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UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Organizing for Social Justice: Rank-and-File Teachers' Activism and Social Unionism in California, 1948-1978 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6b92b944 Author Smith, Sara R. Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ ORGANIZING FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: RANK-AND-FILE TEACHERS’ ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL UNIONISM IN CALIFORNIA, 1948-1978 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in HISTORY with an emphasis in FEMINIST STUDIES by Sara R. Smith June 2014 The Dissertation of Sara R. Smith is approved: ______________________ Professor Dana Frank, Chair ______________________ Professor Barbara Epstein ______________________ Professor Deborah Gould ______________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Sara R. Smith 2014 Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: 57 The Red School Teacher: Anti-Communism in the AFT and the Blacklistling of Teachers in Los Angeles, 1946-1960 Chapter 2: 151 “On Strike, Shut it Down!”: Faculty and the Black and Third World Student Strike at San Francisco State College, 1968-1969 Chapter 3: 260 Bringing Feminism into the Union: Feminism in the California Federation of Teachers in the 1970s Chapter 4: 363 “Gay Teachers Fight Back!”: Rank-and-File Gay and Lesbian Teachers’ Organizing against the Briggs Initiative, 1977-1978 Conclusion 453 Bibliography 463 iii Abstract Organizing for Social Justice: Rank-and-File Teachers’ Activism and Social Unionism in California, 1948-1978 Sara R. Smith From the 1940s to the late 1970s, rank-and-file teachers and elected leaders in California engaged in dynamic efforts to shape the American Federation of Teachers’ political approach to unionism. This study considers organizing by rank-and-file teachers in this period, both inside the American Federation of Teachers and independently, to promote left-led social unionism. In contrast to a more politically moderate and narrow version of unionism (often referred to as business unionism), advocates of social unionism have sought to simultaneously improve workplace- based rights and benefits while also engaging in movements to challenge social injustice defined more broadly. More specifically, from the late 1940s to the late 1970s rank-and-file teachers in California made challenging various forms of discrimination central to their vision of social unionism. This study examines four case studies that helped to determine the AFT’s political approach to unionism. It begins with a discussion of AFT Local 430 in the late 1940s, a left-led teachers’ union in Los Angeles that prioritized organizing against racism due to the involvement of Communist Party members in its leadership. In 1948 the national AFT leadership expelled AFT Local 430 on charges of communist domination, marking a political turning point within the AFT nationally; where once the AFT was left-led and strongly committed to anti-racism, the union iv became more politically moderate and less committed to struggles against discrimination. The next three case studies consider rank-and-file teachers’ efforts to revive and redefine social unionism from the late 1960s to the late 1970s. Influenced by the new social movements of the period, rank-and-file teachers in California revived the AFT’s earlier anti-racist tradition, but the new social unionism also challenged a wider range of oppressions. The new social unionism was aligned with advocates of Black Power and the Third World left, a resurgent feminism, and, for the first time in a significant way, gay and lesbian rights. Teachers’ organizing also speaks to the relationship of the labor movement to social movements of people of color as they turned toward militancy in the late 1960s, the feminist movement of the late 1960s to early 1970s, and the gay and lesbian movement of the late 1970s. Additionally, bottom-up democratic unionism was a defining feature of the new social unionism in the 1960s and 1970s. The self-organization of rank-and-file teachers and locally-based elected leaders, rather than national leaders, pushed the AFT to more forcefully take on racism, sexism, and homophobia. Organizing by rank-and-file teachers in California in the late 1960s and 1970s demonstrates that the AFT was not politically monolithic. The history of the AFT in California reveals a relatively politically progressive union engaged with social movements in an effort to generate social change on a broad scale. v Acknowledgements Many people deserve thanks for making this dissertation possible. My adviser, Dana Frank, has provided endless support over the years. She has challenged me intellectually, helped me improve my research and writing skills, and has guided me through the difficult terrain of graduate school. She has provided me with a model of socially committed and politically engaged scholarship that I have sought to emulate. Without her encouragement and hours upon hours of help this dissertation could not have been written. Not only has Dana been a mentor for my studies, but she has also inspired me as teacher of U.S labor history. We have worked in the classroom together for many quarters; her dedication to teaching and her ability to arouse the enthusiasm and interest of her students in the history of the U.S. labor movement have not only inspired me, but have also taught me to be a better teacher. Countless other faculty, students, and workers are a part of a community that made completing graduate school not only possible, but also enjoyable. Professor Barbara Epstein was incredibly helpful in the final stages of completing this dissertation. Not only could I count on her to pose questions that made me think more deeply about social movement history, but I could rely on her to do so in a supportive and kind way that helped to ease the anxiety-ridden final stretch of the Ph.D. Similarly, Professor Deborah Gould’s feedback on this dissertation was invaluable. She always challenged me to deepen my analyses and think about questions in distinct ways, and in doing so certainly helped me improve my dissertation. In the early years of my time in graduate school, Professor Paul Ortiz helped me to develop vi a deeper understanding of U.S. labor history, particularly the entwined histories of waged labor and slavery. Finally, a broader community of students, workers, family and friends has sustained my time in graduate school. I would like to thank the administrative staff in the History Department, particularly Cindy Morris and Stephanie Hinkle, for doing the too often thankless work of keeping the department going and answering countless questions over the years. Archival and library staff up and down the state of California and in Detroit made my research possible. The people I interviewed for my dissertation who made the history I examine here deserve my thanks as well. Graduate students and teaching assistants at the University of California make up a political, intellectual, and personal network of friends, colleagues, and co-workers that has made finishing graduate school possible. In particular, I would like to express endless gratitude to Adam Hefty, Michelle Glowa, Brian Malone, Joshua Brahinsky, Jessy Lancaster, Evan Grupsmith, and countless others too numerous to list here for carrying on the struggle and making graduate school a pleasure. On a more personal note, I would like to thank my mom Natalie, my grandma Pamela, and my sister, Sasha for always being there. Last, but certainly not least, my partner, Emma Silverman, deserves boundless thanks for not only her constant and loving support and companionship, but also for her incredible editorial skills. It is impossible to imagine finishing this project without the help of a broad community of people. vii Introduction On September 20, 1948, claiming that the union local had fallen under the control of Communists, the national office of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) revoked the charter of Local 430 in Los Angeles. The following year, officers of Local 430 attended the AFT’s 1949 national convention to appeal the ruling. AFT Vice President, Arthur Elder, spoke in defense of the revocation: We are here this afternoon deciding not only the future of the particular local in question…but I am sure I am still speaking for the [Executive] Council that…we are here this afternoon and this evening very largely shaping the future of our American Federation of Teachers. We are in a measure going to decide what kind of organization this American Federation of Teachers should be.1 Local 430’s appeal was unsuccessful, and the charter revocation remained in place. In October, 1948, immediately following the expulsion of Local 430, the AFT granted a charter to a new Los Angeles local, AFT Local 1021, to be led by more conservative members of Local 430 who had requested the AFT’s investigation of Local 430. Rather than give up, the officers and members loyal to Local 430 decided to establish an independent left-led union, the Los Angeles Federation of Teachers. However, the Red Scare in full steam, beginning in 1950 and continuing through the decade, the leaders of the Los Angeles Federation of Teachers now found themselves subject to interrogation by local, state, and federal bodies on charges of subversion. Many of the union’s leadership were ultimately blacklisted. Its energies sapped and much of its 1 AFT Convention Proceedings 1949, American Federation of Teachers Collection, folder 14, box 24, Walter Reuther Library (hereafter referred to as Reuther Library), Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. 1 leadership fired from their teaching jobs, by the mid-1950s the left-led Los Angeles Federation of Teachers did not survive.

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