Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T01:23:11.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Racial Segregation and the San Francisco Musicians' Union, 1923–60

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2007

LETA E. MILLER
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The practice of segregated union locals, common in the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) during the first half of the twentieth century, led to racial confrontation in San Francisco. In 1934, black Local 648 sued its much larger counterpart, Local 6, which had attempted to control all musical employment in the Bay Area. Though Local 648 eventually withdrew its suit, its charter was revoked and black musicians were placed in “subsidiary” status. A new “colored local” (669) was chartered in 1946 and worked alongside Local 6 until the state forced amalgamation in 1960. Many other segregated locals did not merge until the late 1960s or early 1970s.

The saga of Locals 6, 648, and 669 brings into focus the complex social and economic forces buffeting the working musician in the early twentieth century. Racialist attitudes in the US labor movement, mirrored in the musicians' union, forced blacks to organize separately and accept lower wages in order to secure employment. The AFM, for its part, was constrained by its dedication to local autonomy. Black union musicians were themselves divided—torn between outrage at their second-class status and the apparent benefits of working for change from within the organization.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of the Society for American Music , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , May 2007 , pp. 161 - 206
Copyright
© 2007 The Society for American Music

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This article is part of a larger study in progress on the musical life of San Francisco from 1906 to World War II. I am very grateful to those who provided comments on earlier drafts of this article: Jose Bowen, Catherine Parsons Smith, Travis Jackson, Earl Watkins, Paul Machlin, Melinda Wagner, and Gretchen Elliott. This project was supported by grants from the Committee on Research and the Arts Research Institute of the University of California, Santa Cruz.

References

“Amer. Federation of Labor Rapped for its Two Faced Policy in Treating Race.” The Spokesman 20 September 1934 3.
American Federation of Labor. Proceedings of the Annual Convention (published annually).
American Federation of Musicians. Constitution and By-Laws.
American Federation of Musicians. International Musician (published monthly).
American Federation of Musicians. Official Proceedings of the Convention (published annually).
American Federation of Musicians, Local 6. The Musical News (published monthly from 1917 to the present).
American Federation of Musicians, Local 6. Unpublished minutes of board meetings, 1916.
“Appeal for National and State Relief for Unemployed Musicians.” The Musical News 17/2 (February 1934):1 10– 11.
Attl Kajetan “S.E.R.A.” The Musical News 17/6 (June 1934): 15.
Ayer Julie 2005. More Than Meets the Ear: How Symphony Musicians Made Labor History. Minneapolis: Syren Book Co.
“Baranco Band Loses Out at Dawn Cafe.” The Spokesman, 24 May 1935, 1.
“Battle Jim Crow in Miami Locals.” Down Beat, 23 September 1949, 1– 2.
“Biographical Sketches of Leaders in Professional and Official Fields Tell of Genuine Achievements.” San Francisco Chronicle, 16 January 1918, 46.
“Bi-Union Discrimination Case Set for Tue.: Showdown Court Trial Follows Music Union's Attempt to Jim-Crow Bay Area,” The Spokesman, 30 August 1934, 2.
Brand Caesar. “Golden Reminiscences.” The Musical News 18/2 (February 1935): 14; 18/3 (March 1935): 11–12; 18/4 (April 1935): 11–12; 18/6 (June 1935): 18–20; 18/8 (August 1935): 15–16; and 18/9 (September 1935): 12, 19, 21.
“Bricks Fly as 500 Longshoremen Attack Oakland Scabs.” The Spokesman, 17 May 1934, 1.
Broussard Albert S. 1993. Black San Francisco: The Struggle for Racial Equality in the West, 1900–1954. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas
Callender Red Elaine Cohen 1985. Unfinished Dream: The Musical World of Red Callender. London: Quartet Books
Chamberland Carol P. “The House that Bop Built.” California History 75/3 (Fall 1996): 272– 83.
“City's Bench and Bar Boast Great Traditions.” San Francisco Chronicle, 18 January 1922, 45.
“Coast Musicians Sue White Local.” Chicago Defender, 22 September 1934, 7.
Collette Buddy 2000. Jazz Generations: A Life in American Music and Society. London: Continuum
Collette Buddy Telephone interview with the author, 6 November 2006.
“Coping with Automation: The Musicians.” 1959 Business Week, 9 June 1956, Unions and Union Leadership, Their Human Meaning Jack Barbash, 306– 11 New York: Harper,
“Court Bares Threats of Musicians: White Musician's Union Accused of Intimidation, Lose First Court Tilt.” The Spokesman, 6 September 1934, 1.
Crothers Bob Telephone interview with the author 15 August 2006.
Daniels Douglas Henry 1990. Pioneer Urbanites: A Social and Cultural History of Black San Francisco. Berkeley: University of California Press
Denning Michael 1996. The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the Twentieth Century. London: Verso
Dewey James G. “Sixtieth Anniversary of Musicians' Union Local No. 6 of American Federation of Musicians.” The Musical News 40/1 (February 1957): 1.
Du Bois W. E. B. “To the American Federation of Labor.” The Crisis 28/4 (August 1924): 153.
Emge Charles. “Move Grows to Scrap L.A.'s Jim Crow Union.” Down Beat, 15 June 1951, 1 19.
Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration of Northern California, comp. 1947 San Francisco: The Bay and Its Cities. New York: Hastings House.
Fried Michael. “W. Elmer Keeton and His WPA Chorus: Oakland's Musical Civil Rights Pioneers of the New Deal Era.” California History 75/3 (Fall 1996): 236– 49.
Foner Philip 1974. Organized Labor and the Black Worker, 1619–1973. New York: International Publishers
Gleason Ralph J. “A Blow to Jim Crow.” Down Beat, 10 December 1959, 14– 15.
Gleason Ralph J. “Musicians' Locals Face FEP Action.” San Francisco Chronicle, 31 October 1959, 1, 4.
Gleason Ralph J. “Musicians [sic] Union Isn't in Tune with History.” San Francisco Chronicle, 13 December 1956, 33.
Goggin Jim 2005. Earl Watkins: The Life of a Jazz Drummer. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing
Green Anna Welda. 1929 “Musicians' Union of San Francisco.” Master's thesis, University of California Berkeley
Gushee Lawrence 2005. Pioneers of Jazz. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Harris William H. 1982. The Harder We Run: Black Workers Since the Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press
“He Teaches Be-Bop and Studies Bach.” San Francisco Chronicle, 4 July 1949, 9.
Hershman Sue-Ellen “What's in a Number? The History and Merger of Local 535.” Interlude (publication of AFM Local 9, Boston), January–February 1993, 4, 12.
Hertz Alfred. Unpublished correspondence. San Francisco Public Library.
“I.L.A. Pledges Open Door to Negro Worker.” The Spokesman, 9 August 1934, 1.
Janson Donald. “A.F.M. Shelves Bid for Integration.” New York Times, 14 June 1957, 22.
“Jim Crow in L.A. Local 47 to Face Legal Showdown.” Down Beat, 21 October 1949, 1.
Keller David 1996 “Seattle's Segregated Musicians' Union, Local 493, 1918–1956.” Master's thesis, Western Washington University.
Kelley Robin D. G. 2001 “Without a Song: New York Musicians Strike Out Against Technology” Three Strikes: Miners, Musicians, Salesgirls, and the Fighting Spirit of Labor's Last Century, Howard Zinn Dana Frank Robin D. G. Kelley, 119– 55. Boston: Beacon Press.
Kenney William Howland. 1993. Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, 1904–1930. New York: Oxford University Press
Kern Phyllis. 1985 “A Centennial History of San Francisco Musician's Union, Local 6.” San Francisco: Musicians' Union Local 6.
King Clarence. “The Facts and Correspondence in the Eddie B. Love Case.” The Musical News 26/8 (August 1943): 15– 25; 26/9 (September 1943): 15–19.
King Clarence. “Report of the Delegates of General Strike Committee.” The Musical News 18/8 (August 1934): 1 6.
Kraft James P. “Artists as Workers: Musicians and Trade Unionism in America, 1880–1917.” Musical Quarterly 79/3 (Autumn 1995): 512– 43.
“LaFerne Is Our Friend, Says Group.” The Spokesman, 22 February 1935, 1.
Laifer Steven. “Looking Back: Merged Locals Are Windows on Changing Times.” International Musician 101/2 (February 2003): 16– 17 24.
“Legionnaires: Here's Your Sure Guide to the City's Night Life.” San Francisco Chronicle, 11 August 1934, 10.
Leiter Richard D. 1953. The Musicians and Petrillo. New York: Bookman Associates
“Local Musicians May Lose Jobs as Nat. Body Revokes Union Charter.” The Spokesman, 14 December 1934, 1.
“Locals 6-669 Merger Ordered.” The Musical News 42/12 (December 1959): 1– 2.
Love Eddie B. “The Bubble Bursts.” The Musical News 18/12 (December 1934): 1– 2.
“M'Donald Fund Aided by Chief of S.F. Utility; Musicians' Union Lends Support to Benefit on September 18.” San Francisco Chronicle, 9 September 1933, 3.
Meicke Steven “A History of the Musicians Union Local 6, American Federation of Musicians.” LABR 300 Research Methods for Labor Studies, San Francisco State University, 7 April 2003. American Federation of Musicians Local 6 website, http://www.afm6.org.
Metzger Alfred “Roland Hayes Tolerant of Music Ideas.” San Francisco Chronicle, 29 December 1933, 1.
Metzger Alfred “Throng Braves Rain to Hear Roland Hayes.” San Francisco Chronicle, 30 December 1933, 24.
Moore Ed S. “The End of the War and The State of the Union (Local 6).” The Musical News 28/9 (September 1945): 3 5.
“Music Union and Theaters Deadlocked Over Terms.” San Francisco Chronicle, 26 August 1926, 7.
“Musicians Balk at Picket Job.” The Spokesman, 4 October 1934, 1.
“Musicians Here Told to End Jim Crow.” San Francisco Chronicle, 18 June 1957, 1, 7.
“Musicians Lose Cafe Job through Union Threat.” The Spokesman, 29 March 1935, 1.
“Musicians Must Choose Between Jim Crow Union and Scabbing.” The Spokesman, 19 April 1935, 1.
“Musicians Remembering: The Oral History Project of the Boston Musicians' Association, AFM Local 9-535.” Interlude, November–December 2005, 5– 6.
“Musicians [sic] Union Votes Segregation.” San Francisco Chronicle, 7 December 1956 1 4.
“NAACP Pickets A. F. of L. Convention.” The Spokesman, 4 October 1934, 1.
“Negro Musicians Seek Court Ban.” San Francisco Chronicle, 2 September 1934, 5.
“Negroes Hit Twice as Hard as Whites by the Depression, Report Shows.” The Spokesman, 4 October 1934, 5.
Northrup Herbert R. 1944. Organized Labor and the Negro. New York: Harper
“Oakland Musicians Go to Law When Nordic Group ‘Hogs’ Good Jobs.” The Spokesman, 30 August 1934, 1.
“Orchestra of 200 Billed for Benefit.” San Francisco Chronicle, 29 November 1931, D3.
“Our Local Stalwarts.” The Spokesman, 12 October 1934, 6.
“Owners Close Picture House to Musicians.” San Francisco Chronicle, 17 March 1929, 10.
Pepin Elizabeth, Lewis Watts. 2006. Harlem of the West: The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Era. San Francisco: Chronicle Books
“Petrillo Talks!” Down Beat, 16 May 1957, 19 41.
Quin Mike. 1949. The Big Strike. Olema, Calif.: Olema Publishing Company
“Race Workers Picket Labor Meeting in San Francisco.” Chicago Defender, 13 October 1934, 4.
Reilly Byron “Speed.” “Star Stuff: News of Stage, Screen and Radio.” The Spokesman, 23 August 1934, 2.
“Report of Campaign for Charter Amendment Number 3, ‘Save Our Symphony.’” The Musical News 18/6 (June 1935): 2– 3, 5–7.
Riesenberg Felix Jr. 1940 Golden Gate: The Story of San Francisco Harbor. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Roe Jessica Celebrating Our Centennial. Centennial edition of the International Musician, October 1996.
Seltzer George. 1989. Music Matters: The Performer and the American Federation of Musicians. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press
“S.F. Talky Theater Refuses Union's Music Demands,” San Francisco Chronicle, 4 October 1928, 1 4.
Sides Josh. “Battle on the Home Front: African American Shipyard Workers in World War II Los Angeles.” California History 75/3 (Fall 1996): 251– 63.
Sitkoff Harvard. 1978. A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights as a National Issue. Vol. 1 The Depression Decade. New York: Oxford University Press
Smith Catherine Parsons. forthcoming Transforming the Popular: Music Making, Concert Life, and Opera in Los Angeles, 1887–1941. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Spero Sterling D. Abram L. Harris. 1931. The Black Worker: The Negro and the Labor Movement. Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press
“State Sends FEP Request to Musicians Locals.” San Francisco Chronicle, 4 November 1959, 9.
Steeper William P. “Civil Rights in the American Federation of Musicians.” International Musician 53/6 (December 1954): S1– S26.
Steif Bill. “Calif. Atty. General's Merger Order to White & Negro Frisco AFM Locals; 1st Major Ukase [sic] Under State's FEP.” Variety, 4 November 1959, 59 62.
Stoddard Tom. 1982. Jazz on the Barbary Coast. Chigwell, Essex: Storyville Publications
Stripp Fred. “The Treatment of Negro-American Workers by the AFL and the CIO in the San Francisco Bay Area.” Social Forces 28/3 (March 1950): 330– 32.
Summers Clyde W. “Admission Policies of Labor Unions.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 61/1 (November 1946): 66– 107.
“Theater Will Remain Open Despite Order, Says Wagnon.” San Francisco Chronicle, 5 October 1928, 1 5.
“Tip Top Club Features Music.” San Francisco Chronicle, 20 September 1934, 14.
“Union Employe[e]s Walk Out in Embassy Talkie Row.” San Francisco Chronicle, 11 October 1928, 13.
“Union Offers Olive Twig to Oak. Bandmen.” The Spokesman, 5 April 1935, 1.
“Union Musicians Drop Job Suit.” The Spokesman, 12 October 1934, 1.
Walsh Alex. “A Brief History of Local 6.” American Federation of Musicians Local 6 website, http://www.afm6.org.
Walsh Alex. “Earl Watkins—Mr. Lucky.” American Federation of Musicians Local 6 website, http://www.afm6.org.
Washington James Melvin, 1986. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. San Francisco: Harper
Watkins Earl. Interview with the author, 14 August 2006, and several subsequent telephone interviews.
Weaver Robert C. “Recent Events in Negro Union Relationships.” Journal of Political Economy 52/3 (September 1944): 234– 49.
Weber Joseph. “Living Music Day.” International Musician, February 1932, 1.
Weber Joseph N. “The ‘Talkie’ Situation” (letter to all AFM locals, 4 January 1929). The Musical News 12/1 (15 January 1929): 1– 2.
White Bob. “Chicago Local Typical of Negro AFM Groups.” Down Beat, 1 November 1940, 23.
“White Unions Hit for Discrimination by Judge.” California Eagle, 21 September 1934, 2.
Wollenberg Charles. “James vs. Marinship: Trouble on the New Black Frontier.” California History 60/3 (Fall 1981): 262– 79.
Young Marl. “The Amalgamation of Locals 47 and 767.” The Overture (publication of AFM Local 47, Los Angeles), December 1988, http://www.promusic47.org/benefits/amalgam.asp.