Eisenberg (Frances R.) L.A. City Schools Loyalty Oath Collection, ca. 1946-1958

Printable guide [HTML]
Request items

Summary

Title:
Frances R. Eisenberg Los Angeles City Schools Loyalty Oath Collection,
Dates:
ca. 1946-1958
Creators:
Eisenberg, Frances R., 1905-
Abstract:
Frances R. Eisenberg was an English and journalism teacher at Canoga Park High School in Los Angeles, California. She was charged with teaching communism in her classes in 1940s, and during the early 1950s, as an English teacher at Fairfax High School, she was charged with disloyalty, and fired for failure to answer questions before the state senate fact-finding committee on un-American activities in California. She was also an active member and executive officer of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Federation of Teachers during the 1940s-50s, and chairman of the Teachers Defense Committee in 1954. The collection consists of correspondence, clippings, ephemera, and mimeographed and printed materials relating to Eisenberg and the Los Angeles city schools loyalty oath controversy during the early 1950s, materials relating to accusations against Eisenberg in the 1940s, as well as tapes of the December 1953 school board hearings involving subpoenaed teachers. The collection also includes material on the Teachers Defense Committee and the Los Angeles chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.
Extent:
11 boxes (5.5 linear ft.)
Language:
English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Frances R. Eisenberg Los Angeles City Schools Loyalty Oath Collection (Collection 1078). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of correspondence, clippings, ephemera, and mimeographed and printed materials relating to high school teacher Frances R. Eisenberg and the Los Angeles city schools loyalty oath controversy during the early 1950s. Also contains materials relating to accusations against Eisenberg in the 1940s, as well as tapes of the December 1953 school board hearings involving subpoenaed teachers. The collection also includes material on the Teachers Defense Committee and the Los Angeles chapter of the American Federation of Teachers.

Expanded Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of correspondence, clippings, memeographed and printed materials relating to the Los Angeles City Schools loyalty oath controversy during the early 1950s. Mrs. Eisenberg, an English teacher at Fairfax High School, was one of the teachers charged with “disloyalty” and fired for failure to answer questions before the State Senate fact-finding committee on un-American activities in California.

The collection is strong in material on the Teachers Defense Committee and on the Los Angeles chapter of the American Federation of Teachers. Mrs. Eisenberg was chairman of the former group in 1954, and an active member and executive officer of the union during the 1940's and 50's. In addition to the materials connected with these two groups, Mrs. Bisenberg also collected and clipped materials dealing with the loyalty question, academic freedom, and education matters in general in all parts of the country. Thus the last seven boxes of the collection consist entirely of clippings and various publications.

Frances Eisenberg, an alumnus of UCLA, gave the papers to the library in the early part of 1969. Prior to teaching at Fairfax, she was an English and Journalism teacher at Canoga High in the San Fernando Valley. The first box of the collection concerns her years there in the 1940s and a charge against her of teaching communism in her classes.

Biographical / historical:

Frances R. Eisenberg was an English and journalism teacher at Canoga Park High School in Los Angeles, California; she was charged with teaching communism in her classes in 1940s; during the early 1950s as an English teacher at Fairfax High School, she was charged with disloyalty; was fired for failure to answer questions before the state senate fact-finding committee on un-American activities in California; she was an active member and executive officer of the Los Angeles chapter of the American Federation of Teachers during the 1940s-50s, and chairman of the Teachers Defense Committee in 1954.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Frances R. Eisenberg, 1969.
Arrangement:

Arranged in the following series:

  1. Canoga Park High School Eisenberg case and memorabilia (Box 1).
  2. 1953 loyalty cases: the teachers fight back (Box 2).
  3. Los Angeles Federation of Teachers & Teachers Defense Committee (Boxes 3-4).
  4. Clippings (Boxes 5-10).
  5. Pamphlets and miscellaneous publications (Box 11).

Physical location:
Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Processed by Saundra Taylor; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
Date Prepared:
© 2004
Date Encoded:
Text rekeyed by Caroline Cubé from in-house paper finding aid, March 2004 . Machine-readable finding aid derived from rekeyed finding aid, encoding added via Notetab Pro. Online finding aid edited by Josh Fiala. Date of source: May 1970 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Frances R. Eisenberg Los Angeles City Schools Loyalty Oath Collection (Collection 1078). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
Website