Finding Aid to the California Labor School Collection,
1942-1957
larc.ms.0042
Finding aid prepared by Labor Archives and Research Center staff.
Labor Archives and Research Center
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA, 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
© 1999, revised 2013
Descriptive Summary
Title: California Labor School collection
Date (inclusive): 1942-1957
Creator: California Labor School
Accession number: 1988/043 and 1990/012
Collection number: larc.ms.0042
Extent:
2.25 cubic feet
(5 boxes)
Repository:
Labor Archives and Research Center
J. Paul Leonard Library, Room 460
San Francisco State University
1630 Holloway Ave
San Francisco, CA 94132-1722
(415) 405-5571
larc@sfsu.edu
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English.
Abstract: Consists of materials generated by the California Labor School, spanning the entire life of the School from its founding as
the Tom Mooney Labor School in 1942 until its closing by the Internal Revenue Service in 1957. Materials include: catalogs,
announcements, brochures, publications, class syllabi, correspondence, financial information and clippings.
Location: Materials are stored onsite.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Labor Archives and Research Center. All requests for
permission to publish or quote from materials must be submitted in writing
to the Director of the Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of the Labor Archives and Research Center as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be
obtained by the reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], California Labor School Collection, larc.ms.042, Labor Archives and Research Center,
San Francisco State University.
Related Collections
Other collections with material on the California Labor School:
Holland Roberts Collection, 1987/088.
Norman Leonard Collection. Subversive Activities Control Board Hearings on the California Labor School, Transcripts and Exhibits,
1955-1956.
Norman Leonard Collection/National Union of Marine Cooks and Stewards, House Committee on Education and Labor (Kerstin Committee),
Hearing in San Francisco, testimony of David Jenkins, Director, California Labor School, 1948.
Acquisition
This collection brings together records from several sources: The Bancroft Library which donated the bulk of the material;
the Archives' Ephemera Files which held an aggregate of items from individual donors; and a small collection from an anonymous
donor. These were combined into this California Labor School Collection which spans the entire life of the School from its
founding as the Tom Mooney Labor School in 1942 until its closing by the Internal Revenue Service in 1957. Researchers should
also see the Holland Roberts Collection (Acc. #: 1987/088) which includes subject files on the School and a draft manuscript
of Holland Roberts' memoirs.
Processing Information
The California Labor School Collection was processed by Carol Cuénod in May-June 1994.
History
The Tom Mooney Labor School opened in August 1942 in a few rooms over an auto salesroom at 678 Turk Street in San Francisco.
Under the heading of "Education for Victory," the announcement stated "Side by side with the Army training camps, with the
industrial training programs, with the civilian defense classes, it will undertake ... the systematic training and education
of the men and women of San Francisco in the principles for which our country and the United Nations are fighting..." The
School's program promised to analyze social, economic and political questions in light of the present world struggle against
fascism. Dave Jenkins was the founding director and continued until 1949 when he was succeeded by Dr. Holland Roberts, the
School's educational director.
This collection provides materials which describe the historical period of the California Labor School's early years. It was
a period when unions and industry worked together to achieve maximum production for the war effort. There was interest in
and a strong spirit of friendship for the USSR, a wartime ally of the U.S. Support for the School was received from unions
whose membership had grown due to war industry. The ILWU sent 4,000 members to classes for new union members. Prominent citizens
from industry and government were also listed as sponsors including Cyril Magnin, Richard Gump, Charles Crocker, U. S. Senator
Sheridan Downey and U. S. Representative Franck Havenner. By the time the School was five years old, it boasted of conducting
135 classes for 1800 students, it had moved to larger quarters in a five-story building at 216 Market Street and had extension
classes in Oakland and other Northern California sites.
In 1945, the U. S. State Department asked the California Labor School to serve as the official host in San Francisco for labor
delegations to the founding conference of the United Nations.
From 1945 to 1947, The California Labor School was accredited by the California State Department of Education for veterans'
education under the G.I. Bill of Rights and by 1947 there were 220 full-time students.
In 1947, the School bought its own building at 240 Golden Gate Avenue. Holland Roberts, in a draft manuscript of his memoirs,
described 1948 as "the School at its peak." That same year, however, the U.S. Attorney-General placed the California Labor
School on the Subversive List and thus began a ten-year attack led by the Subversive Activities Control Board in the Department
of Justice and other government agencies. After the School was on the Subversive List, a student could not be employed by
the federal government or any institution which had a "loyalty oath." If a student worked for the government, s/he could be
discharged.
Support and attendance at the California Labor School declined. Union support was reduced to a few CIO locals which in 1949
were expelled from their Federation for being "Communist-dominated." The School was no longer a vital center for labor education
and by 1951, the catalogs did not list one labor studies class. The School survived as a center of resistance to the political
repression of the cold war-McCarthy years. Until it was padlocked by the IRS for alleged non-payment of taxes, the remaining
students continued to support a reduced number of classes on the cold war, McCarthyism, U.S. history, USSR and socialism,
writing, literature and the arts.
Scope and Contents
Consisting of materials generated by the California Labor School, spanning the entire life of the School from its founding
as the Tom Mooney Labor School in 1942 until its closing by the Internal Revenue Service in 1957, this collection offers researchers
a multi-faceted view of the California Labor School and its place in the left-wing community of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Materials include: catalogs, announcements, brochures, publications, class syllabi, correspondence, financial information
and clippings.
Series I holds term catalogs starting with the Opening Announcement of the Tom Mooney Labor School in 1942. The early growth
of the School as well as its decline in the 1950s is documented by these catalogs which list the number of classes offered.
The changing political atmosphere can be seen by the class subjects. Series II contains syllabi, reading lists and special
flyers promoting the classes. Arrangement of folders is by general subject headings, alphabetically. Material for several
different classes might be in one folder.
Series III is titled "Administration," but it represents all non-classroom activity. "Fundraising" records direct appeals
for donations, but the files also includes announcements of many social and cultural events held to raise money. Significant
was the annual Christmas Market booklet which in early years listed many of the supporters of the School--both businesses
and individuals. "Publications" by the School range in content from
Why Work for Nothing?, a popularization of the Marxist theory of surplus value, to
Melanie, a booklet of whimsical autobiographical drawings by Melanie K. Kahn. A folder on the Library holds material on its active
outreach work. Its bulletins and booklists offer insight into the intellectual character and scope of the left-wing community
during the World War II and post-war periods.
Series IV documents attacks on the California Labor School by the Subversive Activities Control Board. The bulk of the material
covers the years 1955 to 1957, a period when the School was ordered to register as a subversive organization. Correspondence
and other documents report the Board's hearings on the School in San Francisco and other events up to the closing of the School.
This collection provides a rich study of the impact of anti-Communist repression on the left-wing School, contrasting its
early success during World War II and the post-war era to its battle for survival in the 1950s.
Note
Throughout the container list, cross-references to the Holland Roberts Collection [indicated below as HR] are made.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
California Labor School--Archives.
Alternative schools--California--20th century.
Labor movement--Study and teaching.
Labor unions and education--United States.
Progressive education--California--20th century.
Working class--Education--California.
Box 1, Folder 2
Winter, Fall for Oakland School
1944
Box 1, Folder 4
Spring, Summer, Fall
1946
Box 1, Folder 5
Spring, Summer, Fall
1947
Box 1, Folder 6
Yearbook; Winter, Summer, Fall
1948
Fall for Oakland and Berkeley
Box 1, Folder 7
Winter, Summer, Fall
1949
Box 1, Folder 8
Class announcements, various terms
1950-1957
Series II:
Classes and Class Materials
Scope and Contents
Includes course announcements, leaflets, class outlines, reading lists, seminars and conferences on class subjects.
Box 1, Folder 9
Art [see also: Holland Roberts (HR) Memoirs: Personalities Around the School - Anton Refrigier]
1944-1955
Box 1, Folder 10
Asilomar Summer School
1947-1949
Box 1, Folder 11
Children's Classes [see also: Theater and Acting]
1945-1955
Box 1, Folder 12
Dance [see also: Art, for material on Cultural Conferences]
Box 1, Folder 13
Economics and Political Economy
1945-1956
Scope and Contents
Class outlines, class schedules
Box 2, Folder 1
Film Series and Forums
1942-1956
Box 2, Folder 3
History Classes [see also: HR: Course material for U.S. History classes]
1945-1956
Box 2, Folder 4
Literature and Writing [see also: Art, for materials on Cultural Conferences]
1944-1955
Box 2, Folder 6
Minorities ( Negroes and Jews) [see also: HR: Course material for "The Negro Question"]
1944-1956
Box 2, Folder 8
Oakland and Other Branch Schools
1946-1950
Peace-related Classes and Events, see: Foreign Policy
Box 2, Folder 9
Philosophy Classes
1944-1954
Box 2, Folder 10
Physical Science [brochure illustrated by Patri]
1944-1954
Box 2, Folder 11
Political Action
1946-1952
Box 3, Folder 1
Reading Improvement
1955-1956
Box 3, Folder 2
Socialism - Science and Society
1947-1955
Scope and Contents
(Dialectical Materialism, Development of classes in society)
Box 3, Folder 3
Theater and Acting [see also: HR Memoirs: Personalities Around the School - Mara Alexander and Dave Sarvis Art, for material
on Cultural Conferences]
1936-1956
Scope and Contents
Includes Children's theater, classes and performances
Box 3, Folder 4
Trade Unions
1945-1946
Scope and Contents
Includes: Training Program for Hawaiian ILWU members
Box 3, Folder 7
Veterans Full-Time Program [see also: HR: Veterans Full-Time Program; HR Memoirs: The GI Bill of Rights]
1945-1947
Box 3, Folder 8
Veterans Full-Time Program - Study Plans
Series III:
Administration
Box 4, Folder 1
Books and Book Fairs
1955
Box 4, Folder 2
Fund-raising [see also: HR Subjects: Fund-raising - Early grant application and final campaign in 1957]
1944-1956
Scope and Contents
Includes Building Fund campaign for purchase of 240 Golden Gate Ave. School, announcements of many social and cultural events
Box 4, Folder 3
Fund-raising - Christmas Markets
1945-1955
Box 4, Folder 5
Library [see also: HR Memoirs: Library Days and Nights]
1943-1955
Box 4, Folder 6
Publications [see also: HR Memoirs: Publications, Adaptations, Readings]
1943-1954
Box 4, Folder 7
Publications - Students
1944-1949
Box 5, Folder 1
Publications -
San Francisco Writers Workshop
1952-1953
Box 5, Folder 2
United Nations Reception
1945
Series IV:
Opposition to the California Labor School
Box 5, Folder 3
Attacks on the California Labor School [see also: HR Subjects: Statements of Dave Jenkins and Holland Roberts to the Tenney
Committee, 1946
Note
See also:
HR Subjects: Defense
HR Memoirs: Escaping Subpoena Servers - Dave Goes through the Skylight
Box 5, Folder 4
Attacks on the California Labor School - Subversive Activities Control Board (SCAB)
Note
See also:
HR Memoirs: FBI: Episode of Strangulation
HR Memoirs: Conspiracy to Destroy Our School
Series V:
Material About the California Labor School
Box 5, Folder 5
"Education for Victory and Action: The California Labor School in the Popular Front Era," by Marvin Gettleman (copy of ms.)
Box 5, Folder 6
Newspaper clippings
1944-1955
