Tag: workers’ education

In the summer of 1933, California union organizers, state education officials, and the University of California Workers' Education program collaborated on the first Western Summer School for Industrial Workers. Later renamed the Pacific Coast Labor School, the Western Summer School was an important forerunner of the University of California Institute of Industrial Relations that was founded in 1945. This document from the school's archive at Occidental College Library names many of people and organizations that helped launch the program.

How to cite: "Class Record: Summer School for Industrial Workers, Occidental College, August 1933," Pacific Coast Labor School records, Occidental College Library.

Summer School for Industrial Workers
Occidental College
Los Angeles, California.
August 1933.

History

The Summer School for Industrial Workers which opened its doors at Occidental College on Sunday evenings, August 6, 1933, is the realization of a dream which originated several years ago with a club of Industrial Workers at the Young Womens Christian Association in Los Angeles. The Club was started in 1928 by Sadie Goodman, who had attended the first Workers Summer School at Bryn Mawr. It met weekly for study and discussion; and from among its members students were chosen each year for Bryn Mawr.

The group talked often of the possibilities of a Workers School on the Pacific Coast, and two years ago, under the inspiration of Helen Richter, Bessie Goren, and Sadie Goodman, it took the first active steps. Both Scripps College and Occidental College gave warm support to the project; and Occidental offered its hospitality for the summer of 1933. The California Association for Adult Education was invited to cooperate with the colleges, the Y.W.C.A., and other bodies, in organizing the School, and its Director, Mrs. Lucy Wilcox Adams, was placed in charge of the work.

The plan of the School was launched at a dinner at the Los Angeles Y.W.C..A. on March 13, 1933, at which Dr. Remsen D. Bird, president of Occidental College presided. Representatives of a number of colleges, clubs, and educational institutions were present and expressed their support of the project. A committee representing the various interests concerned in the founding of the School was appointed to perfect plans and raise the necessary funds. Mrs. Ethel Richardson Allen former chief of Adult Education in California, acted as chairman. Other members of the committee were:

Dr. John Darr of Scripps College, Mrs. Irene Heineman, Assistant State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mirian Bonner, former instructor in the Bryn Mawr and Vineyard Shore
Schools for Yorkers, Mary Buchtel, Assistant Secretary of the Los Angeles Y.W.C.A., Florence Nichol, Industrial Secretary of the Los Angeles Y.W.C.A., Ethelwyn Mills, Anne Peterson of the International Ladies Garment Workers, Dr. W.A. Diebold of the Unemployed Cooperative Relief Association, Sadie Goodman, Bessie Goren and Helen Richter, representing the Industrial Club of the Y.W.C.A., Dr. William F. Adams of the
University of California at Los Angeles, and Mrs. Lucy Wilcox Adams of the California Association for Adult Education. This committee worked with a committee representing Occidental College under the chairmanship of Anne Munford, and received the most cordial and helpful cooperation.

The plan as finally agreed upon called for a four weeks school from August 6 to September 1, 1933 at Occidental College. Orr Hall, one of the womens’ dormitories, was placed
at the disposal of the students, and the fountain room of the College Union was opened for meals. The original intention had been to limit the students to women, but at the meeting in March the men present asked to have the privileges extended to men as well. This was agreed upon, but it was deemed advisable because of expense to limit residence to women. The sum of $25.00 per resident student for the four weeks period was set as the amount of the individual scholarships. This covered the cost of room and board, laundry, the services of the kitchen staff, and other incidental expenses. Dr. Bird offered to make himself responsible for the cost to the college of the School. In addition to the residence fee, a registration fee of $1.00 was charge.

Meanwhile, the Extension Division of the University of California was invited to participate in the School and accepted. Its Workers Education Bureau, representing jointly
the University and the California State Federation of Labor, assigned its Director, John L. Kerchen, to the School.

A second dinner under the chairmanship of Mrs. Lucy Wilcox Adams was held at the Y.M.C.A. in Los Angeles on May 8th. Completed plans for the school were announced, together with the proposed curriculum and the names of the Faculty. In view of the fact that the School was a new venture in the West, the Faculty all volunteered their services. Without this assistance it would have been too difficult, if not impossible, to raise the necessary funds. The outstanding event of this dinner was the presentation by the Industrial Club of the Y.W.C.A. of the first scholarship, and their example stirred the gathering present to raise another scholarship to match it.

A committee under the chairmanship of Mrs. Adams was appointed to prepare a bulletin of information and an application blank, and a scholarship committee under the chairmanship of Miss Ethelwyn Mills was formed to interview prospective students. The purpose of the School as outlined in the bulletin was as follows:

“The Summer School for Industrial Workers at Occidental College has been established to provide opportunity for workers in industry to study the social and economic problems of present day industrial society, to train themselves in clear thinking, and to develop a desire for study as a means of understanding and enjoyment or life. The Summer School is not committed to any dogma or theory, but will conduct its teaching in the spirit of impartial inquiry with freedom of discussion and instruction.”

The original intention had been to limit membership to applicants with at least three years of wage-earning experience, two of which, preferably, should heave been in industry;
but the rule was relaxed to some extent and a few men and women from the business field and the ranks of domestic workers were enrolled. A limited number of college students were also admitted to serve in the capacity of tutors and general assistants.

It did not prove an easy matter to raise funds in the midst of the general business depression, but the help of the following organizations and individuals made possible the
School: Occidental College, Pomona College, Scripps College, Stanford University, the University of California, the State Federation of Labor, the Los Angeles Y.W.C.A., the Industrial Club of the Los Angeles Y.W.C.A., the Pasadena Y.W.C.A., the San Francisco Y.W.C.A., the Womans Civic League of Pasadena, the Girls Council of Los Angeles, Mrs Ethel Richardson Allen, Miss Averic and Miss Elsie Allen, Dr. and Mrs. Remsen Bird, Miss Martha Chickering, Mrs. Oliver C. Field, Mrs. Ludwig Frank and a group of friends in San Francisco who raised a scholarship in memory of Mrs Jesse Steinhart, Miss Helen Marston, Miss Ethelwyn Mills, Dr. Ernest C. Moore, Dr. Gordon Watkins, Dr. C.H. Rieber, and Miss Mary Yest. Special thanks are due to Dr. John Darr of Scripps College for his continued help in every phase of the School’s activity.

It has been possible to carry on the School on the meagre budget of $700 partly through the assistance of the students, all of whom have worked in the dining room, and have been responsible for the care of their own rooms, and for some measure of janitor service. This has proven very satisfactory, and has reduced service charges to a minimum.

The work of interesting students in the School was accomplished largely through the efforts of the Industrial Club of the Y.W.C.A. and by meetings at the Labor Temple and
at various unions. At the last moment plans were upset to some extent as the adoption of NRA gave jobs to half a dozen or more prospective students. But on August 6, 1933, a total of 29 students were enrolled and attended the Opening Exercises.

In this 1928 essay, union organizer Sadie Goodman gives advice to middle-class college students who want to help workers. An immigrant who left school after the sixth grade to work in garment shops, Goodman became an organizer with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. She attended labor college programs in the early 1920s, but was never formally enrolled in college herself. In 1928, Goodman helped organize the first Western Summer School for Industrial Workers in Los Angeles, a forerunner of the University of California labor programs. Goodman's essay points to the tensions that existed between union activists and middle-class allies who took jobs in industry to support unions (part of the "student-industrial movement"). The article appeared in Labor Age, a magazine associated with Brookwood Labor College.

How to cite this article: Sadie Goodman, "Workers and Students: Student-Industrial Movement Proves Worth,"Labor Age, December 1928, pp. 21-22.

Workers and Students: Student-Industrial Movement Proves Worth

I first became acquainted with the idea of the student-industrial movement in 1922 at a weekend party conducted by the Young Women’s Christian Association. At that time I was not much impressed with its importance, and wished I would not be invited again; however, since then I have learned to appreciate the value of this movement.

When students actually go into industry, not for financial help only, but for the purpose of seeing for themselves what it means to work in a factory; and on the other hand when factory girls are actually given an opportunity to taste college life, the student-industrial movement becomes something more than mere good times and discussions; it is getting down to brass tacks, and stimulating thought and action which affects our whole industrial problem.

The best thing that happens to the student who has worked in a factory is that she has her illusions shattered on how to help the working class. She learns that it is not important to teach workers how to live properly; that it is not important to teach workers how to be good Americans, that it is not important to teach workers to be good producers; that it is not important to teach them more religion; and that it is not important to inspire them to become millionaires or the president of the United States; but that it is important to awaken workers to the fact of the big role they play in industry and in helping to develop civilization; that it is important to teach them that if they want respect and a square deal out of life, they cannot get it as individuals or with an “everybody for himself” philosophy. Workers must learn that if one is hurt, all are hurt.

Some students do get that understanding out of their experience and decide to ally themselves with workers’ movements and remain in industry. But few stick it out; the adjustment is too difficult. It often means the cutting off of all family and social contacts.

I would not discourage students who want to ally themselves with the workers’ cause, but I do not encourage it. Instead I advise them to go back to their professional and intellectual fields and do the job from there.

College students apparently do not realize their opportunities to influence workers’ minds — what damage, what misleading and deadening work has been done by their group. If they are really interested in helping the working class, why don’t they becomes teachers, and instead of glorifying kings, war-lords, and wars, emphasize the part that workers play in developing civilization; tell of their heroes and martyrs in bettering working conditions?

When teaching economics, do not glorify the wonderful opportunity our country offers for making profits, instead, tell how our economic system can be run for service.

If they become social workers, and wish sincerely to help workers, they should not be satisfied by just patching up cases. Question, and trace back reasons. If they become lawyers, they should see that workers get a square deal in courts, especially when involved in the industrial struggle. If they become journalists, they should not live off scandal and murder, but should give the workers a little space when they are in a strike.

Some students hope to be active politically. In this field there are opportunities to help workers to “clean up.” If their ambitions spur them to become industrial engineers why not give human beings at least as much consideration as machines and production? And ministers who tell workers that if they are denied things on this earth they are made up in heaven are not the kind that will help the workers’ cause. In fact, that kind of talk has a terribly deadening effect on the workers’ mind. Students who become YWCA secretaries should not be interested only in teaching girls how to play, neither should they, when they realize the struggles and needs of the workers, find the Industrial Department too small and limited and go out into other fields. In that case, they are very often lost to the cause.

It is not going to he easy, this job of helping the working class from the professional fields. Those who try are going to have plenty of opportunity to experience the glorious feeling of martyrdom and suffering that always comes to those who stand for progressive ideas. They will get the same thrill that we workers get when we lose our jobs, go into strikes and get arrested. I know of three people of the professional class who in the past year have lost their jobs. One of these was a man with a family to support, and who is now selling vacuum cleaners. I do not advise you to go back and try to lose your jobs; it is much better to learn how to compromise, if it means gaining a point a little later. But I do say if you are put in a position where you must almost sell your whole soul, then go out and sell vacuum cleaners instead.

What happens to my industrial sister when she gets a taste of the intellectual world? First a dizzy pain in the head. If she gets her taste at Bryn Mawr, Madison, Barnard, the Southern Summer School, or Brookwood, the dizziness is soon relieved with the help of teachers and tutors who understand the purpose of “Workers’ Education.” The second thing that happens is that the world begins to stretch out. They begin to see and hear things that have always been there, but to which they have been deaf, dumb and blind.

For instance, at Bryn Mawr Summer School, the study of economics taught me that my employer was not the only one responsible for the struggle of workers. In fact, he too was a victim of forces such as inventions, discoveries, climatic changes, wars and new theories all of which have resulted in separating our interests. Some understanding of the history of civilization gave me a feeling of importance as a factory worker. The study of English made speakers and writers out of us overnight. A taste of literature seems to flavor life and make a library look larger. We see books that have always been on the bookshelves but have meant nothing to us. The study of science opens our eyes to the skies and trees. A theoretical understanding of the trade union movement strengthens our faith in it, even when our fellow workers and leaders seem to fail us. The biggest thing that the industrial girl gets out of a workers’ school is the contact with the other working girls. She learns that though workers may be different in religion, nationality or color they have one common problem as workers; that though there are many theories, philosophies, and tactics the ultimate goal is the same.

I hope that the student-industrial movement will keep on growing. Students should be encouraged to go into industry and industrial girls should be encouraged to go to school. Students will find that any activity they engage in to help solve our industrial problems will enrich their lives more than any other activity can possibly do.