Finding Aid to the Elaine Black Yoneda Collection, circa 1900-1991 (Bulk 1930-1988)
Processed 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
1998, revised 2015
Descriptive Summary
Title: Elaine Black Yoneda collection
Date (inclusive): circa 1900-1991
Date (bulk): 1930-1988
Collection number: larc.ms.0107
Accession numbers: 1992/033; 1992/055
Creator:
Yoneda, Elaine Black, 1906-1988
Extent:
3.75 cubic feet
(6 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 the papers of Elaine Black Yoneda and research material gathered by author Vivian McGuckin Raineri in the course
of writing the biography,
Red Angel: The Life and Times of Elaine Black Yoneda. Collection includes correspondence from Manzanar, duplicates of FBI files, subject files regarding the San Francisco 1934
General Strike and Tom Mooney, a manuscript history of International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Auxiliary No. 16, transcripts
of oral histories, and photographs of the Buchman and Yoneda families. While the earliest material dates from 1908, the majority
of documents cover the 1930's through 1970's, with remembrances from the death of Elaine Yoneda in 1988.
Location: Collection is available onsite.
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], Elaine Black Yoneda Collection, larc.ms.0107, Labor Archives and Research Center, San Francisco
State University.
Material Cataloged Separately
- Photographs (3 folders) have been added to LARC Photograph Collection #5, "People A-Z," filed under "Yoneda, Elaine Black."
- Audiotapes (13 audiocassettes) added to the LARC Audiotape Collection.
- Pamphlet
Women's Rights Handbook, California Department of Justice, Information Pamphlet No. 9, 1976.
- Newspapers, 6 issues of
Union W.A.G.E., May-June 1975 through Nov.-Dec/ 1976, nos. 29; 32-35; 38.
- Buttons and badges
- "Free Mooney" material, including Poster (added to LARC Poster Collection), photograph, and Book, E. E. Ward's
The Gentle Dynamiter (added to LARC Reference Collection).
Acquisition
The collection consists of accessions from two donors, Karl Yoneda and Vivian McGuckin Rainieri, the biographer of Elaine
Black Yoneda. Material donated to the Labor Archives by Rainieri consists of documents and visual images collected in the
process of writing
The Red Angel: The Life and Times of Elaine Black Yoneda, 1906-1988 (N.Y., International Publishers, 1991). Most of the biographical information below is from that work. The accessions, 1992/033
and 1993/017 from Ms. Rainieri and 1992/055 from Mr. Yoneda, were grouped together for the convenience of researchers.
Processing Information
The collection was processed in fall 1992 by Olive James.
Arrangement
The Elaine Black Yoneda Collection is divided into eleven series:
- Series I: Unions and Union Activities
- Series II: Political Activities
- Series III: Labor Trials/Bail/Defense
- Series IV: Japanese Americans
- Series V: Correspondence
- Series VI: Buchman Family
- Series VII: Yoneda Family
- Series VIII: Oral Histories and Interviews
- Series IX: Articles, Clippings, Remembrances
- Series X: FBI Files
- Series XI: Vivian McGuckin Rainieri Research Materials
Subjects and Indexing Terms
International Labor Defense.
International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union. Auxiliary No. 16.
International Longshoremen’s Association.
Manzanar War Relocation Center.
Communism--California.
Communists--United States.
General Strike, San Francisco, Calif., 1934.
Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945.
Pacific Coast Longshoremen's Strike, 1934.
Stevedores--Labor unions--Pacific Coast (U.S.)
Strikes and lockouts--Stevedores--California--San Francisco.
Women labor leaders--California.
Women labor union members--United States.
Biographical Notes
Rose Elaine Buchman was born in Connecticut to Nathan Buchman and Mollie Kvetnay, who had met as child laborers in a Russian
match factory. Elaine was raised in a predominantly Jewish section of Brooklyn, New York, in a strongly pro-labor (and non-religious)
environment. In 1920, the family moved to the San Diego area and in 1924 to Los Angeles. A "spoiled and ornery child," Elaine
did not realize till age 15 that her parents actively supported the Russian revolution and related causes - which were apparently
of no interest to the teenager. She quit high school in her senior year and took her first job with an elegant residential
hotel, where Elaine maintained her own sartorial elegance while the world protested the convictions of Tom Mooney, Warren
Billings, J.B.McNamara, Sacco and Vanzetti.
At the urging of her parents, Elaine attended a meeting of the Young Workers League. There she met Edward Francis Russell,
Jr., also the child of a labor activist. Neither
young person was interested in the movement. They married in 1925. In 1927, daughter Joyce Russell was born.
Intending to go on to dinner and a show, Ed and the 23-year-old Elaine agreed to meet another couple at a demonstration of
the unemployed. The demonstration was the first time Elaine saw the Los Angeles "Red Squad" in action, or that her (second)
husband-to-be, Karl "Hama" Yoneda, caught sight of her. In answer to a police inquiry, Elaine quickly changed Ed's nickname,
Blackie, into a surname; thus, Elaine "Black" came into being.
On March 6, 1930, she went to observe a demonstration, part of a national day of protest over unemployment. She saw police
brutalize an elderly woman, learned that the International Labor Defense would defend the woman, and went to offer herself
as a witness. Despite Elaine's testimony as to the woman's innocence, the garment worker was convicted. Following this experience
in court, Elaine joined the International Labor Defense. In 1931, she took a job with ILD. The next day, "Karl Hama" was arrested
and beaten by the police. According to Rainieri:
On the third day after the demonstration, "Red" Hynes [Squad Captain] called the ILD and said, "Come and pick up the Jap,
he's dying anyway." Elaine...rushed to the jail, posted bail, and took the badly-injured Hama to a doctor. "He was a bloody
mess," Elaine said...The meeting in jail marked the first time that Elaine and Karl exchanged words...He was intrigued...and
wrote her a poem while in jail...
Elaine soon became ILD district secretary and, shortly thereafter, she joined the Communist Party. She proudly maintained
party membership until her death in 1988, a fact of enduring interest to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As uncertain
situations arose with police, Elaine used a number of aliases, including "Betsy Ross." She was involved in ILD activity surrounding
a number of agricultural strikes: cotton workers in Tulare, grape workers in Lodi, apple workers in Santa Rosa. Elaine was
active in the ILD prisoner support program and made monthly visits to prisoners who included Tom Mooney, Jim McNamara, and
others arrested under Criminal Syndicalism laws (See Series, "Labor Trials/Bail/Defense").
By this time, Elaine had separated from Ed Russell and was living in San Francisco with Karl. They took part in the waterfront
activities of 1934. She had an appointment to meet Nick Bordoise when he and Howard Sperry were killed in a police attack
on "Bloody Thursday," July 5, 1934. The General Strike followed.
In her fight against the Criminal Syndicalism legislation, Elaine was arrested at the Dolores Park rally of March 1935. She
made court appearances with Leo Gallagher and George Anderson. Later that year she was involved with the Lumber and Sawmill
Workers Strike in Eureka. Prior to the Dolores Park trial, Karl and Elaine took a train (separate cars, because of the Mann
Act) to Washington state, where they could be legally married.
Among Elaine's activities in the late 30s were participation in the Free Tom Mooney movement, National Scottsboro Week, the
Angelo Herndon appeal, the Salinas Lettuce Strike, and Spanish Civil War relief. Supported by the Communist Party, Elaine
in 1939 ran with Archie Brown ("Black and Brown") for San Francisco Supervisor. Her platform called for free day nurseries,
low cost housing, an anti-racism stance, protection of civil rights, and protest against the "Imperialist War" gathering in
Europe. The two candidates lost.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Karl and 2-year-old Tommy (named for Tom Mooney) were to be interned; Elaine
was not included in the order because she was white. Her daughter Joyce, from her marriage with Ed Russell, was sent to live
with Elaine's parents. Elaine insisted on remaining with Karl and baby Tom when they were shipped to Manzanar. The account
of those days may be found in her testimony, and Karl's, before the Commission on Wartime Relocation (See Series "Japanese
American Wartime Relocation"). After Karl was accepted in the U.S. Army, Tommy and Elaine returned to San Francisco. She and
her husband began a diligent and revealing correspondence (See Series "Correspondence," Folders labeled, "Letters to Karl,
1942-43," and "...1944-45").
After the war, the family bought a chicken ranch near Petaluma. When a Sonoma chapter of the Civil Rights Congress was formed
in 1947, Elaine became chair. During the Cold War years, the Yonedas continued their usual political activities; and the FBI
continued its surveillance. In 1960 the farm was sold and the Yonedas returned to San Francisco. Elaine was active with ILWU
Auxiliary No. 16. She served as officer and regional and international delegate. Karl's mother lived in Hiroshima, and the
couple were particularly active in the "Ban the Bomb" and other peace movements. Elaine pursued equal-pay issues, spoke at
Negro History Week, celebrated
People's World benefits, supported striking workers, etc. She became a member of Local 29, AFL-CIO Office and Professional Employes Union
(and picketed ILWU).
The Yonedas took part in annual pilgrimages to the site of the Manzanar internment camp. With the Japanese American Citizens
League and others, they successfully campaigned for the repeal of Title 2 (emergency detention) of the McCarran Internal Security
Act. Rainieri writes that "Elaine's last major work before her death was participation in the campaign for Redress-Reparations
for incarcerated Japanese Americans." Elaine Black Yoneda died in San Francisco in 1988. Many tributes from family, friends,
and colleagues may be found in the Series "Articles, Clippings, Remembrances."
Scope and Contents
Consists of the papers of Elaine Black Yoneda and research material gathered by author Vivian McGuckin Raineri in the course
of writing the biography,
Red Angel: The Life and Times of Elaine Black Yoneda. Collection includes correspondence from Manzanar, duplicates of FBI files, subject files regarding the San Francisco 1934
General Strike and Tom Mooney, a manuscript history of International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Auxiliary No. 16, transcripts
of oral histories, and photographs of the Buchman and Yoneda families. While the earliest material dates from 1908, the majority
of documents cover the 1930's through 1970's, with remembrances from the death of Elaine Yoneda in 1988.
Among original documents of particular historical interest are notes for a history of ILWU Auxiliary No. 16 and a report entitled
"The ILA and the Courts During the 1934 Strike," the latter compiled by the ILA Defense Committee. It is a carbon typescript
with a pencilled list of seaman arrested, country of origin, deportation notes, etc. This report numbers 39 pages. There is
also considerable documentation on the internment camp at Manzanar, including the text of a 1942 address to the Commonwealth
Club by the camp director. The address was called "Manzanar from the Inside." Other views of the "inside" may be found in
the testimonies by Elaine and Karl before the U.S. Commission on Wartime and Civilian Internment, and in the compilation,
"A Few Reminders of Manzanar, 1941-1992."
Among family papers may be found a sizeable correspondence from Elaine to Karl during his service in World War II [Note: A
few letters from daughter Joyce appear in Elaine's handwriting. They appear to have been copied by Elaine for re-mailing to
Karl], and a number of tributes gathered in eulogy upon Elaine's death.
Beside the Yonedas, a number of labor leaders are highlighted in this collection (e.g., Tom Gallagher, "Blackie" Myers, Tom
Mooney), particularly in Series 2, "Labor Trials/Bail
Defense."
Series I: UNIONS AND UNION ACTIVITIES
Box 1, Folder 1
Hotel and Restaurant Employees, Strikers Support Committee at St. Francis Square Cooperative
1960
Box 1, Folder 2
ILWU Auxiliary No. 16 - History
1934-1973
Box 1, Folder 3
ILWU Auxiliary No. 16 - History
1962-1987
Box 1, Folder 4
ILWU Auxiliary No. 16 - Financial Records
1959-1976
Box 1, Folder 5
ILWU Federated Auxiliaries
1965-1986
Box 1, Folder 6
Office and Professional Employees Union, Local No. 29
1968-1979
Box 1, Folder 7
United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, Local No. 1412
1943-1951
Box 1, Folder 8
Anti-unionism, Anti-communism, and Mob Violence
1935-1939
Series II: POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
Box 1, Folder 9
Communist Party
1935-1978
Box 1, Folder 10
Speeches, Reports, Addresses
1974-1985
Box 1, Folder 11
Women for Peace
1975-1979
Box 1, Folder 11
S.F. Election Campaign
1939
Series III: LABOR TRIALS / BAIL/ DEFENSE
Box 2, Folder 1
Bay Area Movement Bail Fund
1968-1973
Box 2, Folder 2
Civil Rights College, Bail Fund
1951-1990
Box 2, Folder 3
Criminal Syndicalism Cases California
1935-1936
Box 2, Folder 4
Gallagher, Herndon, Black, Jackson, Coleman, Scottsboro
1935-1965
Box 2, Folder 5
General Strike, 1934, and July 5, "Bloody Thursday"
1934-1989
Box 2, Folder 6
Humboldt County Lumber Strike
1935-1983
Box 2, Folder 8
International Labor Defense
1935-1980
Box 2, Folder 9
International Labor Defense Publications
1931-1941
Box 2, Folder 10
In J. B. Mcnamara
1939-1988
Box 2, Folder 11
Salinas-Watsonville Lettuce Strike
1936-1986
Series IV: JAPANESE AMERICANS
Box 3, Folder 1
Wartime Relocation
1942-1981
Box 3, Folder 2
Manzanar - Documents, Remembrances, and Pilgrimages
1942-1992
Box 3, Folder 3
Redress, Reparations, Resolutions
1967-1986
Box 3, Folder 4
Japanese American Citizens League
1967-1986
Box 3, Folder 5
Incoming Correspondence
1965-1985
Box 3, Folder 6
Outgoing Correspondence
1962-1963
Box 3, Folder 7
Letters to Karl Yoneda
1942-1943
Box 3, Folder 8
Letters to Karl Yoneda
1944-1945
Series VI: BUCHMAN FAMILY
Box 3, Folder 9
Buchman Family Papers
1908-1983
Series VII: YONEDA FAMILY
Box 3, Folder 10
Yoneda Family Ephemera
1945-1976
Series VIII: ORAL HISTORIES AND INTERVIEWS
Box 4, Folder 2
Francie Bernstein (On Wartime Relocation)
1973
Box 4, Folder 3
Kenneth Kann (On Petaluma Jewish Community)
1977
Box 4, Folder 4
Lucy Kendall Interview
1976-1977
Box 4, Folder 5
Lucy Kendall Notes and Correspondence
1976-1977
Box 4, Folder 6
Alice King and Miriam Feingold (For Earl Warren Project, ROHO, U.C.)
1970-1976
Box 4, Folder 7
Anne Loftis (On Organizing Farm Workers)
1974-1976
Box 4, Folder 8
Susan Musicant (For
Union W.A.G.E.)
1979
Box 4, Folder 9
Yvonne Yoneda (On World War II Experiences)
1982
Series IX: ARTICLES, CLIPPINGS, REMEMBRANCES
Box 4, Folder 9
Articles, Clippings, Remembrances
1934-1988
Box 4, Folder 10
Articles, Clippings, Remembrances
1983-1989
Box 5, Folder 7
Notes ("Excisions...Falsehoods...Defamation")
[undated]
Box 5, Folder 8
Articles and Clippings About
1970-1983
Series XI: VIVIAN MCGUCKIN RAINIERI RESEARCH MATERIALS
Box 6, Folder 1-3
Rainieri Research Materials
1919-1988
Box 6, Folder 4
Visuals, Pictures, Clippings
1908-1983
Box 6, Folder 6
Correspondence with Prof. Herbert Shapiro
1913-1990
Box 6, Folder 7
Memorial Tributes to Elaine Black Yoneda