“ACA telephone workers marching in parade, California Labor School” from 1942/1957 from the California Labor School Negative Collection at the Labor Archives and Research Center, J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University.

Saturday July 22, 2023 | 1-2:30pm 

Meet at the Tenderloin Museum | 398 Eddy St. SF, CA 94102

Free (or a $10 suggested donation) | (capacity limited to 20 / register via Eventbrite)

Explore the rich history of the labor movement in the Tenderloin on foot! TLM Program Director Alex Spoto and City Guide Linda Day will lead a special iteration of the museum’s weekly walking tour in advance of Dr. Day’s presentation “Union Wages and Housing Development: San Francisco Waitresses and Saleswomen Living Downtown, 1910-1941.”

The Tenderloin has always been and continues to be a densely populated enclave of primarily working class people, and thus the neighborhood sports a rich history of organized labor and vibrant working-class culture. On this walking tour, we’ll visit key places in the labor movement, including union halls, residential hotels, sites of picket lines and protests, as well as the former home of the California Labor School! 

This Labor History Walking Tour of the TL 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. 

The tour will last approximately 80 minutes, and will be followed by Linda Day’s presentation at 3pm. Space on the tour is limited to 20 attendees, so please register in advance via Eventbrite!