City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2014 The Fight Over John Q: How Labor Won and Lost the Public in Postwar America, 1947-1959 Rachel Burstein Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/179 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] The Fight Over John Q: How Labor Won and Lost the Public in Postwar America, 1947-1959 by Rachel Burstein A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2014 © 2014 Rachel Burstein All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. __________________ _______________________________________ Date Joshua Freeman, Chair of Examining Committee __________________ _______________________________________ Date Helena Rosenblatt, Executive Officer Joshua Brown Thomas Kessner David Nasaw Clarence Taylor Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract The Fight Over John Q: How Labor Won and Lost the Public in Postwar America, 1947-1959 by Rachel Burstein Adviser: Joshua Freeman This study examines the infancy of large-scale, coordinated public relations by organized labor in the postwar period. Labor leaders’ outreach to diverse publics became a key feature of unions’ growing political involvement and marked a departure from the past when unions used organized workers – not the larger public – to pressure legislators.