“FTA 7th National Convention, California Labor School” 1942/1957 from the California Labor School Negative Collection at the Labor Archives and Research Center, J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University.
April 22, 2023 | 1-2:30pm
At the Tenderloin Museum 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94122
Free! No registration required
Explore and celebrate the history of the labor movement in the TL with a presentation by Catherine Powell of the Labor Archives & Research Center at SFSU.
With its densely built residential hotels and central city location, the Tenderloin has long been a hub of working class culture and a home for working people. Union halls, labor art and education, titanic battles with the city’s employers, and breaking down racial barriers all inform labor’s rich and fascinating historical record in the TL. Join us for a special Saturday afternoon public program that explores and celebrates the history of the labor movement in the Tenderloin with Catherine Powell of the Labor Archives & Research Center (LARC) at SFSU.
LARC is home to many collections of primary source materials that document the lively history of the San Francisco Bay Area; “Labor in the ‘Loin” is presented as part of Education for Action: California Labor School, 1942-1957, a collaboration with LARC that celebrates the radical, union-founded worker’s school. Established in the TL, the California Labor School was remarkable for its efforts to educate the whole person by offering a robust complement of humanities courses in tandem with classes on trade skills and organizing. Now, its curriculum is inspiring the public programs connected to the special exhibit on view at the Tenderloin Museum, including this inquiry into the labor movement’s hyper-local highlights.
For “Labor in the ‘Loin,” Powell will survey the districts’ deep vein of labor history and connect this lineage to current local unions. We’ll look to the past to see the city from the unique point of view of those who have worked in its garment factories, labored in its hotels, and performed in SF's renowned symphony and jazz halls; we’ll also examine the present day labor scene, including the neighborhood is home to the city’s largest private sector union, UNITE HERE Local 2, as well as the country’s first union to receive government funds to counsel immigrant workers, SEIU Janitors’ Local 87.
Join us for an examination of a vital aspect of the Tenderloin’s economic, political, and social life: labor in the ‘loin! The special exhibit Education for Action and this related programming is made possible thanks to a grant from California Humanities.