Evolution, Not Revolution: the Effect of New Deal Legislation On
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION: THE EFFECT OF NEW DEAL LEGISLATION ON INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AND UNION DEVELOPMENT IN DALLAS, TEXAS M. Courtney Welch, B.S.E., M.A., Ed.D. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2010 APPROVED: Richard McCaslin, Major Professor and Chair of the Department of History Randolph Campbell, Committee Member John Todd, Committee Member Aaron Navarro, Committee Member Elizabeth Turner, Committee Member James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Welch, M. Courtney. Evolution, Not Revolution: The Effect of New Deal Legislation on Industrial Growth and Union Development in Dallas, Texas. Doctor of Philosophy (History), August 2010, 226 pp., 9 tables, 11 illustrations, references, 145 titles. The New Deal legislation of the 1930s would threaten Dallas’ peaceful industrial appearance. In fact, New Deal programs and legislation did have an effect on the city, albeit an unbalanced mixture of positive and negative outcomes characterized by frustrated workers and industrial intimidation. To summarize, the New Deal did not bring a revolution, but it did continue an evolutionary change for reform. This dissertation investigated several issues pertaining to the development of the textile industry, cement industry, and the Ford automobile factory in Dallas and its labor history before, during, and after the New Deal. New Deal legislation not only created an avenue for industrial workers to achieve better representation but also improved their working conditions. Specifically focusing on the textile, cement, and automobile industries illustrates that the development of union representation is a spectrum, with one end being the passive but successful cement industry experience and the other end being the automobile industry union efforts, which were characterized by violence and intimidation. These case studies illustrate the changing relationship between Dallas labor and the federal government as well as their local management. Challenges to the open shop movement in Dallas occurred before the creation of the New Deal, but it was New Deal legislation that encouraged union developers to recruit workers actively in Dallas. Workers’ demands, New Deal industrial regulations, and union activism created a more urban, modern Dallas that would be solidified through the industrial demands for World War II. Copyright 2010 by M. Courtney Welch ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the uncompromising and unconditional support from my family and the faculty and staff of the University of North Texas history department. Thank you Mom and Dad for your encouragement, advice and research and editing skills! Thank you to my husband, Michael and my son, Hayden and so-to-be born daughter Mikayla for keeping me grounded and providing unlimited joy! And lastly, but certainly not least, to my mentor Dr. Rick McCaslin, whose guidance and friendship truly made this dissertation a reality. To all these individuals named and the countless many who have aided in this dissertation’s research and discovery I want to say that I have been truly blessed and lucky to have worked with you along the way. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ........................................................................................................ vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................... viii Chapters 1. INTRODUCTION AND HISTORIOGRAPHY......................................................1 2. THE EFFECT OF THE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RECOVERY ACT: A LOCAL AND NATIONAL EXAMINATION .....................................................21 3. THE OPEN SHOP MOVEMENT IN DALLAS, TEXAS, 1900-1930 .................43 4. A PROFILE OF THE TEXTILE, CEMENT, AND AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRIES IN DALLAS, TEXAS, 1900-1930 ................................................60 5. “NEVER GIVE IN!” THE EFFECT OF THE NEW DEAL ON TEXTILE WORKERS IN DALLAS, TEXAS .......................................................................94 6. CIVILITY IN A COMPANY TOWN: THE DEVELOPMENT, GROWTH AND UNIONIZATION OF CEMENT CITY, TEXAS ................................................120 7. FORD WORKERS UNITE! (SORT OF): THE PURSUIT OF UNION REPRESENTATION AMONG THE DALLAS AUTOMOBILE WORKERS ..............................................................................................................................142 8. THE EFFECT OF WORLD WAR II ON DALLAS LABOR RELATIONS .....159 Appendices A. SELECTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS ACT ............178 B. DOCUMENTS OF THE OPEN SHOP ASSOCIATION ...................................181 C. EXECUTIVE ORDER 9370: ENFORCEMENT OF NATIONAL WAR LABOR BOARD DIRECTIVES .......................................................................................185 D. PROMOTION MATERIAL ON TEXAS INDUSTRY ......................................188 iv E. DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON TEXTILE, CEMENT, AND AUTOMOBILE WORKERS DRAWN FROM THE UNITED STATES CENSUS OF 1930 ...............................................................................................190 F. DALLAS, TEXAS, IN 1936 ................................................................................206 G. INDUSTRIAL MAPS OF DALLAS, TEXAS, 1930 ..........................................208 H. MAP OF CEMENT CITY AND EAGLE FORD ROAD, 1940 .........................210 I. CEMETERY LAYOUT FOR THE TRINITY PORTLAND CEMETERY, CEMENT CITY, TEXAS ....................................................................................212 J. MAPS OF MEXICO ............................................................................................213 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................216 v LIST OF TABLES Page 1. Statistical Report of Complaints for Dallas County – March 30, 1935 .............................29 2. Population by Sex and Race, Dallas, Texas, 1920-1940 ...................................................65 3. Number of Manufacturers, Number of Production Workers, and Average Number of Production Workers, Texas, 1919-1947 ............................................................................66 4. Number of Workers, Total Wages, and Average Wages for Texas, 1929-1947 ...............67 5. Mexican American Population for Dallas, Texas, 1900-1920 ...........................................80 6. Immigration from Mexico to the United States, 1901-1950 ............................................128 7. Increase in Food Costs in Dallas, Texas – January 1941-January 1944 ..........................165 8. Increase in Rents in Dallas, Texas – January 1941- January 1944 ..................................165 9. Increase in Clothing in Dallas, Texas – January 1941-January 1944 ..............................166 vi LIST OF IILUSTRATIONS Page 1. Housing in Cement City.....................................................................................................82 2. Ford Motor Company plant in Dallas, Texas.....................................................................88 3. ILGWU strikers pose for a group photograph in 1935 ....................................................108 4. ILGWU strikers waiting to be processed into the Dallas city jail ...................................110 5. ILGWU strikers in the Dallas County jail .......................................................................111 6. A cartoon illustration of the August 7, 1935, “strike-stripping” event in Dallas.............113 7. Dallas strikers in jail for stripping the clothes off of the scab replacements ...................114 8. Depiction of “strike stripping” from La Tribuna Illustrata of Rome, Italy ......................115 9. Meyer Perlstein in the Dallas city jail ..............................................................................116 10. Cement production facilities in Cement City, 1931.........................................................138 11. Herbert Harris holds a bundle made from his torn clothes ..............................................150 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AFL American Federation of Labor CIO Congress of Industrial Organizations FLSA Fair Labor Standards Act ILGWU International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union NIRA National Industrial Recovery Act NLB National Labor Board NLRA National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) NLRB National Labor Relations Board NRA National Recovery Administration NWLB National War Labor Board TLRB Texas Labor Relations Board TWOC Textile Workers Organizing Committee TWUA Textile Workers Union of America UAW United Automobile Workers UTWU United Textile Workers Union viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND HISTORIOGRAPHY By 1900 Texas had gone through a period of economic development that yielded three cities that were among the fastest growing in industry and population in the nation. These cities were Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. Many studies of the urbanization and industrial development of Houston and San Antonio have been conducted, but only recently has Dallas attracted attention. According to historians Blaine A. Brownell and David R. Goldfield, Dallas ranked eleventh among the