"THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE ROCKS THE WORLD": WOMEN IN VANCOUVER'S COMMUNIST MOVEMENTy1935-1 945 Brian T. Thorn B.A. (Hons.) Queen's University at Kingston, 1999 THESIS SUBMllTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History O Brian Thorn 2001 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY March 2001 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 ,,,a du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services biblicgraphiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Onawa ON K1A ON4 OtiawaON K1AON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Lhrary of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts f?om it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ASSTRACT The period behmen 1935 and 1945 was a key one for the Communist Party of Canada [CPC or CP] due to the tumult of the Great Depression and the Second World War. Women were key playen in the success that the CPC had during this periad, one in which Communist and other left-wing movements grew and were more "respectablen than they were during the Cold War that would follow. Yet women were secondary players in the Communist movernent in Vancouver- While CP wmen played crucial roles in raising money for the Party. setting up fighting organizations such as the Vancouver Housewives League, and supporting the Allied war effort, CP members of both sexes pushed Party women into more traditional "femininen roles of wives, mothers, and omaments. The Vancouver Communist Party offered a substantial challenge to Canada's liberal state and the CP provided radical women with an outlet to channel their abilities against capitalism. In the end, howver, the CP failed to alter substantially the fundamental division of labour between radical men and women. Communists upheld the mainstream doctrine of "separate spheresn: they believed that men were workers, labour organizers, and producers Mile leftwing and working class women were domestic, passive, and consumers. This thesis concludes that while we cannot expect radical organizations to be completely separate from the gender ideals of the pefiod in which they existed, the CPC did little to challenge traditional gender roles. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It has men been said that projects such as this one are not simply the produci of one individual's wrk; this in mind, I muid Iike to thank those who have supported me over the past year and a half. 1 am grateful to Mark Leier for supervising my thesis and for providing support at numerous stages of this project; I will always treasure the time that I have spent the 'banjoplaying anarchist." Committee members Allen Seager and Mary Lynn Stewart were also sources of helpful comments and moral support. These three scholars have show a committment to radical politics and to an "engage history that I can only hope to emulate someday. Marjorie Cohen was kind enough to act as my extemal examiner. I must also thank Bryan Palmer of Queen's University for introducing me to labour history and for making me want to bewme an historian. The Department of History and the School of Graduate Studies at Simon Fraser University, along wSththe Boag Foundation, provided financial support for which I am grateful. It has, by now, become axiornatic that graduate students leam more from each other than from their professors. In this light, it is appropriate to thank especially Mark Corrado, Chris Dummitt, John-Henry Harter, Nancy Janovicek, Julian Jubenville, Jane Power, and Sonja Reid. Special thanks are due to Chris and Sonja for providing alcohol and friendship to see me through, and to Alex and Brenda Richmond for helping me move! I also want to thank George Gidora of the Comrnunist Party of Canada for answering rny many questions and for introducing me to my interviewes. I am, of course, indebted to those Communist wmen who iv allowed me to interview them: Vi Oevuhurst, Elspeth Gardner, Betty Greenwell, Betty Griffin, Mona Morgan, and Rosaleen Ross. They may not agree with what I have written here but I hope that they will at least appreciate my 1990s-2000 socialist- feminist perspective. The Martin farnily of Surrey, Richard, Sandra, Karen and Tara, gave me a place to live Men I was in ne& At long last, they wi-Il have a chance to see what their support wrought! I hope that they not be too disappointed. Ba& at home in Ontario, other friends such as Hilary Foley, Tyler King, John Lee, Rodel Ramos, Daryl Smith, and Marcia Wilson have been sources of constant support. Perhaps my greatest debt is to my parents, AIlan and Patricia, and to my sister, Andrea. Needless to Say, they have always been sources of cornfort, financial and otherwise, to me over the years. To them, this thesis is dedicated. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Abstract Acknowledgernents Introduction: "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle ... ": Women In Vancouver's Communist Movement /1 Chapter One: "You Have To Fight And Stniggle For Everythingn: Vancouver's Communist Women During The Great /15 Depression Chapter TM: .WB Can't Have Peace If We DonJtHave Unity": Vancouver's Communist Women Confront World War Two 14 1 Chapter Three: "The Most Successful Picnic Yet Seen In Vancouver": Communist Party Beauty Pageants In 165 British Columbia During The Second World War Conclusion: "It Always Has To Be Fought For": VVhither Comrnunist Women And Men? Bibliography 192 Introduction: "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. ...." : Women In Vancouver's Communist Movernent In May of 1939, as the wrld headed towards the Second World War, Jean Mason, a prominent member of Vancouver's Communist and wornen's movements, wote a letter to the Communist Party newspaper the People's Advocate that encapsulated the views of many left-wing wornen on the nature of their role in capitalist society. It also offered an apt view of how the Communist Party of Canada [CPC or CP] in Vancouver saw women's role. Mason commented on the capitalistic nature of Mothers' Day and what it meant for leR-wïng and workingclass women. She first remarked that "it would be a fine thing indeed, that is for capitalism, if the rnothers of the nation could be lufled to a subconscious and false contentment through the highly commercialized sentiment of Mothen' Day."' Mason went on to note that: it would seem that still another of the old sayings of capitalism - "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the wortd" - has been shot to pieces. Most mothers know how untrue this is and the job that confronts al! mothers on this day is to get together and wrk together for a solution to the many ills the human race is suffering fr~rn.~ Mason concluded that: mothers want something more than flowrs and candy one day of the year. They want a society in Mich al1 their children wilt have the right to a happy home environment, higher education, suitable employment and a happy life for all, and one of the most effective means of achieving this is to join the numerous progressive wmen's organizations, raising a united voice to demand legislation that will put an end to the miserable existence so many of us are living under ' People's Adwcate, 19 May 1939. People's Adwcate, 19 May 1939. today. Let's change the old saying so that 'the hand that rocks the cradle rocks the ~rld."~ Mason tumed the traditional notion of women being important in the capitalist wwld into a statement of mimen wrking to change an unequal society. This statement - "the hand that rocks the cradle rocks the wrld" - demonstrates, in so far as one sentence ever could, the contradictory ideology at wrk within the Vancouver Communist Party during the 1935 to 1945 period. While, on one level, the Vancouver CP did open up spaces for -men to fight against capitalist oppression, the Party still believed that women were innately wives, mothers, and helpers. In this thesis, I contend that while women wre important, indeed crucial, members of the Vancouver CP, the Party's male leadership did not value properly women's contributions to the movement. Although the Party favoured gender equality in theory, its actual policies did not live up to this noble rhetoric. CP Hfomen themselves held to traditional conceptions of their role in society Mile the Party leadership and most male Party members pushed women into secondary roles. Communist wmen organized bazaars and aftemoon teas, cooked meals for striking wrkers, and served in Wornen's Auxitiaries, but tbey did not nin for parliament or, for the most part, speak in public on the Party's behalf. In this mrk, I will show the Mm-sided nature of Communist Party policy on wmen's issues. While wmen were important to the Party, and the CP newspapers contained a great deal of material either directed at or about wmen, the Party did little ts People's Adimcate, 19 May 1939.