaca, NY. On WEVD’s originand earlyyears, see Nathan Godfried,“ Legitimizingthe MassMedia Structure: TheSocialists and AmericanBroadcasting, 1926–1932,” in Ronald C.Kent,Sara Markham, David R. Roediger,and HerbertShapiro, ed., Culture, Gender,Race andUS LaborHistory (Westport, CT: GreenwoodPress, 1993), 123– 149; Paul F.Gulliforand Brady Carlson, “Dening the Public Interest: Socialist Radio and the Caseof WEVD,” Journal ofRadio Studies ,4(1997), 203–217. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 349 mentWorkers’ Union (ILGWU)— local andstate branches of the party, andorganiza- tionslinked tothe socialists. The Debsfund bought aLongIsland stationin August 1927 andreceived a broadcast licenseshortly thereafter. 10 Facedwith severe nancial andlegal problems in 1930–1931, WEVD turnedto the Jewish DailyForward , the world’s largest Yiddishnewspaper and a long-time supporterof theSocialist Party and WEVD,for help. Ledby Baruch Charney Vladeck,the Forward’sgeneral manager, the newspaperassumed dominant nancial andmanagerial controlover stationoperations. With the Forward’sassistance,WEVD renewedits licenseand built newstudios and a transmitter. 11 While continuingas “ aghting, militant champion ofthe rights ofthe oppressed”and a defenderof uncensored“ minority opinion in America,”WEVD also promised toreport onworkers’ issues and to offer “ distinctly different”entertainment programs.12 WEVD facedproblems similar tothose of WCFL, the station owned and managed by theCFL. Dependent on voluntary contributionsand the resources of their parent bodies,both stationssuffered nancial crises,which wereexacerbated by theonset of theGreat Depression. Poor power,frequency, and time allotments—particularly trueof WEVD—undermined each station’ s ability tobuild an audience.These problems also ledto frequent legal battles with theFederal Radio Commission(FRC) and corporate radio stationsand networks, thus consuming both stations’limited resourcesand energy.13 Called onto defend their station’s right toexist in mid-1929, WEVD’s managers explained tofederal authorities that they representedthe only broadcast outletin theEast controlled by and“ devotedto working classand liberal causes.”Debs radio, insistedSocialist Party leader Norman Thomas, stood“ against thebig chain systemwhich ‘ tendsto standardize— to make robotsand Babbitts ofthe American people.’ ”14 Stateand corporate radio ofcials, however,characterized theaudiences and sup- porters ofWEVD andWCFL as special interestgroups, rejecting their claims topublic serviceas in ated. FRC attorneys asserted that “all stationsshould cater tothe general public andserve public interestas against group or classinterest.” 15 Sometrade union ofcials refutedthese charges, arguing that labor was“ nota special interest,but a

10New Leader,Mar.12, 1927, 1, 3,April 2, 1927,1– 2, June 4,1927,1, June 25,1927, 2, Aug. 6, 1927, 3, and Aug. 27,1927, 1, 3;MeetingSept. 21,1927, Minutes of General Executive Board ofInternational Ladies’Garment Workers’ Union, Collection16, ILGWU Records, Labor– Management Documentation Center,Catherwood Library; Letter,G. AugustGerber to MorrisSigman, Jan. 26,1928, Box 6, Folder 10,Sigman Correspondence,ILGWU Records; New YorkTimes ,May 15,1927, Sec. II, 1, June 6, 1927, 26,Aug. 5, 1927,14, Aug. 22,1927, 20, Sept. 8, 1927,22, and Sept. 30,1927, 22. 11BernardK. Johnpoll, Pacist’ s Progress:Norman Thomas and the Decline ofAmerican Socialism (Chicago, IL:QuadrangleBooks, 1970),88– 89, 128; Morris S. Novik, interviewwith author, Dec.7, 1991,New York City; New YorkTimes ,Sept. 27,1931, Sec. II, 1, and Oct. 26,1931, 17; Letter, Norman Thomas to RogerBaldwin, Oct. 13,1931, Folder 12, Box 29, Reel 20, American Fund Records,New York Public Library; The Nation,Oct. 12,1932, 321. 12New YorkTimes ,Aug. 5, 1927,14 (rst quotation); New Leader,Aug. 6, 1927,3 (secondquotation); New YorkTimes ,Oct. 20,1927, 26 (third quotation). 13Godfried,“ Legitimizingthe MassMedia Structure,” 129– 131, 135– 139; Godfried, WCFL,Chicago’ s Voice ofLabor , 46–165. 14The FederatedPress Labor Letter ,15(July 12,1928), 3 (quotations); New Leader,July 14,1928, 1, 3; Ruth Brindze, Not to beBroadcast: The Truth about the Radio (NewYork: Da Capo Press,1974 (Vanguard Press,1937), 152. For similar argumentsin defenseof WCFL, seeGodfried, WCFL:Chicago’ s Voice of Labor, 71–105. 15New YorkTimes ,June 26,1929, 29; Federation News ,July 13,1929, 3 (quotation), 8; Illinois State Federation ofLabor Weekly News Letter ,16(April 5, 1930),3. 350 N. Godfried special approach tothe general interest.”WCFL attorney HopeThompson told a Senatecommittee in January 1930 that “every stationis engaged in propaganda all the time,”thus pointing tothe class base of all radio broadcasting. 16 EconomistScott Nearing simply urgedradicals topursue “ educationalpropaganda” and to create worker-ledinstitutions that wouldchallenge theruling ideology and“ struggle for anew social order.”17 Leadersof both WEVD andWCFL hoped to use their outletsto create just such a newsocial order by educating,organizing, andentertaining workersand their communities.Labor radio ofcials andtheir trade unionallies hopedto create what Denninghas called a“movementculture” with its own“ alternative intellectual world …,aproletarian public sphere.”Perceiving their intendedaudiences not as special interests,but rather asa large public ofpolitically andeconomically subordinated groups,labor radio advocatesfought toprotect the rights ofthese subaltern groups, enhancetheir members’class identity, and increase their social cohesiveness. 18 Sup- porters oflabor radio also agreed that working-classeducational and entertainment programming shouldchallenge thenation’ s dominantbusiness and political interests. Butthey disagreedover howlabor radio programming wouldpromulgate anew proletarian cultureand, even more fundamentally,what sucha working-classculture wouldentail. Theseissues concerned WEVD’ s program director Morris S.Novik and theILGWU of cials whoparticipated in thedevelopment of labor programming over thestation. Novik wasa 29-year-old organizer ofpublic lectureswhen the Forward’s Vladeck askedhim tobecome program director in thefall of1932. 19 Born in Russiain 1903, Novik andhis family emigrated tothe U.S. whenhe was 11 years old.After graduating from a yeshiva in theLower East Side of Manhattan, Novik enrolledin thepublic schoolsystem. Caught in therevolutionary passionsunleashed by theRussian Revol- ution,Novik becamepolitically active, writing articles for socialist newspapersand magazines. Hespentsummers at Camp Tamiment, thesocialist RandSchool’ s summer camp andschool for workers.As a teenager,he campaigned for theanti-war Scott Nearing in his contestwith Fiorello LaGuardia for alocal congressionalseat in 1918. Novik continuedhis studiesat theNew School for Social Research.As chair ofthe YoungPeople’ s Socialist Leagueduring the1920s, Novik agitated for socialist educationin thecity’ s public high schoolsand organized protestsagainst thedecision in the Sacco–Vanzetti case.In addition topolitical agitation, Novik participated in anumber ofthe Young People’ s Socialist League’s educationaland social functions. 20

16WCFLRadio Magazine ,2(summer 1929),15 ( rst quotation); Benjamin Stolberg, Tailor’s Progress: The Story ofa Famous Union andthe Men who Madeit (GardenCity, NY: Doubleday, 1944),283; Godfried, WCFL:Chicago’ s Voice ofLabor ,88(second quotation). 17John A.Saltmarsh, Scott Nearing: An Intellectual Biography (Philadelphia, PA: TempleUniversity Press,1991), 185, 187– 189. 18Denning,67 ( rst quotation), 73(second quotation). 19Novik was probably Vladeck’s secondchoice as program director.WEVD hiredGeorge Maynard, formerlyof the National BroadcastingCompany, as program directorin the summer of1932. But Maynard resignedjust beforethe openingof the station’s newstudios at the HotelClaridge in lateSeptember. He apparently leftbecause the station refusedto challengethe hotel’s practiceof forcing African-American musicians to usethe freightelevators rather than the main entrance. New YorkTimes ,Aug. 19,1932, 20, Sept. 29,1932, 44; Variety,Oct. 4, 1932,50; John Hammond, John Hammondon Record:An Autobiography (NewYork: Summit Books, 1977),75– 76. 20Variety,Oct. 4, 1932,50; New YorkTimes ,Aug. 19,1932, 20, Sept. 29,1932, 44; Novik interview; “Novik and LaGuardia,” The New Yorker ,65(Aug. 28,1989), 24– 25; New YorkTimes ,Jan. 2, 1925,8, Strugglingover Politics and Culture 351

During the1920s Novik servedas social director oftheILGWU’ s UnityHouse and, by theend of the decade, the head of the Discussion Guild. In thelatter role, Novik arranged for public lecturesand debates in Carnegie Hall andsimilar venues.“ We attracted large audiences,”Novik recalled, “becausewe debated[the crucial] issuesof theday.” It also helpedthat Novik securedthe participation ofintellectual and progressive luminaries suchas author Will Durant,philosophers Bertrand Russelland JohnDewey, and attorney ClarenceDarrow. Oneof the most successful debates arranged by Novik tookplace onSaturday night, November 15, 1930, whenover 4000 people jammed intothe Mecca Temple tohear Dr Nathan Krass,rabbi ofNewYork’ s Temple Emanuel,debate Clarence Darrow onthe topic “IsReligion Necessary?” Novik andthe principal speakersensured that thedebate was “ adignied discussion” ofreligion’ s importance in society.Editors of the New YorkTimes thought thedebate consequentialenough to give it front-page coverage in theSunday edition. 21 In addition tohis positionat theDiscussion Guild, Novik spentsummers working at Camp Tamiment andat Unity House.The latter wasconceived in 1915 byJuliet Stuart Poyntz,a Barnard College history instructorand head of theeducational department of ILGWULocal 25, andby Fannia Cohn,a leading activist in thegarment union.Poyntz andCohn believed “that theLabor Movementstands, consciously or unconsciously, for thereconstruction of society.” Establishing workers’education programs in the garment tradeswould, they hoped,promote “afeeling ofcommunity andsisterhood” andunionization among amostly young immigrant female labor force.Located rstin Pine Hall, NewYork (theCatskills), andlater in ForestPark, Pennsylvania (the Poconos),Unity House “ embodiedthe spirit ofbread androses” by providing both a vacation andrecreational centerfor unionmembers andtheir families anda sitefor discussionsand forums. Cohn and Poyntz convincedthe ILGWU to expand this activity and,in 1917, the rstof several UnityCenters opened in aNewYork City public school.Located in working-classneighborhoods, each center offered “ semi-entertainment with acultural slant.”22 UnityHouse’ s missionand programs embraceda commitment both tocollectivism andto educationaland cultural advancementthat characterized many ofthe activities ofJewish-dominated unions, fraternal organizations, andsocialist groups with which Novik had intimate contactwhile growing up.Immigrant workersattended “ endless lectures[that] lled thenights oftheEast Side” during theearly 20th century.As Irving Howeexplained, theselectures served educational and recreational purposes,becoming occasions“ at which all ofone’ s deepestinterests, intellectual andpersonal, could be

—footnote continued April 11,1927, 8; Richard J.Meyer,“ M.S.Novik: Radio’s Conscience,”The NAEB Journal (March–April 1966),8– 12; Kenneth Teitelbaum, Schooling for“ GoodRebels” :Socialist Education forChildren in the United States, 1900–1920 (Philadelphia, PA: TempleUniversity Press, 1993), 31– 35; Paul Buhle, “Themesin AmericanJewish Radicalism,”in Paul Buhle and Dan Georgakas,eds, The ImmigrantLeft in the United States (Albany, NY: State Universityof New York Press,1996), 91– 99. Novik tsthe categoryof plebeians dened by Denningas “agenerationof artists and intellectualsfrom working-class families” (60). 21Novik interview( rst quotation); Meyer,“M.S.Novik: Radio’s Conscience,”8; New YorkTimes , Nov. 16,1930, 1– 2, Nov. 18,1930, 5 (secondquotation). Both BertrandRussell and ClarenceDarrow eventuallyhad Novik managetheir speaking engagements. 22AnneliseOrleck, CommonSense anda Little Fire:Women andWorking-Class Politics in the United States, 1900–1965 (Chapel Hill, NC: Universityof North Carolina Press,1995), 171 ( rst quotation), 175 (secondquotation), 177(third quotation), 178(last quotation); Richard J.Altenbaugh, Education for Struggle: The American LaborColleges ofthe 1920sand 1930s (Philadelphia, PA: TempleUniversity Press, 1990),34; Stolberg, Tailor’s Progress , 286–287. 352 N. Godfried engaged.”23 The samestreets where education and entertainment smoothly intersected also witnessedmass organizing campaigns suchas the 1909 shirtwaist uprising in which 20,000–40,000 garment workersdemonstrated both “agrowing senseof collective identity”and “ increasing militancy.”24 Novik’s early life experiencesreinforced his workat UnityHouse, where he com- binededucation, culture, and entertainment in aneffort to achieve thesocial, intellectual, andpolitical developmentof the working class.Like Cohn and other activists in workers’education, Novik functionedas a working-classintellectual, forging “links betweenthe labor movementand the cultural organizations ofartists andintellectuals.” By organizing lecturesand musical programs, Novik helpedto make UnityHouse a coveted“ spotfor …liberal mindedtalent” to perform. 25 Familiar with his workin UnityHouse and the Discussion Guild, Vladeck offered Novik apositionat WEVD.Novik realized that theadvent of broadcasting might underminelive debates(later recalling that radio was“ giving away what Iwasdoing” ), andhe became fascinated with theidea ofcombining newand old forms of education andentertainment to advance cultural andpolitical struggles.Though reluctantto forgo thecontrol that his workafforded him, Novik agreed tobecome program director, after receiving assurancesthat hewould have afreehand and would answer only to Vladeck andnot to any Forward committee.26 Novik recognizedthat while WEVD couldnot out-compete the popular programming ofnetwork broadcasters, it couldperform “outstandingcommunity service”and becomea “really signicant instrument for labor andthe general liberal …and progressive movementsof New York City.”27 Combining theinterests of workers and thewider community, WEVD couldeducate the public onlabor, industrial, consumer, andagricultural issues,develop local talent,and present “ serious… [and] popular music,plays andsports.” Building alarge audiencefor this programming required,as Novik putit, observing “thecanons of good radio.” 28 Labor programs onWEVD usually ttedthe contemporary programming categories of“ sustained”and “ sponsored.”The stationsustained or gave freeair time tolabor unionsand working-class organizations tomake important announcementsduring strikes,boycotts, lockouts, and organizing drives.At thesame time, WEVD actively encouragedlocal unionsto pay for their ownprograms; andit assistedthem in producing thesesponsored shows for thepurposes of educating, informing, and entertaining anextended working-class audience. Contentdistinguished the labor programs over WEVD.Some programs offered specic information onand analysis oftrade unionorganizing campaigns andstrikes, including coverage ofthe policies andactions of employers andgovernment ofcials.

23IrvingHowe, Worldof Our Fathers (NewYork: HarcourtBrace Jovanovich, 1976),238– 240. 24Orleck, CommonSense anda Little Fire , 57. 25Denning,74; Novik interview(quotation). 26Novik interview; Time,Feb. 24,1941, 55; Broadcasting ,Nov. 1, 1932,23. 27M.S.Novik, “Planning the Campaign,”in O.JoeOlson, ed., Education on the Air:Twenty-second Yearbookof the Institute forEducation byRadioand Television (Columbus, OH: Ohio State UniversityPress, 1953),295– 296; C. S.Marsh, ed., Educational Broadcasting 1936:Proceedings ofFirst National Conference (1937), 329(quotation). 28“IsLabor Gettinga Fair Shake on the Air? Symposium,”in O.JoeOlson, ed., Education on the Air: Seventeenth Yearbookof the Institute forEducation byRadio (Columbus, OH:Ohio State UniversityPress, 1947),123– 124 (quotations); M.S. Novik, “TheUnions, Radio, and the Community,”in Jacob B.S. Hardman and MauriceF. Neufeld,eds., The House ofLabor: Internal Operations ofAmerican Unions (New York: Prentice-Hall,1951), 327– 332; Novik interview. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 353

This type ofprogramming served,if notas an outright organizing tool,then as a vital communicationslink, disseminating instructionsand news to workers. Labor programming onWEVD also conveyedgeneral information aboutthe origin, development,and purposeof the organized labor movementin waysthat createdand reinforced positive images ofworking-class organization. In this latter effort,Novik helpedof cials and members ofthe ILGWU, in particular, toeducate their newmembers, as well asthe general public, about organized labor andits role in society. Athird type ofprogramming utilized by WEVD aimed at abroadly dened working- classaudience and re ected Novik’ s longstanding effortto engage in social uplift. Paralleling thelogic ofof cials in theILGWU and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers ofAmerica (ACWA),Novik supportedthe production of “ highbrow forums,concerts, andlectures” to counterthe mass culture’ s “degrading effecton the personality ofthe worker.”29 Herarely consideredthat thegoal ofachieving political andsocial democracy necessitatedthe creation ofa “newproletarian culture”or theformulation ofan “aesthetic”and “ cultural pattern”by workersthemselves. Nevertheless, Novik believed in workers’need for bread androses. He hoped that by combining educationaland informational material in avariety ofengaging formats—from workers’education to musicappreciation todramatic presentationsto public affairs programming—he might contributeto an era ofworking-class enlightenment. 30 The newprogram director dismissedmuch of WEVD’ s pre-1932 labor andeducational showsas insigni cant. Debs radio had notdone “ adamnthing” with its facilities, contendedNovik. “It wasn’t worthy ofthe license in the rstplace.” 31 Suchstatements overlookedmuch of the progressive programming, including labor- andsocialist-ori- entedshows, that aired onWEVD beforeNovik’ s appearance. During theGreat Depression’s early years (1929–1932), for example, WEVD broadcasta daily labor newsprogram underthe auspices of the radical newsservice, the Federated Press, a seriesof Young People’ s Socialist Leaguedebates on themes such as the use of the military toprotect U.S. businessesabroad, discussionshows by theBirth Control Leagueof America andthe Women’ s PeaceUnion, Socialist SundaySchool, programs producedby theRand School, and a regular offering ofshort talks by prominent socialistsand progressives. Station director G.AugustGerber, in testimonybefore the FRCin October 1930, characterized WEVD asthe “ HydePark ofthe Air.” Like the famousLondon venue, WEVD offeredan open and free forum for thediscussion of public questions. 32 For whatever reasons,Novik choseto ignore this legacy. Novik’s harsh assessmentdid reveal anoversight ofearly stationmanagers: they had failed tocultivate aworking relationship with organized labor. While seeking nancial, political, andmoral supportfrom thelabor community,radio managers had not actively encouragedtrade unionparticipation in stationprogramming. Novik strongly

29StevenFraser, LaborWill Rule: Sidney Hillmanand the Rise ofAmerican Labor (NewYork: TheFree Press,1991), 225. 30Robert J.Schaefer,“ Educational Activitiesof the GarmentUnions, 1890–1948: A Study in Workers’ Educationin the InternationalLadies’ Garment Workers’ Union and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers ofAmerica in NewYork City”(unpublished Ph.D. diss., Columbia Univ., 1951),83. 31Novik interview. 32Brooklyn Daily Eagle ,Jan. 2,1930,26, Jan. 3, 1930,25, Jan. 4, 1930,10, Mar. 18, 1930, 25, Oct. 1, 1932,7, Oct. 4,1932,13, Oct. 8, 1932,17, Oct. 10,1932, 9, Oct. 15,1932, 17, Oct. 24,1932, 32; New Leader,Nov. 9, 1929,3, Dec.14, 1929, 8, Feb. 1,1930,4, July 26,1930, 6; The FederatedPress Labor Letter Labor’s News ,June 22,1929, 3, June 29,1929, 7; FederatedPress news article, “ Debs Radio in Fight forLife,” Oct. 24,1930, “ Censorship—Radio,” Vol. 385,1930, Micro lm Reel71, American Civil LibertiesArchives. 354 N. Godfried believed that aprogressive radio stationshould “ servelabor’ s purposesin times of economicstrife” and “ educateits members towardtheir social andeconomic responsibility.”33 To fostera cooperative relationship betweenWEVD andworking-class organizations, Novik wantedtrade unionof cials tohelp formulate labor shows.At the sametime, Novik recognizedthat workerswere an integral part oftheir communities, that labor’s welfare andconcerns coincided with community interests.In aneffort to entertainand enlighten abroadly dened working-class audience, Novik soughtto make WEVD aprogressive university ofthe air. 34 This idea arosefrom several sources.New York trade unionists,socialists, and liberals had supportedthe station’ s battle toretain its licenseduring 1929–1932 precisely becausethey wantedWEVD tobecome “ auniversity ofthe air for Public Educationby [the] Progressive Movement.”The commitment toprogressive public educationalso derivedfrom thework of activists suchas Cohn and Poyntz. The success ofthe Unity Centers led the latter pair andthe ILGWU to established the Workers’ University in January 1918. Locatedat aManhattan public high school,the university utilized “professorsfrom NewYork area collegesto teach courses in labor problems, industrial economics,American social andpolitical history, accounting,and modern literature.”35 Making adult higher educationavailable onradio grew from workers’ educationprograms, from Novik’s experiencesas an organizer ofpublic talks, andfrom his effortsas a working-classintellectual toconstruct bonds between laborers, artists, andeducators. This approach toradio educationdiffered from networkradio’ s academic efforts. Spurredby criticism ofradio’ s excessivecommercialism andneglect of the public interestand by thefear ofgreater governmental regulation, networkof cials acquiesced tothe creation ofahandfulof educational programs. In thelate 1920s, theColumbia Broadcasting System(CBS) introduced AmericanSchool of theAir ,adaily “attempt to teachchildren history, currentevents, geography, economics,and music through the useof radio dramas.”The weeklypanel discussionprogram TheUniversity ofChicago Roundtable,which theNational Broadcasting Company (NBC) rst aired in February 1931, featured“ professorsand researchers discussing topics that ranged from science topoetry” to politics. Whatever theephemeral value ofthese shows and their spin-offs, they remained isolated andneglected in theworld of commercial broadcasting. Asone radio critic lamentedin late 1935, thenetworks’ educational departments and series receivedonly “thetrimmings ofthe clock, and a cancellation or last minuteshift threatensany scheduledprogram at theslightest hint ofacommercial coming intothe spot.”36 Working with fewerresources than thosepossessed by thenetworks, Novik soughtto developeducational programs that wouldhelp “toraise thegeneral level ofthe

33Novik quoted in Marsh, ed., Educational Broadcasting 1936 , 329–330. 34“IsLabor Gettinga Fair Shake,”123. 35“Report ofthe Committee on the Reorganizationof WEVD,” attached to letterfrom Mary Fox to ILGWU,June 12,1931 ( rst quotation), Box171, Folder 6, Dubinsky Correspondence,ILGWU Records;Orleck, CommonSense anda Little Fire ,179(second quotation). 36J.FredMacDonald, Don’t Touch that Dial:Radio Programming in American Lifefrom 1920 to 1960 (Chicago, IL:Nelson-Hall, 1982),26 ( rst quotation), 288–289 (second quotation); MicheleHilmes, RadioVoices: American Broadcasting, 1922–1952 (Minneapolis, MN: Universityof Minnesota Press, 1997), 139;A. M.Sullivan, “Radio and VaudevilleCulture,” The Commonweal ,23(December 13, 1935), 177 (third quotation); Robert W.McChesney, Telecommunications, MassMedia, and Democracy: The Battle for the Control ofUS Broadcasting, 1928–1935 (NewYork: OxfordUniversity Press, 1993), 38– 62. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 355 intelligence of[WEVD’ s] listeners.” To that end,the station began assembling a “faculty ofthe air” in late 1932. Liberal author, journalist,and historian Hendrik Willem Van Loonjoined Novik in securingthe voluntary servicesof authorities in art, literature, philosophy, music,poetry, history, psychology, andpolitics from theNew York area. Eachlecturer agreed toconduct a seriesof 15-minute classesfor theradio audience.Van Loon’s weeklyhistory programs commencedin mid-November and servedas the “ forerunnerof awidercurriculum.” The radio columnistfor the Brooklyn Daily Eagle,noting Van Loon’s reputation for presenting“ corking feature[s],”urged readersto listen in tothis “unusualprogram.” 37 WEVD’s TheUniversity ofthe Air heldits inaugural broadcaston January 25, 1933. Novik andVan Looninvited some200 writers,artists, and educators, including HeywoodBroun, Elmer Davis, Fannie Hurst,Michael Strange, andLouis Waldman, for agala eventat theAlgonquin Hotel.During theopening show, guests “ spoketheir frank bits about educationon the air andwhat it shouldaccomplish.” Broun, a radical journalist,saw “ noreason why showmanshipand entertainment might notbe mixed with Kant,Karl Marx, Beethovenand Herbert Spencer.”During thenext year, The University ofthe Air offeredits listenerscourses in philosophy with JohnDewey and SidneyHook, psychology with JohnB. Watsonand Olga Knopf,political economywith Norman Thomas, andmusic appreciation with HenryCrowell and Sigmund Spaeth. 38 TheUniversity ofthe Air reected Novik’ s convictionthat so-calledelitist culture couldutilize popular culturetechniques. This wasevident in theparticipation of cultural sophisticatessuch as Sigmund Spaeth andVan Loonin theseries. With a doctoratedegree from PrincetonUniversity, Spaeth, a musiccritic andeducator, rankedamong the“ luminaries ofthe high-culture scene”during the1920s. While denouncingjazz’ s “chiey destructive”in uence on music and society, he nevertheless sought“ tobridge thegap betweenBeethoven and Irving Berlin.”By the1930s, Spaeth had combinedhis musical knowledge“ with arich senseof humor”to become a popular gure onlocal andnational radio. His Tune Detective ,whichaired over stationWJZ and theNBC network, dissected popular tunesto demonstrate their origins in classical musicand “ toshow up the tin pan alley boysfor congenial butalso congenital plagiarists.”Spaeth’ s successat getting “funout of music” carried over tohis participation in both TheUniversity ofthe Air and WEVD’s TalentDetective .The latter show aired in 1935 andcopied the amateur-hour style pioneeredby Major Bowesand others. Butit had adistinctivetwist: rather than inserting ineptperformers toamuse listeners, Spaeth pre-auditionedeach contestant and, during thebroadcast, assumed the role of “musiccounselor and friendly critic.”39

37MorrisS. Novik, “TheUniversity of the Air,”in Education on the Air:Proceedings ofthe Sixth Annual Institute forEducation byRadio and the Fifth Annual Assemblyof the National AdvisoryCouncil on Radioin Education, 1935 (Chicago, IL:Universityof Chicago Press,1935), 116 ( rst quotation); Brooklyn Daily Eagle,Oct. 28,1932, 23; New YorkTimes ,Nov. 6, 1932(second quotation); Brooklyn Daily Eagle , Nov. 11,1932, 15 (third and fourth quotations). 38New YorkTimes ,Jan. 26,1933, 13; Morris S. Novik, “TheUniversity of the Air,”in LeveringTyson and J.MacLatchy,eds., Education on the Air… andRadio and Education: Proceedings ofthe Sixth Annual Institute forEducation byRadio, 1935 (Chicago, IL:Universityof Chicago Press,1935), 113; Federal Writers’Project of the WorksProgress Administration, New YorkPanorama: A ComprehensiveView ofthe Metropolis (NewYork: Random House,1938), 298; Brooklyn Daily Eagle ,Jan. 26,1933, 21 ( rst quotation); New YorkTimes ,Feb. 5,1933,Sec. 9, 10(second quotation), Dec.1, 1935,Sec. 11, 13; New YorkWorld-Telegram ,Jan. 31,1933. 39Hilmes, 49( rst quotation); Sigmund Spaeth, “Jazzis not music,” Forum,80(1928), 270–271 (second quotation); New YorkTimes ,Nov. 13,1965, 29 (third quotation); New YorkWorld-Telegram ,Mar.9, 1935 356 N. Godfried

HendrikVan Loonalso possesseda doctorate(from theUniversity ofMunich) and spenthis life popularizing thearts andhistory. The author ofsix bestsellersand the winnerin 1922 ofthe rstJohn Newbery Medal for distinguishedcontributions to children’s literature, Van Loondeveloped an unusual style for radio. While occasionally unnerving WEVD “engineersby his extemporaneousinterjections,” Van Loonbecame a“raconteurwhose voice wastinged with melancholy ashe ranged over adozen subjectswithin thespace of a brief conversation.”Van Loon“ enjoyedteaching history, especially onthe adult level, andon WEVD what hehad tosay wasmore important than howmelli uously he said it.” His shows generated a oodof calls “from grateful, enthusiasticlisteners, most of whom spoke with athicker accentthan” his. By utilizing Spaeth,Van Loon,and other engaging progressive intellectuals,Novik hopedto provide educationalfare attractive toworkers, their families, andtheir communities. 40 It isdif cult, if notimpossible, todetermine the extent to which working-class audiencestuned into TheUniversity oftheAir’ s courses,let alone ascertain whetherthey wereedi ed or engaged by them.Both small andlarge broadcasting stationslacked sophisticatedor accuratetools with which tomeasure the size or compositionof their audiencesin the1930s. Although TheUniversity ofthe Air neverattracted theattention oflocal advertisers,the standard, but often misleading, commercial measureof audi- enceinterest, the program’ s continuedstatus as a sustainingprogram shouldnot be interpretedas widespread lack ofinterest in its contents.Novik andVan Loon consciouslykept theshow free of commercial trappings. Lecturers,radio critics, selectedlisteners, and government regulators, whovoiced an opinion about The University ofthe Air ,suggestedthat theshow respected and accommodated its audience’s needs.At Novik’s request,for example, theshow frequently discussed social, political, andeconomic issues meaningful toworking-class New Yorkers. The program’s longevity—it continuedthroughout thedecade— attested to its popularity among listenerswithin WEVD’s admittedly limited broadcast range. TheUniversity of the Air contributedto WEVD’ s growing reputation as“ oneof the few stations in the UnitedStates which placespublic serviceabove private prot andgives appropriate emphasis tothe statutory obligation tooperate in thepublic interest.”41 Butcreating programming for NewYork’ s working-classcommunity wasnot the same as allowing laborers andtheir trade unionsto formulate their own programs.

—footnote continued (fourth and sixth quotations); Variety,Aug. 30,1932, 48 ( fth quotation), Mar.13, 1935, 38; New York Post,Mar.2, 1935(seventh quotation); Billboard,Mar.23, 1935, 10, May 18,1935, 9. 40GerardWillem van Loon, The Story ofHendrik Willem Van Loon (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1972),133, 270 ( rst, third, and fourth quotations); New YorkTimes ,Mar.12, 1944, 37 (secondquotation); “HendrikWillem VanLoon” (editorial), New YorkTimes ,Mar.13, 1944, 14. Although they sharedcharacteristics with the “radicalmoderns” that Denningidenti es as alignedwith working-classintellectuals, Spaeth and VanLoon represented a differentstratum ofthe 1930scultural front(xv– xvi, 163–164). 41For positive referencesto the program, see New YorkPanorama ,298;“ TheUniversity of the Air,” School andSociety ,40(Dec.15, 1934), 805– 806; A.M. Sullivan, “Radio and VaudevilleCulture,” The Commonweal,23(Dec. 13, 1935), 177; New YorkTimes ,Dec.1, 1935,Sec. 11, 13, Dec. 6, 1936,Sec. 12,16; Novik, “Universityof the Air,”115– 116; US, FederalCommunications Commission (FCC), FederalCommunications CommissionReports, March1, 1937–November 15, 1937 ,Vol. 4(Washington, DC: USGovernmentPrinting Of ce, 1938), 536 (quotation); Marsh, Educational Broadcasting 1936 , 329; Broadcasting ,12(June 15,1937), 28; Letters, Hendrick Willem VanLoon toMorrisNovik, Dec.22, 1936 and undated (probably 1937),copies in possession ofauthor. On the subjectof con ating commercial successwith culturalsuccess, see Denning, 158– 159. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 357

Novik oftenlamented organized labor’s slowgrasp of“ thepossibilities ofradio.” He urgedunions to devise radio techniquesto serve the larger working-classcommunity and“ toeducate[union] members towardtheir social andeconomic responsibility,” not only in “timesof economic strife,” but also in non-crisisperiods. Writing toCharles Zimmerman, manager ofILGWU Local 22, in March 1934, Novik explained that he waspersonally “soldon the idea ofconverting radio andour station in particular, into alively medium ofunioneducation and propaganda.” Given its distinguishedrecord in workers’education and public relations, theILGWU was a perfecttarget for Novik’s appeal.42 The union’s rstand longest-running radio effortwas TheVoice of Local89 , produced by Italian DressmakersLocal 89. Luigi Antonini,Local 89’ s general secretary andan ILGWUvice-president, began giving 15-minute messages,in Italian, over station WFAB in late January 1934. Asthese brief talks continued,Antonini and Novik arranged for aweeklyshow over WEVD.The resulting Italian-language program aired onSaturday mornings andoffered a “half hour ofmelodious music and songs with the bestItalian radio artists available. ‘Sketches’from proletarian life. Addressesin Italian andEnglish by prominent Unionleaders.” Novik andAntonini understood that as unionsgrew— partly in responseto federal recognition oflabor’ s right toorganize— unionof cials wouldneed to use the radio toreach outto young peopleand “ toteach thenew members thehistory [and] thegeneral objectiveof labor [unions].”ILGWU presidentDavid Dubinsky praised thelocal union’s effortsto educate its members and its application of“ showmanship”to workers’ education. 43 Showmanship,trade unioneducation, and political commentary all came together in TheVoice of Local 89 underthe supervision of Antonini. An intellectual with a “romantic-proletarian touch,”Antonini emerged as an early labor andcultural leader in theItalian-American working-classcommunity. A superborator, Antoninispoke weeklyon topics “ embracing problems ofgeneral interestto the Italian workersand problems ofthe dress industry.” In thecourse of discussing national andinternational eventsfrom alabor andsocial democratic perspective,Antonini analyzed health care, attackedfascism, pleaded for racial tolerance,and once gave alabor andsocialist interpretation ofthe “ life ofChrist andthe history ofEaster festivities.” Augmenting Antonini’s talks werespeeches by guests:Harlem CongressmanVito Marcantonio explored theprospects for aLabor Party in theU.S. in July 1935; andAngelica Balabanoff, aleading international socialist andformer leader in theItalian labor movement,“ delivered astirring appeal toAmerican labor torally against thedanger of Fascism”in early 1936. Initially 30 minutes, TheVoice of Local 89 expandedto 45 minutesin early 1935 andto a full hour by that spring. The expandedair time gave Antoninithe opportunity toenhance the program’ s entertainment:to offer, for example,abridged versionsof Carmen, Aida,andother operasand “ lively sketchesbased on thelighter sideof the worker’ s life arranged andpresented by thebest fun makers ofthe

42Marsh, Educational Broadcasting 1936 ,329–330 ( rst quotation); Letter,Morris Novik to Charles Zimmerman, Mar.17, 1934 (second, third, and fourth quotations all fromNovik letters),Folder 8, Box 37,Charles S.Zimmerman Records,ILGWU Records; Susan Stone Wong, “From Soul to Strawberries: TheInternational Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union and Workers’Education, 1914–1950,” in JoyceL. Kornbluh and MaryFrederickson, eds., Sisterhood andSolidarity: Workers’ Education forWomen, 1914–1984 (Philadelphia, PA: TempleUniversity Press, 1984), 42– 51; Stolberg, Tailor’s Progress , 282–287, 304; Joel Seidman, The Needle Trades (NewYork: Farrarand Rinehart, 1942),283– 284. 43Justice,Feb. 1934,27, Oct. 1934,19 (rst quotation); Novik interview(second quotation); David Dubinsky testimony to FCC, Nov. 9, 1934,attached to listingof ILGWU talks overWEVD, Folder 6, Box171, David Dubinsky Correspondence,ILGWU Records; Hyman, Staging Strikes ,86–87 (third quotation); Fones-Wolf, “IndustrialUnionism and Labor MovementCulture,” 6– 7. 358 N. Godfried

Italian theatre.”The addedtime also allowed for weeklymessages in English from prominent politicians andILGWU of cials. 44 TheVoice of Local 89 proved popular anduseful within andoutside the Italian-Amer- ican,working-class community in NewYork. As early asJanuary 1936, Novik andhis colleaguesbegan negotiating with several radio stationsalong theAtlantic seaboardto form aneastern network for Antonini’s program. That regional hook-upcame to fruition thefollowing year whenstations in Philadelphia, NewHaven, and Boston joinedWEVD in airing TheVoice of Local89 every Saturday morning between10 and 11 a.m.A referendumheld by unionslocated in areas servedby thethree stations disclosedbroad supportfor theprogram in late 1937. ApleasedAntonini noted that “this popular referendumhas beenan amazing revelation ofthewidespread popularity ofour Union and the prestige it enjoysamong all classesof citizens.” 45 Within monthsof TheVoice of Local89’ s debut,Novik urgedthe international union toproduce its ownshow on WEVD.Novik suggestedthat 20% ofaweeklylabor show should“ workin propaganda onunion organization” and provide information or announcementsabout meetingsand general eventsof interest to members. A labor program had toprovide “high caliber”entertainment in order tobuild anaudience. Satisfying theILGWU’ s membership of“coloredworkers, Spanish andYiddish speaking andAmerican workers,”each group with “its owndistinct taste,” required “a prominent international folk andcharacter singer”who could entertain in different languages. Novik believed it “mostimportant that wearrange areally outstanding program andnot try tosave by putting onsomething more or lessmediocre.” The program couldbe broadcast on Saturdays at 5:30 p.m.at acostof $35 for thetime slot (eveningscost $70) and$90 for “themost outstanding artists.” Novik felt that “this program idea isvery, very soundand I am convincedthat oncewe get started,the program will notonly arousethe attention and interest of most of your members,but will prove cheaper andmore effectivethan any ofthe other mediumssuch as newspa- pers,… ,etc.”46 ILGWUof cials commissioneda seriesentitled TheInternational Hour .Beginning on April 6, 1934, andcontinuing for 10 consecutiveFridays at 10:15 p.m.,the shows celebratedthe ILGWU’ s 35th anniversary. Through ahook-upwith other stations,the program reachedaudiences in NewJersey, Connecticut, and Washington, DC. The ILGWUpaid for theuse of the facilities andthe talent; WEVD suppliedtechnical advice andthe time slot.As Novik recommended,the series included brief talks on labor issues,musical pieces,and short sketches. Dubinsky invited politicians andlabor ofcials tospeak on the program, promising that theshows “ will beconducted in the spirit ofa large meeting ofour members andwill includeeach week outstanding chamber musicensembles and a leading artist ofthe stage andconcert world.” Publicity iers praised theprogram as“ the rsttime that anAmerican labor organiza- tionuses the radio toreach its membership with themessage of trade unionismand workers’education.” 47

44Novik interview;Stolberg, Tailor’s Progress ,111,217, 224 ( rst quotation), 238–241; Justice, Jan. 15, 1935,7 (secondquotation), Feb. 1,1935,7, May 1, 1935,6 (third quotation), July 15,1935, 6, Jan. 15, 1936,7 (fourth quotation), Dec.15, 1935, 4, Jan. 1, 1937,5 (fth quotation). 45Justice,Jan. 1, 1936,7, Jan. 1, 1937,5, Jan. 15,1937, 6, Jan. 1, 1938,6 (quotation). 46Letter,Novik to Zimmerman, Mar.17, 1934, Folder 8, Box37, Zimmerman Records,ILGWU. 47Dubinsky testimony to FCC, Nov. 9, 1934,Folder 6, Box171, Dubinsky Correspondence;publicity iersfor “ TheVoice of the International,”Folder 8, Box49, Dubinsky Correspondence;Letters, David Dubinsky to EleanorRoosevelt, Mar.20, 1934, Dubinsky to Governorsof New York, NewJersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut,Mar. 27, 1934, Folder 8, Box49, Dubinsky Correspondence.The ILGWUseries was also called The Union Assembly and The Voice ofthe International . Strugglingover Politics and Culture 359

The rstedition of TheInternational Hour includedaddresses by Dubinskyand AFL presidentWilliam Greenand musical performancesby theHall JohnsonNegro Choir andthe Compinsky Trio. “Wewishto make this anopen forum, a great labor meeting onthe air,” Dubinsky told the audience, “ toobtain your reactionsto the great problems that confrontall ofusandto make ourleadership assensitive and responsive as possible tothe will ofthe membership.” 48 Subsequentshows featured speeches by Women’s Trade UnionLeague president Rose Schneiderman, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, For- ward editor-in-chiefAbraham Cahan,and various ILGWUof cers. Prominent stage andconcert stars included Molly Piconfrom theYiddish stage andMorton Downey. Harp trios,string quartets,and other assortedmusical groups andsoloists rounded out theprograms. The showbroadcast onApril 27, 1934, according tothe trade paper Variety,had actressAlla Nazimova playing “theprotagonist in athumbnail sketch dealing with thesubject of child labor. It wasundiluted propaganda, buteffectively put.”49 ForbesMagazine deemedthe entire series signi cant, “ notso muchbecause a union issponsoring the program, butbecause a unionis usingradio for thesame reason that an employer does,as a business-likemethod of meeting its businessproblems …It gives members arallying point,keeps up theinterest and builds up adenite picture of the union.”50 The ILGWUleadership consideredthe program agreat success.Du- binsky told theFederal CommunicationsCommission in late 1934 that theunion wouldcontinue to use WEVD “toacquaint themembership …andthe general public about”industrial, political, andeconomic problems confrontingthe nation. 51 The format oflive classical music,sketches, and prominent political andlabor speakers,perfected by TheVoice of Local 89 and TheInternational Hour ,becameNovik’ s prototype for all his subsequentlabor programs. Motivatedby animpending strike against shopsproducing children’s andwomen’ s clothesin thefall of1935, ILGWU Local91 arranged for aseriesof broadcasts over WEVD.“ Almost entirely composed of[National Recovery Administration, NRA] babies,”the local had grownfrom fewer than 500 members in 1932 toapproximately 6000 within ayear. The majority ofnew members wereyoung womenwho had notrade unionexperience. Local 91 manager Harry Greenbergsought to use the Tuesday evening broadcaststo inform members about thestatus of negotiations, to mobilize workersfor astrike,and to “ presentour caseto the public at large.”In addition tothe weekly strike-related discussions,Local 91’s radio program offeredtalks by unionof cials andmusical entertainmentby performers from ILGWUchorus and orchestral groups.The unioncontinued broad- castsin 1936 and1937. 52 Usinga similar format, Local62 inaugurated aweeklyshow over WEVD in 1937 with thegoal ofeducating its 11,000 members andthe larger listening audienceabout its programs andprinciples. 53 In reviewing aseriesof shows sponsoredby Local142 in 1934, Variety needlesslywarned WEVD andits union collaborators that they operated“ underthe same obligation toobserve showmanship

48Publicity iersfor ILGWU program; “Talk by David Dubinsky …overStation WEVD,”April 6,1934, Folder8, Box49, Dubinsky Correspondence. 49Publicity iersfor ILGWU program, Folder8, Box49, Dubinsky Correspondence; Variety, May 1, 1934, 34. 50Justice,July 1934,2; ForbesMagazine , July 1934. 51Dubinsky testimony to FCC, Nov. 9, 1934,Folder 6, Box171, Dubinsky Correspondence. 52Justice,Sept. 1, 1935,7; Stolberg, Tailor’s Progress ,234( rst quotation); Justice,Oct. 1, 1935,4 (secondquotation), Nov. 1,1935,14, Jan. 15,1936, 2, Jan. 15,1937, 2. 53Justice,Mar.15, 1937, 7. 360 N. Godfried requirementsthat conditionthe efforts of manufacturers, etc.” It wasa point long appreciated by Novik. 54 In thesummer of 1935 theILGWU returned to WEVD andpresented a 6-week seriesthat dramatized important eventsin theunion’ s history. Amember oftheunion’ s educationaland dramatic staff,Florence Lasser, had beenhelping unionmembers to fashionplays “outof their ownlife history.”Lasser also authoredseveral playlets that aired over WEVD.In thespring of1935 shewrote TheStory of the ILGWU . The six episodescovered everything from thearrival ofimmigrants in NewYork tothe birth of theILGWU to the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire tothe NRA. Performed by theILGWU’ s theater group, theplay’ s rstepisode aired onWednesday, July 10 at 10 p.m.Novik andILGWU leaders claimed yet another triumph for “great [labor] propaganda and educational”programming. Aneditorial in theunion newspaper, Justice,praised the educationaldepartment and highly recommendedthe series “ tothe thousands of our newmembers, to those who are eager tolearn ofthepast andthe development stages oftheir great organization.”The editorsalso notedthat suchradio productionswere a goodway toinform andentertain workers, especially given “theclosing ofregular educationalactivity over thesummer period.” 55 Effortsby theILGWU and WEVD todramatize labor history underscoredthe persistentchallenge ofentertaining andeducating listeners while raising working-class consciousness.Radio drama seemedto combinesocially relevant issueswith entertainment.The GreatDepression, the New Deal, andthe revival ofradical politics and working-classorganizing had acceleratedthe development of workers’ theaters across the nation.56 In 1933, artists whobelieved that trade unionsformed the vanguard of societal change foundedthe Theatre Union.They aimed toproduce “ plays ofovertly propagandistic proletarian content,”to depict “ economicand social problems experi- encedby themajority ofAmericans,” and to make thoseplays “available toaudiences unableto pay Broadway prices.”57 By theend of its secondseason (1934– 1935), 500,000 peoplehad attendedthe theater’ s fourproductions, and theater critics praised thegroup’ s “honorable recordfor enterpriseand originality” and its “creditable pioneering among new,unexploited audiences.” 58 Seeking toreach thewidest possible working-classaudiences with their social plays, somemembers ofworkers’ theater consideredradio “adramatic medium ofgreat value, particularly tothose denied any

54Variety,June 10,1936, 47. 55Justice,Jan. 1, 1935,9 (rst quotation), April 15,1935, 9, July 1, 1935,1, 13;Florence Lasser, The Story ofthe ILGWU:A RadioPlay in SixEpisodes (NewYork: Educational Department, ILGWU,1935); Letter,Morris Novik to David Dubinsky, July 3, 1935,Folder 8, Box49, Dubinsky Correspondence (secondquotation); Letters,Novik to Sidney Hillman, July 3,1935,Hillman to Novik, July 11,1935, Folder29, Box 81, Sidney Hillman Correspondence,Records of ACWA, Catherwood Library; Justice, Aug. 1, 1935,16 (third and fourth quotations), Oct. 1, 1935,12. 56Hyman, Staging Strikes ,1–59; Mordecai Gorelik, “ Theatreis a Weapon,” Theatre ArtsMonthly , 18 (June 1934),420– 423. 57IraA. Levine, Left-Wing DramaticTheory in the American Theatre (Ann Arbor, MI:UMIResearch Press,1985), 97 (all quotations); KarenMalpede Taylor, People’s Theatre in Amerika (NewYork: Drama Book Specialists/Publishers, 1972),70 (all quotations comefrom Levine). 58Taylor, People’s Theatre ,68–71; Levine, Left-wing DramaticTheory ,97–98, 178; New YorkTimes , Oct. 20,1935, Sec. 10, 2, Sept. 5,1937,Sec. 10, 1 (quotation). TheTheatre Union’ s productions included “Peaceon Earth”by GeorgeSklar and AlbertMaltz, “ Black Pit”by Maltz,and “Stevedore”by Sklar and Paul Peters.Annette T. Rubinstein explainsthe meaningof theater in the livesof radicals during the 1930s in “TheCultural Worldof the Communist Party: An HistoricalOverview,” in MichaelE. Brown et al., eds., New Studies in the Politics andCulture ofUS Communism (NewYork: Monthly ReviewPress, 1993), 248–256. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 361 other theater.”59 GivenNovik’ s commitment tolink workersto the world of art andto mix social commentary with entertainment,it seemedreasonable that WEVD and workers’theater wouldbecome allies. Although theweak nancial positionsof both WEVD andworkers’ theater, among other conditions,limited anextensive alliance, thetwo did join forces on several programming ideasduring 1934–1937. In 1934, during theproduction of the Theatre Union’s rstplay, Peaceon Earth ,WEVD carried a1-hour program entitled ThePeople’ s Theater.Mary Fox ofthe Socialist Party conceivedof the idea andmade all the necessaryarrangements. Airing onSundayevenings, the talk showhelped to publicize thework of the Theatre Unionand “ toeducate listeners on the nature and aims of social theatre.”60 During 1935–1936, thetheater group andWEVD presenteda seriesentitled Social Playsof thePast Decade .The 30-minute sustainedprogram aired onSundays at 10:30 p.m.Inaugurating theseries in April 1935 was Spread Eagle ,anadaptation ofa 1927 play by GeorgeS. Brooksand Walter B.Listerwhich contained a stronganti-war and anti-capitalist message. 61 Albert Maltz’s one-act PrivateHicks followedand told the tale ofa working-classsoldier whorefused to obey ordersto shoot strikers during a confrontationat aMid-westelectric parts plant. Commencingin December1935, the Theatre Unionoffered SocialPlays from All over the World onSunday at 8p.m.Some contemporary critics dismissedthese plays as“ humdrum social realism”or complained that workers’theaters were “ nottheatres of workers at all, buttheatres of didactic intellectuals whoundertake to lead workersin theway they shouldgo.” WEVD’ s Theatre Unionproductions, however, generated positive responsesfrom listenersand from trade papers. Variety admitted,for example, that theshows offered “ agoodtalent outlay”for WEVD’s audience. 62 WEVD continuedto support the Theatre Unionon Sunday nights until 1937, when nancial problems forcedthe theater organization todisband. Among thelast ofthe Theatre Unionproductions promoted on WEVD was MarchingSong .Written by John HowardLawson, the play explored theinteraction ofrace andethnicity in thecontext ofworking-class battles against capitalists andthe state. It became“ oneof the most polishedand popular ofthe plays ofthe workers’ theatre movement.”On March 14, 1937, LemWard, thetheater’ s general manager, andRex Ingram, aleading African- American actor andco-star of MarchingSong ,spoketo the WEVD audience.Ingram explained howhe had tired ofthedemeaning parts offeredto blacks in motion pictures andhad left Hollywoodand joined the workers’ theater movementin NewYork, appearing in several Theatre Unionproductions. Politically relevant musical entertain-

59MerrillDenison, “TheActor and Radio,” Theatre ArtsMonthly ,17(Nov. 1933),851. 60Hyman, Staging Strikes ,62;Mark W. Weisstuch,“ TheTheatre Union, 1933–1937: A History” (unpublished Ph.D. diss., City Universityof New York, 1982),174– 175; New YorkTimes ,Feb. 18,1934, Sec.9, 10,Feb. 25,1934, Sec. 9, 10. 61Variety,May 1,1935,30; Ruth Gibbons Thomson, Indexto Full Length Plays,1926 to 1944 (Boston, MA: F. W.Faxon, 1946),91, 119, 260; Edwin Bronner, The Encyclopedia ofthe American Theatre, 1900–1975 (San Diego,CA: A.S. Barnes, 1980),437– 438. 62Jack Salzman, AlbertMaltz (Boston, MA: TwaynePublishers, 1978),32; Justice,Dec.1935, 12; Malcolm Goldstein, The Political Stage: American Dramaand Theatre ofthe GreatDepression (New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1974), 183 ( rst quotation); Edith J. R.Isaacs,“ Communal Theatre,” Theatre ArtsMonthly ,20(July 1936),494, 496 (second quotation); Variety,May 1, 1935,30 (last quotation). Communist-hunter Elizabeth Dillingdescribed PrivateHicks as a“popular Reddrama” and railedagainst WEVDfor broadcasting it. E.Dilling, The Roosevelt RedRecord and its Background (Kenilworth, IL: published by Author, 1936),167. 362 N. Godfried mentcame in theform offour young African-Americans singing Southernwork songs. The program endedwith theannouncer inviting listenersto write aletter of100 words explaining “why weneed a social theater.”The 10 bestletters would win a pair of orchestra seatsto MarchingSong .63 WEVD’s associationwith socially relevant dramas persistedafter thedemise of the Theatre Union.In early 1938, Variety announcedthat WEVD had organized “a dramatic company ofyoung Broadway legiters toair pale pink dramatizations.”In scriptswritten by labor activists, WEVD hopedto offer an alternative toCBS’ s ColumbiaWorkshop .64 Ayear later, WEVD joinedother stationsin theNew York area in broadcasting productionsof the Federal Theatre’s Radio Division. WEVD’s Federal Theatreof the Air seriesincluded a radio adaptation ofthe Federal Theatre Project’s famous One Third ofa Nation ,which dramatically exposed“ thedangerous and disease- riddenhousing that NewYork City’s poor andworking classeshad enduredfor more than onehundred years.” One reviewer praised theradio versionas “ asuccessful condensation”that conveyedmuch of the script’ s “original quality ofintermingled terse drama andnarration.” 65 Throughout muchof the 1930s, WEVD extendedto its audienceboth informeddiscussions about workers’theater andrepresentative productionsof socially andpolitically relevant drama. Popular entertainmentand political educationnaturally intersectedhere. WEVD’s concernwith securingengaging programming, however,dissipated during timesof labor trouble.Eruptions of militant working-classactions during the1930s motivated workersand community activists toseekaccess to theairwaves; andWEVD madeits facilities available toas many trade unionsas its limited nancial resources, staff,and time allowed.In September1934, for example, WEVD supportedthe 400,000 mill workersfrom Maineto Alabama whowent on strike demandingthe end ofbrutal workpractices, increased employment andwages, union recognition, and the reinstatementof workers dismissed for unionactivity. Industryof cials, speaking over thenational radio networks,denounced the United Textile Workers ofAmerica’ s “preposterousand ruinous demands.” These broadcasts ignored howthe industry manipulated stateagencies to enhance industrial stability andpro ts at theexpense of increasedemployment, andhow it usedtens of thousands of private guards,sheriff’ s deputies,and National Guardtroops to keep mills operating. 66 To wintheir strike,as Janet Irons has argued,the “ textile workershad tocreate the political pressurenecessary to give thegovernment in Washington thebackbone … to implement theworkers’ vision ofatrueNew Deal.” Building political pressuremeant, among other things,securing popular supportfor thestrikers’ demands, which, in turn, required accessto the public. The radio networksoffered limited time tounion of cials,

63Hyman, Staging Strikes ,123,75, 76 (rst quotation); WEVDProgram 8:30 p.m., Sunday Mar.14, 1937,“ MarchingSong” (second quotation), Albert MaltzPapers, Box1, Folder73, State Historical Societyof Wisconsin. ColetteHyman generouslyprovided the author with acopy ofthis program. 64Variety,Jan. 12,1938, 28. ColumbiaWorkshop ,which beganairing in July 1936,presented a fairshare ofsocially relevantproductions, includingArchibald MacLeish’s famous verseplay Fall ofthe City ; MacDonald, Don’t Touch that Dial , 54–55. 65FederalTheatre Radio Division, “Schedulefor February 1939,”Publicity— 1939— FTP Radio Division Presentations—NYC Schedule, FederalTheatre Project Collection, Box963 (http:/ / memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/ftad.html); Hyman, Staging Strikes ,124( rst quotation); The Billboard , Feb. 4,1939,10 (remaining quotations). 66Janet Irons, Testing the New Deal: The General Textile Strike of1934 in the American South (Urbana, IL:Universityof Illinois Press,2000); New YorkHerald Tribune ,Sept. 1, 1934,24, Sept. 2, 1934,2 (quotation). Strugglingover Politics and Culture 363 usually aspart ofa “balanced”discussion with industryrepresentatives. Only WEVD continually coveredthe strike from theunion’ s perspective.By thesecond week of the strike,WEVD had setup a directline from unionheadquarters in Washington,DC, andaired “eachevening aash ofthe daily eventsas well asan address by aprominent leader ofthe strike.” 67 WEVD’s rstbroadcasts for theunion included a “hastily composedradio drama depicting aday in strike headquarters.”The docudramabegan with unionstaff receiving morning telegrams from strike centersall along theEast Coast. As Francis J. Gorman,vice-president and strike chairman ofthe United Textile Workers ofAmerica, read thereports, Chester M. Wright, theunion’ s public relations advisor, interrupted with wordthat troopshad beencalled outin Connecticut.A teletype story indicated that picket lineshad been redupon. Gorman dictateda telegram toevery strike sector ordering thepickets “ tohold theline.” He explained tohis audiencethat reactionaries ruledthe industry “ with aniron andunrelenting hand” and had forcedworkers to take directaction. 68 Subsequentbroadcasts followed a more standardformat, with Gorman or other unionof cials explaining recentdevelopments on the picket linesor at the negotiating table. WEVD’s strike coverage also allowed other labor ofcials and progressives tocomment on the textile workers’struggle. WEVD madeits facilities available tothe union until thestrike came toits bitter endin late September. 69 In anequally contentiousand important disputein 1936, WEVD assisteda local unionin explaining its positionto workers and the general public. Strenuousefforts by Local32B ofthe Building Service EmployeesUnion (BSEU) to organize elevator operators in 1934 and1935 encountered erceresistance by building owners.Frus- trated by workers’advances, the city’ s “real estatebarons” sought to crush the union. Local32B respondedwith acity-widegeneral strike in March 1936. 70 Walter Gordon Merritt, counselto the New York City Realty Advisory Board, frequentlyspoke over themicrophones of network-owned stations WABC (CBS) and WJZ (NBC), denounc- ing thestrike asan “ unjustied surprise attack” and the union’ s demandfor aclosed shopas an effort to gain a“monopolistic stranglehold uponthis vital industry.”Merritt usedthe radio tothreaten militant strikers with dismissal andto promise strikebreakers permanentjobs. 71 Unionof cials also gained accessto the airwaves, butrarely through thefacilities of commercial stations.An oldfriend of Novik’ s, BSEUpresident James J.Bambrick, had rstused WEVD’ s microphonesto discuss union issues in thefall of1934. In late February 1936, Bambrick’s addressover WEVD,“ MustWe Strike?,” laid outthe union’s grievances andattacked the building owners’head negotiator. Merritt, decrying

67Irons, Testing the New Deal ,141–142 ( rst quotation); New YorkTimes ,Sept. 8, 1934,13, Sept. 13, 1934,3; Letter,Morris S. Novik to Charles Zimmerman, Sept. 15,1934, Folder 8, Box37, Zimmerman Records,ILGWU (second quotation). 68New YorkTimes ,Sept. 12,1934, 3. 69New YorkTimes ,Sept. 11,1934, 17, Sept. 12,1934, 32, Sept. 13,1934, 3, 32,Sept. 15,1934, 2, 18,Sept. 18,1934, 17, Sept. 19,1934, 17, Sept. 20,1934, 41; Brooklyn Daily Eagle ,Sept. 12,1934, 22, Sept. 18,1934, 22, Sept. 21,1934, 28, Sept. 22,1934, 16; New Masses,Oct. 2,1934,14; Irons, Testing the New Deal, 150–173. 70ServiceEmployees International Union (SEIU), AFL–CIO, Local 32B–32J: Sixty Years ofProgress, 1934–1994 (NewYork: SEIU,1994), 14; New Masses,Mar.10, 1936, 3. Building ownersdismissed with impunity elevatoroperators who participated in organizingefforts in 1934–1936. Interview, David Godfriedwith author, Dec.8, 1989,New York City. 71New YorkTimes ,Mar.7, 1936,2 (rst quotation), Mar.11, 1936, 1; Brooklyn Daily Eagle , Mar. 7, 1936,2 (secondquotation). 364 N. Godfried

“hate theemployer” rhetoric from “irresponsible”labor leaders,told newspapersand radio stationsthat the“ elevator boys”already receivedfair compensationfor their “light, unskilled,unexacting, and intermittent” work. 72 The intenseanimosity between theunion and building ownersexploded into violence in thestreets and a vitriolic exchange ofwords in thepress and on radio. Every Tuesdayevening during theshort strike, Bambrick spokeover WEVD.He describeddevelopments in thenegotiations, criticized thestrikebreaking effortsby the building industry,and reiterated theunion’ s demandsfor wage increases,reduced hours,improved working conditions,and the closed shop. In addition toallowing union ofcers to explain thepurpose of their strike tothe city’ s working andmiddle classes, WEVD conveyedimportant strike information tothe rank and le.These services helpedmaintain ahigh level ofunion militancy andgarnered signicant public support for thestrike. Indeed, by making its facilities available totheelevator operators,WEVD helpedthe strikers tosolidify adeveloping alliance with themiddle-class tenants residing in struckbuildings, analliance that weakenedthe resolve of the city’ s real estatepowers. 73 With alimited budget,sustaining programs for striking unionsproved acontinuous burdenfor WEVD.Broadcasting news ashesand speeches from Washington,DC, during the1934 textile strike,for example, costthe station $50 aday.Committed to continuing ve or six broadcastsper week“ aslong aswe feel that it ishelping the strike,”Novik raised thenecessary amount of money by soliciting small nancial contributionsfrom David Dubinskyand the presidents of local garment trade unions. 74 To nancea weeklylabor newsreview with “aradio labor editor anda brief addressby” unionrepresentatives, WEVD publicity director GeorgeField pleadedfor $65 from local trade unionsin early 1935. 75 Station ofcials warmly welcomedbusiness sponsor- ship for labor programming. They werepleased that Avalon Cigarettes,a subsidiary of Brownand Williamson Tobacco Company anda rm that employed “unionworkers underunion labor terms,”sponsored Chester M. Wright’s syndicatedlabor newsshow onFridays at 10:30 p.m.in 1937. 76 The schedulingand nancial problems that WEVD facedin trying toassist labor organizations during various crisesdemonstrated the limitations ofalternative radio functioningwithin acommercial system.WEVD neededsponsored programming to help offsetthe cost of the labor showsthat it sustained.But as sponsors demanded peak listening hours,commercial programs began tosqueeze the station’ s sustainedlabor andeducational fare into smaller andsmaller time slotsor offthe air entirely. With only 57 hoursof broadcast time per weekin 1935, WEVD devotedwell over one-thirdto sponsoredshows. Two-thirds of WEVD’s broadcastschedule came before6 p.m.and, through part ofthe mid-1930s at least,WEVD had toleave theair eachday between

72James J.Bambrick, The Building Service Story (NewYork: TheLabor HistoryPress, 1948), 39, 48 (quotations); New YorkTimes ,Feb. 27,1936, 17; Walter Gordon Merritt, Destination Unknown: Fifty Years ofLabor Relations (NewYork: Prentice-Hall,1951), 221. 73Bambrick, 39; New YorkTimes ,Feb. 27,1936, 17, Mar. 2, 1936,1, Mar.3, 1936,29, Mar. 6, 1936, 3, Mar.10, 1936, 21, Mar. 16, 1936, 4, Mar.17, 1936, 29; Brooklyn Daily Eagle ,Mar.13, 1936, 2; Daily Worker,Mar.5, 1936,6; New Masses,Mar.17, 1936, 12– 15, Mar. 24,1936, 20. See also GracePalladino, “When MilitancyIsn’ t Enough: TheImpact ofAutomation on NewYork City Building ServiceWorkers, 1934–1970,” LaborHistory ,28(1987), 196–220. 74Letter,Novik to Zimmerman, Sept. 15,1934, Folder 8, Box37, Zimmerman Records. 75Letter,George Field to Charles Zimmerman, Jan. 9, 1935,Folder 8, Box37, Zimmerman Records. 76Justice,Mar.15, 1937, 15. Avalon had also sponsoredWEVD’ s coverageof the AFL conventionin Tampa, Florida, in 1936. Justice,Nov. 15,1936, 9. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 365

9and10 p.m.This left thestation with amere 19 hoursin prime evening time. Novik had recommendedthat theILGWU should schedule shows on Saturday afternoons,in part becauseit wasless expensive for theunion, but also becauseit clearedthe few prime time evening hoursfor regular commercial programming. From thebeginning of Novik’s reign, WEVD urgedlabor unionsto sponsor their ownshows over thestation. Whenthey acquiredfree access to WEVD’s facilities, socialistsand union activists were subjectto abrupt cancellationsif sponsoredprograms becameavailable. The growing importance ofsecuring advertisers gradually pushedprogressive programs offprime time schedules.Vladeck himself admitted in 1937 that “weare more conservative than weshould be.” 77 The commercial fare that helpedWEVD tosubsidize its progressive programming also had links tothe working-class communities that Novik andtrade unionleaders hopedto tap. From its early years,WEVD had openedits facilities toethnic programs, especially Yiddish-language shows.The Forward’sownsponsored program, The For- ward Hour,becameone of themost popular Yiddishshows on WEVD andall ofradio during the1930s. It wasjoined by many other commercial programs, including The Yiddish Philosopher , The Newsboy, TheMerry Cantor , TheMarriage Bureau , and Uncle Nokhemand his Kiddies .Typical ofthese commercial showswere programs sponsored by thebaking rm ofA. Goodmanand Sons, which specialized in Passover foods. SynagogueMelodies ,aWednesdayevening musical showthat aired in thespring of 1933, presented,according to Variety,adifferentset of “ high quality”cantors each week,singing amixture ofreligious andsecular music. “ Besidesthe solo and choral singing there’s arabbi”to help listenersprepare for Jewishholidays and“ toappend a sermonon some topic ofcurrentmoment.” In aMarch 1933 broadcastthe commentary focusedon Nazi persecutionof Jews in Germany andrecommended protest actions.78 Other programs includedsoap operas and comedy skits with versatile performers from Yiddishtheater. Yiddish programming over WEVD frequentlyencom- passedsubjects relevant tothe lives ofthe mostly working-classaudience. “ Judiciously phrased”advertisements in Yiddishand English urgedthe consumption of everything from noodlesto furniture to headache remedies to Coney Island excursions. 79 Whatever thesocial or cultural impact ofWEVD’ s sponsoredYiddish programs onits working- classJewish audience, these commercial ventureshelped to free time andresources for WEVD’s labor shows. The nancial pressuresof a commercial broadcasting system,nevertheless, forced Novik andhis assistantsto insist that, wheneverpossible, trade unionshad topay for their ownprogramming rather than have thestation sustain the labor shows. The Voice of Local 89, TheInternational Hour ,andother programming producedin collaboration

77FCC, FCCReports, July 1,1935– June 30,1936 ,Vol. 2(Washington, DC: USGovernmentPrinting Ofce, 1937), 232– 233; Letter, Charney Vladeckto Jacob Billikopf, Jan. 19,1937 (quotation), I–13“ V” GeneralCorrespondence, Micro lm R1870,Baruch Charney VladeckPapers, Tamiment Library, New York University; Variety,Feb. 24,1937, 44. 78Novik interview;Nahma Sandrow, VagabondStars: A WorldHistory ofYiddish Theater (New York: Harperand Row, 1977),289; Variety,Mar.28, 1933, 36 (quotations), Feb. 13,1934, 38; Billboard, Jan. 13,1934, 13. Henry Sapoznik’ s forthcomingstudy ofYiddish entertainmentand his radio documentary, On the Air:Yiddish Radio 1925– 1955 ,contain the most comprehensivereview of Yiddish radio programs fromthe 1930s. 79Variety,July 11,1933, 42, Aug. 8, 1933,39, Mar. 27, 1934, 38 (quotation); Billboard,Mar.3, 1934, 14.See also Ruth Glazer,“ TheWorld of Station WEVD:Erev Shabbos in Yiddish-American Culture,” Commentary,19(Feb. 1955),162– 170. 366 N. Godfried with ILGWUlocals acceptedthis rule.Commenting on this situationin early 1937, Variety noted: WEVD has managed through thelast fewyears tomake its standfor trade- unionismmore orlesspay. In NewYork, where militant trade unionsabound like peanutsin Virginia, unionshave gotteninto the habit ofbuying time at straight rates for self-propagandizing and,more often,for calling strikesand maintaining morale during their duration.WEVD still airs sustainingperiods for trade unionism,but now only whensome particular phaseof it looms largely in public prints andconsciousness. Also these sustainers are now conned to merely oneor twoshots, and only whensome w.k. [well known] gure canbe obtained to pull heavy listening audience. 80 WEVD’s labor programming policy remained in place evenwhen Morris Novik left the stationto become the manager ofWNYC, New York’ s municipal radio outlet,in February 1938. GeorgeField succeededNovik andfound ironically that his jobhad becomemore difcult because of an expansion of the station’ s operations.By thefall of1938, Debs radio had added36 hoursto its broadcasting schedule—the result of a Federal CommunicationsCommission decision allowing WEVD topurchase station WFAB andits air time. The Forward company paid approximately $85,000 for WFAB and fundednew broadcasting facilities for WEVD onWest 46th Street. 81 Theseexpenses necessitatedthe securing of more commercial programming and,as a result,the limiting oftime available for organized labor andthe socialist movement. AsField tookup his newposition, the Social Democratic Federation,a creation of theOld Guardof the Socialist Party, requestedWEVD tomake time available for its members todiscusstopics of socialist philosophy andto offer a socialist perspectiveon contemporary problems. Field gave theFederation a15-minute sloton three Friday eveningsa monthin early 1938. Over thecourse of the next year, thestation altered both thedays and times ofbroadcast “ becauseof commercial commitments.”82 In the summerof 1940, Field discontinuedthe program becausethe station “ had torearrange ourentire evening broadcast scheduleto make way for afull-hour commercial variety show.”Socialist discussionsreappeared in thefall, butremained subjectto reschedul- ing decisions.Organization ofcials lamented“ that thesechanges are usually abrupt andare necessitatedby thecommercial departmentof thestation and since our time is notpaid for,we have toadjust ourselves to whatever freetime wecan get.” 83 ILGWUlocals respondedfavorably toa campaign by Field toexpand union sponsor- ship oflabor programs. Aspopular asever, TheVoice of Local89 continuedits weekly showsinto the 1940s andbeyond. In November 1939, it celebratedthe union’ s 20th anniversary with aninternational radio broadcast transmitted from WEVD toEurope

80Variety,Feb. 24,1937, 44. 81New YorkTimes ,Feb. 10,1938, 23; Broadcasting ,Feb. 15,1938, 85; New YorkTimes ,Feb. 21,1938, 10;Letter, George Field to Charles Zimmerman, June 11,1938, Folder 8, Box37, Zimmerman Records, ILGWU; New YorkTimes ,June 4, 1938,13, Oct. 16,1938, 12. 82Letters,August Claessens to GeorgeField, Feb. 26,1938, Field to Claessens,June 27,1938, Claessens to JudgeJacob Panker, Sept. 6, 1938,Claessens to LouisP. Goldberg,Dec. 16, 1938, Field to Claessens, Jan. 19,1939 (quotation), Reel18, Social DemocraticFederation Records, 1933– 1956, Tamiment Library, NewYork University,New York City. 83Letters,Claessens to Goldberg,April 19,1939, Field to Claessens,July 1,1940( rst quotation), Claessensto Field, July 10,1940, Claessens to HedwigWachenheim, Dec.13, 1940 (second quotation), Reel18, Social DemocraticFederation Records, 1933– 1956. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 367 via stationsin Boston. 84 Field met with representativesof garment unionsin thefall of 1938 anddiscussed the creation ofa Labor Hour that wouldair several eveningsa week. Sponsoredby participating unions,the program wouldoffer organized labor regular andcontinuous access to the airwaves, asopposed to the “ scattered,isolated efforts”of unionsin therecent past. By early 1939, ILGWULocals 22 (Dressmakers),35 (Cloak Pressers),and 62 (UndergarmentWorkers) had createdshows that alternated in the8 o’clock hour onconsecutive weekday evenings. For instance,Local 22’ s Thursday broadcastsincluded popular international folk songs,labor skitsby theLocal 22 Players, guestspeakers on pertinent topics, and weekly addresses by theunion’ s secretary-manager, Charles Zimmerman. AFebruary 1939 program urgedunion aid to refugeesfrom fascistSpain andfeatured instrumental Spanish musicperformed by the ILGWUMandolin Concert Ensemble and Spanish airs sungby unionmembers. Yona Finkelstein,of the ILGWU, wrote and sang anoriginal songdedicated to the heroic workersand peasants of Spain. 85 Field tried his bestto demonstrate the advantages oflabor programming tounini- tiated unions.The ACWA’s Jacob Potofsky,for example, thankedWEVD for the opportunity toparticipate in thegala showthat celebratedthe dedication of WEVD’ s newhome in thefall of1938. “This broadcastwas our rstexperiment in radio,”wrote Potofskyin December1938, “andI am pleasedto tell youthat weconsider it an outstandingsuccess, so much so … that wewill plan aseriesof similar broadcasts during thenext few months.” Potofsky thanked Field for “your help in introducing us tothis medium.”86 Despitetheir positive experienceswith WEVD,leaders of the ILGWU and the ACWAdid not commit their limited resourcesto long-running labor shows.In thefall of1939, Field again attemptedto interest the garment unionsin arevised Labor Hour. Hesuggested that “fourfriendly local unions”should sponsor a 1-hour showon two weekdayevenings, with eachunion having its own15-minute period.Each segment couldcontain news from Europe—especially relevant, given thevolatile situation abroad—followed by shortmusical selectionsand concluding with ashorttalk by ofcials ofthe sponsoring unions. The resulting “vital”and “ timely program”would, according toField, attract theattention of both unionmembers andthe general public. Unionof cials, however,did not embrace this cooperative radio venture,even at the “modestcost of $40 aweek”per union. 87 Field also failed toconvincethe ILGWU to sponsora 10-weekexperimental runof a labor serial that “is asortof Rise of the Goldbergs ofthe ladies’ garment industry.”88 Although heproposed different labor show formats—including the Union Hall,aweeklyhalf-hour serieswith amoderator, two distinguishedspeakers, and the studio audience participating in adiscussionof subjects ofinterest to the rank and le—Field couldnot secure regular unionsponsorship for

84Justice,Oct. 15,1939, 5, Nov. 15,1939, 1, 6. 85Letters,George Field to Charles Zimmerman, June 11,1938, Sept. 14,1938 (quotation), Oct. 11, 1938,Folder 8, Box37, Zimmerman Records; Justice,Dec.1, 1938,6, Dec.15, 1938, 6, Jan. 15,1939, 6, 7, Feb. 1, 1939,2, Feb. 15,1939, 6, 7,Mar.1, 1939,15. 86Letters,George Field to Jacob Potofsky, Oct. 18,1938, Potofsky to Field, Dec.3, 1938(quotations), Folder3, Box127, Papers of Jacob Potofsky, Recordsof ACWA. 87Letters,George Field toJacob Potofsky, Aug. 4, 1939(mistakenly dated1935), Potofsky to Field, Aug. 8, 1939,Field to Potofsky, Sept. 6, 1939,Folder 3, Box127, Papers of Jacob Potofsky, ACWA Records;Letter, Field to Charles Zimmerman, Sept. 6, 1939(quotations), Folder8, Box37, Zimmerman Records,ILGWU. 88Letters,George Field toDavid Dubinsky, Sept. 19,1939, Nov. 3, 1939(quotation), Jan. 23,1940, Folder6, Box171, David Dubinsky Correspondence,ILGWU Records. 368 N. Godfried any of them.89 Whenunions did sponsor shows, Field couldnot break theformat establishedby Novik andthe ILGWU. * * * * * * The experiencesof the ILGWU with WEVD during the1930s highlight important aspectsabout labor’s relationship with radio broadcasting andthe trade unionmovement’s understandingof cultural andpolitical struggle. The ILGWU’s long and distinguishedrecord in workers’education and its multifaceted“ cultural front”activities—everything from theater groups tochoral andinstrumental ensemblesto an array ofsporting teams—con rmed theunion’ s commitment tocultural struggle andits recognition ofhow that struggle overlapped andintersected with important political andeconomic battles. 90 Awillingnessto struggle onthe cultural frontmade ILGWU labor intellectuals opento the use of radio broadcasting. Novik, Field, andother WEVD managers assistedlabor ofcials in understandingthe advantages ofradio programming. ILGWUleaders supported short-term labor radio programming for immediate economicand political gains in themidst of strikes, organizing campaigns, or political elections.But only Antoniniand a handfulof other unioninnovators recognizedthe importance ofmaintaining continualaccess to the airwaves for ongoing political, economic,and cultural battles.Most ILGWU of cials neverventured beyond theperception of radio asa medium for advancing theother formsof cultural and political struggle. Radio,for example, couldeffectively inform andentertain workers whenthe unions’ regular cultural andeducational activities closedfor thesummer. Radio wasa meansto an end, not an end in itself. The difculty ofgetting trade unionsto devote time, energy,and money to the productionof regular labor programming over WEVD wasnot unique. WCFL in Chicago confronteda similar problem, and,in their ownways, so did the labor lm movementand labor press. 91 Part ofthis dilemma derivedfrom WEVD’s poor power, frequency,and time allocations, which madeit difcult for large numbersof working- classfamilies with inexpensiveradio equipmentto tune into the station at aparticular hour.Distracting and,at times,debilitating conicts with government agenciesfurther underminedthe resources and resolve of Debs radio. Becausecommercial networks andpowerful independents possessed the nancial resourcesnecessary to afford the bestavailable talent andproduction facilities, they broadcastmore polishedshows than didWEVD. In addition,mainstream broadcasting outletsoffered programs that working-classaudiences frequently found comforting or attractive, despitesubtle or egre- gious anti-labor messages. WEVD andits labor programmers neverdid overcome the tendency to serve their listenersas consumers rather than engaging them ascollaborators. The stationprivi- leged programming for theworking classover programming by theworking class,and fell shortof offering afull selectionof the diversity ofopinion among workers. Operating, asit did,through theof cial structureof the organized trade union movement,WEVD neglecteddissident voices. Its coverage ofthe 1936 elevator operators’strike dependedexclusively onspeechesby BSEUpresident Bambrick. The

89Letters,George Field to Charles Zimmerman, Oct. 29,1940, Will Herbergto Field, Nov. 16,1940, Field toZimmerman, Dec.16, 1940, Zimmerman to Field, Dec.20, 1940, Folder 8, Box37, Zimmerman Records,ILGWU. 90Justice’sregularcolumn entitled“ On the Cultural Front”outlined the various activitiesof the union’s culturalgroups during the late1930s, e.g. Justice,Nov. 1,1939,12. 91Godfried, WCFL:Chicago’ s Voice ofLabor ,124–127; Ross, 227–234. Strugglingover Politics and Culture 369 stationdid not open its microphonesto rank-and- le activists whomight have criticized theunion’ s lack ofdemocratic proceduresor challenged Bambrick’s unilateral decision tohalt amilitant strike for thepromise ofstatearbitration. Nor didWEVD offereither unionof cials or mill workersthe opportunity toanalyze thefailed 1934 general textile strike.92 Theselimitations notwithstanding,working-class intellectuals madesigni cant use of WEVD andprovided crucial servicesfor working-classmovements and trade union audiencesduring the1930s. Intellectuals within thetrade unionmovement itself createdlabor programs like TheVoice of Local89 ,while thoseemployed bythestation devisedgeneral educationalprogramming suchas TheUniversity ofthe Air . These and similar programs over WEVD helpedto inform rank-and-le workersof important trade unionmatters, correct the mainstream media’s distorteddepictions of working- classmovements, assert a positive andenlightened working-class perspective on a variety ofcontemporary issues,and entertain its audience.While WEVD rarely allowed workersthemselves to represent their ownconcerns and aspirations, labor movement intellectuals didtheir bestto shape cultural andpolitical programming tobene t working-classmembers andtheir communities.

92New Masses,Mar.24, 1936, 4– 5; Irons,154– 181.