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Finding Aid to the 1934 International Longshoremen's Association and General Strikes of San Francisco 1933-1934
BANC PIC 1959.003--PIC  
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Collection Overview
 
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Description
This collection consists of 544 modern prints made from original negatives held by The Bancroft Library. The negatives are part of the photograph archive of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin newspaper photograph archive (BANC PIC 1959.010) and were taken by staff photographers of the newspaper. For many years, this collection consisted of only the first 247 items listed in this finding aid. In 1998, an additional 297 original negatives were discovered in the files of the San Francisco News-Call Bulletin newspaper photograph archive and were printed and added as items 248-544. The initial 247 prints are grouped under the following topics: Produce Market, Food Convoy; Food Lines, Food Raids; Longshoremen and Pickets; Embarcadero Scenes; Police Scenes, Arrests; Funerals; Miscellaneous; and Portraits, Court Room Scenes. The additions have been arranged under: Longshoremen Loading and Unloading Ships; Goods (Rationing and Deliveries); Police Rounding Up Longshoremen Pickets; Vandalism; Police Confrontations; Sidewalk Memorial; Longshoremen in Court; Protests and Pickets; Miscellaneous Police Scenes; National Guard; Memorial Ceremonies and Funerals; Raids and Arrests of Communists; Street & Public Scenes (during transit strike and return to sevice?); News Photographers Posing. Most of the photographs lack exact dates, but all date from the period up to and including the General Strike, including scenes of "Bloody Thursday." A number of the photographs are of central figures associated with the strikes, including Harry Bridges, Edward Joseph Hanna, Thomas G. Plant, and Angelo Joseph Rossi.
Background
The General Strike of San Francisco occurred July 16-19, 1934 as an outgrowth of the International Longshoremen's Association strike. The ILA strike for control of hiring halls and better pay and hours had closed most Pacific ports except Los Angeles. The attempt of San Francisco employers to open local docks led to a battle between strikers and police on "Bloody Thursday" (July 5), which left two dead and many injured. Harry Bridges, head of the city's division of the ILA, got the general support of other unions, although electricity and food remained available. The four-day strike ended with agreement on arbitration in which the ILA got most of the demands it had made on behalf of longshoremen. Eliel, Paul. The Waterfront and General Strikes, San Francisco, 1934; a Brief History. San Francisco: Hooper Printing Co., 1934. p. 245.
Extent
544 film negatives, 247 4x5 inch black and white copy photographs, and 297 8x10 inch black and white copy photographs. 253 digital objects
Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Availability
Collection is open for use.