Montana labor news., 1944-08-24
AFL-CIO--RR SCHOOL
FL0URISHES ASIT
NEARS I'd BIRTHDAY

SAN FRANCISCO-(FP)-A class in
the history Of philosophy whose pupils
include grocery clerk, printer, a
landscape gardener, an accountant, a
housewife. A life class in art attended
by longshoremen, soldiers, teamsters a
janitor. a dentist. a school girl of 19, a
chauffeur, a lawyer, Negro domestic
worker.
That's a cross section of the SO classes
of the California Labor School, union la
Dor school sponsored by lO2 locals of the
AFIi, CLIO, railroad brotherhoods and un-
affiliated unions.
Launched in August, 1912, as the Tom
Mooney Labor School with about 100
men and women in half a dozen classes
and housed in a loft, by June, 1914, the
school had grown until it had to lease a
5-story building on lower Market street,
main thoroughfare of San Francisco, A
staff of 16 with go volunteer teachers,
now offers so courses to 500 students,
plus another 200 extension pupils.
The extension courses are of, for and
by the unions. Any union or other or
ganization, 10 or more of whose mem
bers desire a certain class, can have
the regular services of a teacher at its
headquarters at any time convenient
to it.
The school work is divided into six
departments Social sciences, labor, Ian
guages, writing arts and crafts and
drama and music. Most classes are
from 7 p. m. to 10 p. M, but there is
noon class in current events for swing
shift workers and housewives and on
Saturdays two classes are held for chill
dren from 8 to IA.
The school also supports the California
Labar Theater, the California Dance
Theater and the California Chorus. As
a further service to unions, it prepares
pamphlets and leaflets and edits three
union papers
third of the schools income comes
from fees, a third from contributions
from sponsoring unions, third from
individual donations. Besides the list Of
sponsoring unions which Includes in ad-
dition to the 102 locals, the Allied Print
ing Trades Council (AFL), the Cali
fornia legislative board of Brotherhood
of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen
(unaffiliated) and the National Associ-
alton for the Advancement of Colored
People, there is an Educational Advisory
Council made up of faculty members
from the University of California, Stan
ford University, San Francisco State
College, San Francisco Junior College
and the San Francisco superintendent
of schools
A force for labor unity the California
Labor School is a force for race unity
as well. In its student body are Negroes
Chinese, Mexicans, men and women Of
all ages, all degrees of education, every
political and religious creed. When the
school held open house in its new build
ing-completely remodeled, with its big
auditorium and well-equipped library
among the guests were city officials, in
dustrialists, clergymen, newspaper edi-
tors, representatives, Of government agen-
cies. In two years the school has wealth.
cred storms of attack and misrepresen-
tation and has grown from a feeble
beginning to a successful present which
foretells great future
This building used to house WPA
projects" says Director David jenkins,
a former seaman. 1T is symbolic Of the
progress of labor-from WPA to union
labor's own school. The school will be
an imprtant farctor in building the
peace after we-civilian war workers
equally with the armed forces-have won
the war"