The District Secretary of the International Labor Defense, The ILD provided bail, attorneys and community support for those arrested in labor, unemployed and political struggles. She was active in the campaign to free Tom Mooney, the unemployed councils, the San Francisco Maritime-General strike and the Salinas Valley Agricultural Workers’ strike. The Hearst press labeled her […]
Ray Thompson
“In 1947 I was arrested for the most heinous crime anybody in the state of California has ever been arrested for. I was arrested for voting.” Community Organizer, Civil Rights Activist–Born in San Francisco in 1905, at the time discrimination was acute. Childhood memories include being barred from public swimming pools for fear by whites […]
“Are You Now or Have You Ever Been . . .”
“Are you know or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party or associated with members of the Party….” was the question posed by the House Committee of Un-American Activities, or HUAC to witnesses before the investigative committee of the US House of Representatives. Those answered were often fired from their jobs and […]
Radical Elders Oral History Project
The Radical Elders Oral History Project began in the mid-1970s as a vehicle for 1960’s radicals to interview the older generation of radicals from the 1930s. The 1930s radicals included Lou and Edith Laub, Fred Cody, Tuese Mende, Virginia Maubin, Al and Ann Wasserman, the younger radicals included Bruce Kaiper, Marge Lasky, and Jeff Johnson. […]
San Francisco Building Trades
Richard Bermack photographed and interviewed building trades workers for “On the Job Site” a column in Organized Labor a publication of the San Francisco Building Trades Council from 2007 to 2017. The building trades are one of the few remaining professions where people interact with the physical environment working with their hands to create something. […]
Social Worker Meltdown -2
Social Worker Meltdown