Frances Robman Eisenberg Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in
Los Angeles,
1928-1995
Processed by Julia Bazar
Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
6120 South Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Phone: (323) 759-6063
Fax: (323) 759-2252
Email: archives@socallib.org
URL: http://www.socallib.org/
© 2000
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All
rights reserved.
Register of the Frances Robman Eisenberg Papers: Blacklisted
Teachers in Los Angeles,
1928-1995
Collection number: MSS 038
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Los
Angeles, California
Contact Information:
- Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
- 6120 South Vermont Avenue
- Los Angeles, CA 90044
- Phone: (323) 759-6063
- Fax: (323) 759-2252
- Email: archives@socallib.org
- URL: http://www.socallib.org/
- Processed by:
- Julia Bazar
- Date Completed:
-
Nov. 2000
- Encoded by:
- Julia Bazar
© 2000 Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Frances Robman Eisenberg Papers: Blacklisted
Teachers in Los Angeles,
Date (inclusive): 1928-1995
Collection number: MSS 038
Creator:
Eisenberg, Frances Robman,
1905-1996
Extent:
4 boxes, 1 oversized box
2 linear ft.
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research
Abstract: Part of the larger Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles Collections, the Frances Robman Eisenberg Papers contain the personal
papers of Eisenberg, a blacklisted Los Angeles teacher. The collection contains
materials relating to Eisenberg's teaching and tutoring career, and involvement
with the US-China Peoples Friendship Association (USCPFA) and other political
and social issues, as well as material relating directly to the
blacklist.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Provenance
This collection was donated to the library by Frances Robman
Eisenberg
Access
The collection is available for research only at the Library's
facility in Los Angeles. The Library is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday
through Saturday. Researchers are encouraged to call or email the Library
indicating the nature of their research query prior to making a visit.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library
for Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single copies of any
portion of the collection, but publication from the collection will be allowed
only with the express written permission of the Library's director. It is not
necessary to obtain written permission to quote from a collection. When the
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission
for publication, it is 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], Frances Robman Eisenberg Papers:
Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles, Southern California Library for Social
Studies and Research, Los Angeles, California.
Biography
Historical Context: Blacklisting and the McCarthy Era
The individual collections within the Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles Collection share a common historical framework, the Anti-Communist
fervor of the Cold War Period and what is commonly referred to as the McCarthy
Era. After the end of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union
engaged in the ideological battle known as the Cold War. The identification of
communists and other radicals through the use of federal and state legislative
investigative committees and the punishment of those identified through firing
and blacklisting comprised a successful U.S. tactic. The investigations spread
from federal and other government employees to the entertainment industry, the
professions, labor unions, and the private sector. The major players in these
campaigns included, on the Federal level, Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). In California major players included
California State Assemblyman (later State Senator) Nelson S. Dilworth, and
State Senators Jack B. Tenney and Hugh M. Burns. All three served on the Joint
Fact-Finding Committee on Un-American Activities in California (1945) and first
Tenney and later Burns chaired the [California] Senate Fact-Finding Committee
on Un-American Activities. Of special note are the Levering (1952) and Dilworth
(1953) Acts. The Levering Act made refusal to fully cooperate with any state
committee grounds for firing a teacher and the Dilworth Act gave local school
boards investigating authority and also required that all teachers sign an oath
denying any Communist affiliation.
Biography
Frances Robman Eisenberg was a teacher, unionist, and activist fired
from the Los Angeles Unified School District for refusing to answer question
concerning Communist Party membership before a state committee. She was an
active member of the Los Angeles Federation of Teachers, serving as newsletter
editor. Later she was active in the US-China People's Friendship Association
(USCPFA) and local (West Hollywood) social and economic issues. She died August
3, 1996.
Eisenberg was born June 19, 1905, in Wisconsin. Her parents were
Jewish immigrants from Russia and the family moved to Colorado and then to Los
Angeles. She attended Los Angeles High School, UCLA (graduating in 1928), and
received her teaching credential from USC. She then took a job with the Oakland
Unified School District in Northern California. She married Meyer Eisenberg, a
widow with three children, in 1931 and returned to Los Angeles.
Eisenberg came to Canoga Park High School as a journalism teacher in
1936. In her 15 years at Canoga Park she supervised an award-winning newspaper
(Hunter's Call), taught English and Senior Problems. In 1946, she and a fellow
teacher, Blanche Bettington, were called before the Joint Fact Finding
Committee on Un-American Activities in California (Tenney Committee). A
subsequent school board investigation found insufficient evidence for
dismissal, but in 1950 she was forced to transfer to Fairfax High School. While
at Fairfax, she pioneered in teaching "Negro" history. However in 1952, she was
called before the California State Burns Committee investigation of the Los
Angeles Housing Authority (she had supported low-income housing). Her refusal
to answer questions concerning Communist Party membership and about associates
led directly to her firing under the provisions of the recently passed Dilworth
Act [see above]. After exhausting her appeals, she left Fairfax High in
February 1954. After her dismissal, she was active in the Teachers' Defense
Committee (TDC) and Women for Legislative Action. She wrote articles and
speeches on education and free speech issues. For the next twenty years she
tutored numerous students. Eisenberg and other blacklisted teachers applied for
reinstatement in 1977. In 1980, the case was settled, she was awarded three
years back pay, and was now considered a retired - instead of a dismissed -
teacher.
The Eisenbergs were friends with W.E.B. DuBois and his wife, author
Shirley Graham. They were also major supporters of artist Charles White.
Eisenberg went to China in 1973 and 1980 and became active in the US-China
People's Friendship Association. This led to her teaching a Los Angeles Board
of Education Sponsored in-service training workshop for teachers: "Roots of
Chinese-American Culture: Exploring the New China." In 1987, she established a
scholarship fund at Los Angeles Southwest Community College. Her 90th Birthday
Party benefited KPFK Radio and she was actively involved in several other labor
and economic issues.
Scope and Content
This collection contains correspondence, legal documents, student
papers, articles, clippings, photographs, a 16mm film, and a VHS video
cassette. The materials document Frances Robman Eisenberg's work as teacher,
tutor, and activist. The collection includes an animated film,
The Man Who Hated Children produced by the Teachers'
Defense Committee (TDC). Of special note are materials concerning her
post-teaching activities, including her work with the US-China People's
Friendship Association (USCPFA), Los Angeles Southwest Community College, the
strike against Canter's Restaurant, and the Coalition for Economic Survival
(CES). The collection is not exhaustive and serves more to give a taste of
Eisenberg's work and activities rather than to fully document them. Eisenberg
donated the bulk of her papers to UCLA in 1970. The collection also includes
some family and personal papers as well as extensive snapshots of family and
friends.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into four series:
1: Teaching and Tutoring -- Blacklist,
2: USCPFA,
3: Other Causes and Activities, and
4: Clippings, Photographs, and Art
Separated Material
Eisenberg's run of the
L.A. Teacher, the newsletter of the Los Angeles
Federation of Teachers, has been combined with the run already in the Los
Angeles Teachers Union Collection.
Related Material at the Southern California Library for Social
Studies and Research
Title: Abraham Minkus Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles,
Date: 1945-1983
Physical Description:
4 boxes
Title: Florence Sloat Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles,
Date: 1959-1991
Physical Description:
1 box
Title: Thomas Fagan Collection (Interviews): Blacklisted Teachers
in Los Angeles,
Date: 1989-1990
Physical Description:
3 folders, 5 audio cassettes
Title: Greg Goldin Collection (Interviews): Blacklisted Teachers
in Los Angeles,
Date: 1977
Physical Description:
1 box, 15 audio cassette
Title: Ellen Chase Verdries Collection (Interviews/Paper):
Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles,
Date: 1992-1996
Physical Description:
1 (half) box
Title: Jean Benson Wilkinson Papers: Blacklisted Teachers in Los
Angeles,
Date: 1953-1955
Physical Description:
1 folder
Title: Los Angeles Teachers Union Collection,
Date: 1933-1982
Physical Description:
2 boxes
Title: Dorothy Doyle Collection (Interviews): Blacklisted
Teachers In Los Angeles,
Date: 1986
Physical Description:
1 audio tape
Title: Clipping Collection: Blacklisted Teachers in Los Angeles,
Date: 1967-1982
Physical Description:
1 folder
Bibliography
Kransdorf, Martha.
A Matter of Loyalty: The Los Angeles School Board vs. Frances
Eisenberg,
San Francisco:
Caddo Press,
1994
Ginger, Ann Fagan and
Christiano, David, eds.
The Cold War Against Labor, Volume Two, Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, 1987
A copy of the collection register is kept in the first box of the
collection (1/0).
Series 1.
Teaching and Tutoring - Blacklist Years,
1945-1994
Physical Description:
2 boxes, 2 oversize items, 16mm film and VHS
videotape
Scope and Content Note
The largest series in the collection contains material relating to
Eisenberg's teaching and tutoring career including materials directly related
to her reassignment, firing and court cases, along with correspondence
(students, parents, and others), student papers, articles by and about
Eisenberg. Included in this series are materials from Fairfax and Canoga Park
reunions at which Eisenberg was honored. Also included in this series is a 16mm
film (also in VHS format),
The Man Who Hated Children, produced by the Teachers'
Defense Committee (TDC), a TDC protest sign, and a pillow commemorating the
protest around Eisenberg's transfer from Canoga Park.
Within the series files are divided into teaching (including
reunion materials) and post-teaching (tutoring and other materials). Teaching
materials include both material related to her teaching (class materials,
correspondence and student papers) and to her reassignment and dismissal (court
documents, hearing transcripts, and correspondence with lawyers). Reunion
materials include official reunion commemorative books from both Canoga High
School and Fairfax High School reunions, correspondence, a personal tribute
book given by a class, a copy of remarks given by Eisenberg at a reunion, and
other material. See also Lyn Nofziger clipping in Series 4. Tutoring materials
include letters Eisenberg sent out when she was first establishing herself as a
tutor, and a sampling of papers by her tutorees. Also included in this series
is a copy of Eisenberg's FBI file, which she requested in 1977.
The letter requesting the file appears in the Abraham
Minkus Collection.
Box-folder 1/1-1/6
Hearing and Legal Documents
Box-folder 1/1
Transfer from Canoga Park to Fairfax -- Documents in
Legal Case,
1949-1954
Box-folder 1/2
Copies of California Un-American Hearing Reports --
Excerpts,
1947-1959
Box-folder 1/3
Testimony in re: Canoga Park: Joint Fact Finding
Committee on Un-America Activities in California: October 19 and 19, 1946:
State Building, Los Angeles,
1946
Box-folder 1/4-1/5
Hearing Canoga Park High School: October 15, 16, and 17,
1946: In the Matter re: Blanche Bettington; Frances Eisenberg
[2
folders],
1946
Alternative Form of Materials Available
Document fragile please use photocopied version found in
Los Angeles Teachers Union Collection,
1933-1982
Physical Description: (2 boxes),
Contributing Institution: Southern California Library for Social Studies
and Research
Box-folder 1/6
Suit for Reinstatement, etc. (Including 1982
Settlement),
1978-1987
Box-folder 1/7
Teaching Materials -- Senior Problems Curriculum, etc.,
1945-1954
Box-folder 1/8
Hunter's Call-- Canoga Park High School Newspaper,
1945
Box-folder 1/9
Autograph Book -- Canoga Park [Tribute/Farewell?],
[1950?]
Oversize Item 5
Teachers' Defense Committee Sign,
n.d.
Film Storage 1
The Man Who Hated Children,
n.d.
Physical Description: 16 mm film
Alternative Form of Materials Available
A VHS Videocassette version is available for viewing. Video
tape is located in Video Storage.
Box-folder 1/10
Paper written for City College Class --
The Negro in American Literature,1952
Box-folder 1/11
Francis Solnit, Former Student,
1952-1954
Box-folder 1/12
Students and Others -- Support,
1940-1950
Box-folder 1/13
1960s and Later,
1962-1990, n.d.
Box-folder 2/1
Canoga Park and Fairfax High School Reunions,
1958-1995
Box-folder 2/2
Fairfax High 30th -- Eisenberg Tribute Book,
1983
Oversize Item 4
Commemorative Photographic Pillow,
n.d.
Box-folder 2/3
Tutoring -- Correspondence and Sample Student Papers,
1957-1995, n.d.
Box-folder 2/4-2/5
Activities -- Speeches, Letters
Box-folder 2/5
To Whom It Does Concern and
Correspondence with Phil Kerby,
1983
Box-folder 2/6-2/9
Projects by others about Eisenberg Case,
1980-1994
Box-folder 2/6
Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute Book --
Correspondence,
1984-1987
Box-folder 2/7
Lynn Laredo Video Documentary -- Correspondence,
1987
Box-folder 2/8
A Matter of Loyaltyand Martha Kransdorf --
Correspondence,
1987-1994
Box-folder 2/9
Miscellaneous Papers,
1980-1994
Box-folder 2/10
Frances R. Eisenberg's FBI File -- FOIA,
1956-1973
Series 2.
US-China People's Friendship Association,
1973-1986, n.d.
Physical Description:
6 folders
Scope and Content Note
Besides a small collection of flyers and other notices, this
series contains materials pertaining to the in-service training workshop for
teachers, "Roots of Chinese-American Culture: Exploring the New China," which
Eisenberg arranged and taught through the Los Angeles Board of Education. It
also includes a notebook containing minutes from the West Los Angeles Chapter
of the USCPFA (1974-1976).
Box-folder 2/11
Reports, Correspondence, etc.,
1973-1986, n.d.
Box-folder 3/1
Articles/Reports by Eisenberg,
1974-1983
Box-folder 3/2-3/3
LAUSD In-Service Training
Box-folder 3/2
Proposal and Background,
1980
Box-folder 3/3
Class Materials, Evaluations, Reports,
1980
Box-folder 3/4
Flyers/Newsletters,
1975-1977
Box-folder 3/5
Westside-Los Angeles Chapter -- First Minutes,
1974-1976
Series 3.
Other Causes and Activities,
1928-1995, n.d.
Physical Description:
8 folders
Scope and Content Note
This series includes materials documenting other interests and
activities of Eisenberg, especially later in life. It includes information from
the Los Angeles Southwest Community College, which she supported, and extensive
records from her 90th birthday party, which was a fund-raiser for KPFK Radio.
Other organizations and actions mentioned are the strike against Canter's
Restaurant ["Speeches and Articles" folder], Sunset House, and the Coalition
for Economic Survival (CES) [both in "Miscellaneous Correspondence" folder].
Also included in this section are two files on friends of Eisenberg, the artist
Charles White and author Shirley Graham.
Box-folder 3/6
Personal and Family Documents,
1928-1980
Box-folder 3/7
82nd Birthday -- Los Angeles Southwest Community College
Benefit,
1987-1990
Box-folder 3/8
90th Birthday Celebration -- KPFK Benefit,
1995
Box-folder 3/9
Speeches and Articles,
1980-1991, n.d.
Box-folder 3/10
Miscellaneous Correspondence, Clippings, Awards,
1968-1995
Box-folder 3/11
Cards, Postcards, Memorial Programs,
1977-1995, n.d.
Box-folder 3/12
Shirley Graham,
1976, n.d.
Series 4.
Clippings, Photographs, and Art,
1971-1995, n.d.
Physical Description:
1 box, 3 oversized items
Scope and Content Note
This series spans the collection chronologically and includes
clipping files on the blacklist, education, and other issues, as well as
photographs of Eisenberg, friends and family. Of special interest are the two
sets of clippings on former Canoga Park student and later indicted presidential
aide, Lyn Nofziger. The photographs (mostly snapshots) include four small photo
albums (three have been removed from the albums but kept in order), which show
her 90th birthday party, the Canter's strike and other events. There is a small
collection of family photographs, which include two photographs, perhaps of
Eisenberg as a child or Eisenberg's parents. One album includes photographs of
the Eisenberg son who died serving in World War II. Also included in this
series is a pillow made from a photograph protesting her reassignment from
Canoga Park, a series of prints, some dedicated to Eisenberg by Gary
[Eisenberg?], and a child's artwork.
Box-folder 4/1
Teachers' Cases in California,
1961-1980
Box-folder 4/2
Miscellaneous Blacklisting,
1960-1977
Box-folder 4/4-4/11 , Oversize Item 1
Box-folder 4/4
Older Family Photos,
n.d.
Box-folder 4/5
Shirley Graham and Africa,
n.d.
Oversize Item 1
Portrait -- Unidentified African-American Young Man,
n.d.
Box-folder 4/6
Bernard Eisenberg's Grave and Canter's Protest
(Red),
1991
Box-folder 4/7
#1 -- Unidentifed [disbound, kept in original
order],
n.d.
Box-folder 4/8
#2 -- Partially Identified [disbound, kept in
original order],
n.d.
Box-folder 4/9
90th Birthday Party -- created by sister-in-law,
Millie Robman,
1995
Box-folder 4/10
Eisenberg and Identified Photos,
1971-1994, n.d.
Oversize Item 2
Portfolio of Prints by Gary [Eisenberg?]
n.d.
Oversize Item 3
Child's Collage/Drawing -- "Matt"
1992
