Harry Bridges - Revision history

Ccarlsson: added lost landscapes video

2023-11-05T22:29:09Z

added lost landscapes video

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:29, 5 November 2023
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	''Image: ILWU Archives''		''Image: ILWU Archives''

			<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/labor-day-1939-llsf-2015-20151208-30p-7-mbps" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

			''Video: from "Lost Landscapes 10, 2015" courtesy Prelinger Archive''


	Nonetheless, Bridges was soon charged with belonging to an organization which sought to overthrow the government by force. A highly publicized deportation hearing was held on Angel Island near San Francisco in 1939. Dean James M. Landis of the Harvard Law School was retained as trial examiner for the Department of Labor, which then had administrative jurisdiction in matters of immigration. The Supreme Court had recently determined that federal statute necessitated proof of membership in a proscribed organization at the time of arrest as reason for deportation. After eleven weeks of hearings, Landis decided that the evidence failed to show that Bridges had been a Communist Party member when the warrant for his arrest had been issued.		Nonetheless, Bridges was soon charged with belonging to an organization which sought to overthrow the government by force. A highly publicized deportation hearing was held on Angel Island near San Francisco in 1939. Dean James M. Landis of the Harvard Law School was retained as trial examiner for the Department of Labor, which then had administrative jurisdiction in matters of immigration. The Supreme Court had recently determined that federal statute necessitated proof of membership in a proscribed organization at the time of arrest as reason for deportation. After eleven weeks of hearings, Landis decided that the evidence failed to show that Bridges had been a Communist Party member when the warrant for his arrest had been issued.

Ccarlsson at 20:48, 31 August 2020

2020-08-31T20:48:34Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:48, 31 August 2020
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	''by Harvey Schwartz, a San Francisco-born labor historian''		''by Harvey Schwartz, a San Francisco-born labor historian''

			<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/hidden-san-francisco-stop-l-11-harry-bridges-plaza" width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

			<hr>

			[[Image:Foundsf-hsf-icon.gif\|link=Bernal Cut]]<br>
			Next Stop #8: [[Bernal Cut\|Carving Hills]]

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	[[Image:ilwu2$harry-bridges-1934.jpg]]		[[Image:ilwu2$harry-bridges-1934.jpg]]

Ccarlsson: upgraded photo

2020-06-11T07:05:23Z

upgraded photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:05, 11 June 2020
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	Conservative agitation to expel Bridges as a member of the Communist Party, USA, began in 1934. His opponents pointed out that deportation was not technically a punishment for crime, but was merely an administrative process for the return of unwelcome aliens to their native countries, and could, at least theoretically, be easily effected. Following an investigation in 1936, though, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials reported that no basis existed for deportation proceedings against the labor leader.		Conservative agitation to expel Bridges as a member of the Communist Party, USA, began in 1934. His opponents pointed out that deportation was not technically a punishment for crime, but was merely an administrative process for the return of unwelcome aliens to their native countries, and could, at least theoretically, be easily effected. Following an investigation in 1936, though, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials reported that no basis existed for deportation proceedings against the labor leader.

	[[Image:1939-~~Labor~~-~~day~~.jpg]]		[[Image:Bridges-leads-1939-march-up-Market-betw-5th-and-6rh-streets ILWU-Archive.jpg\|800px]]

	'''1939 Labor Day March on Market Street led by ILWU'''		'''1939 Labor Day March on Market Street led by ILWU'''

Ccarlsson: added new photo

2016-10-24T05:45:15Z

added new photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:45, 23 October 2016
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	But of course Harry Bridges had not always enjoyed such public acceptance and high esteem. For much of the first thirty-five years of his life he had labored as an unsung sailor and longshoreman in an era when marine workers commanded little respect in polite society. He had been born Alfred Renton Bryant Bridges in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia on July 28, 1901. As a youth he had rejected his father's real estate business and conservative politics and had instead followed the example of two uncles, especially Harry Renton (variously a sailor, miner, and pearl diver, whose name he eventually adopted) who championed the militant Australian trade union movement and its Labour Party. As a teenager, he had become a seaman, mingling on shipboard with Australian members of the American [born] radical Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and, while at port in Melbourne, witnessing the tumultuous 1917 Australian general strike.		But of course Harry Bridges had not always enjoyed such public acceptance and high esteem. For much of the first thirty-five years of his life he had labored as an unsung sailor and longshoreman in an era when marine workers commanded little respect in polite society. He had been born Alfred Renton Bryant Bridges in a suburb of Melbourne, Australia on July 28, 1901. As a youth he had rejected his father's real estate business and conservative politics and had instead followed the example of two uncles, especially Harry Renton (variously a sailor, miner, and pearl diver, whose name he eventually adopted) who championed the militant Australian trade union movement and its Labour Party. As a teenager, he had become a seaman, mingling on shipboard with Australian members of the American [born] radical Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and, while at port in Melbourne, witnessing the tumultuous 1917 Australian general strike.

			[[Image:Harry-Bridges-on-sailing-ship-young.jpg]]

			'''Harry Bridges as a young seaman.'''

			''Photo: ILWU Archives''

	Bridges had jumped ship at San Francisco in 1920, found employment in American vessels as a member of the Sailors Union of the Pacific, and briefly joined the IWW himself during a strike at New Orleans in 1921.		Bridges had jumped ship at San Francisco in 1920, found employment in American vessels as a member of the Sailors Union of the Pacific, and briefly joined the IWW himself during a strike at New Orleans in 1921.

Lisaruth at 19:14, 2 July 2012

2012-07-02T19:14:12Z

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	[[Image:ilwu2$harry-bridges-1934.jpg]]		[[Image:ilwu2$harry-bridges-1934.jpg]]

	'''Harry Bridges at a negotiating session during waterfront strike, ~~5/34~~.'''		'''Harry Bridges at a negotiating session during waterfront strike, 1934.'''

	''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA''		''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA''
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	[[Image:Longshore-caucus-1945.jpg]]		[[Image:Longshore-caucus-1945.jpg]]

	''Harry Bridges at the Longshore caucus, 1945.'''		'''Harry Bridges at the Longshore caucus, 1945.'''

	''Photo: ILWU Archive''		''Photo: ILWU Archive''

Ccarlsson at 07:38, 5 December 2010

2010-12-05T07:38:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:38, 5 December 2010
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	'''Harry Bridges at a negotiating session during waterfront strike, 5/34.'''		'''Harry Bridges at a negotiating session during waterfront strike, 5/34.'''

	~~[[Image~~:~~ilwu2$fink-books.jpg]]~~		''Photo: San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA''

	~~'''Striking seamen burn their "fink books" at the end of the 1934 strike~~.~~'''~~		[[Image:Longshore-caucus-1945.jpg]]

	''~~Photos~~: ~~San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco, CA~~''		''Harry Bridges at the Longshore caucus, 1945.'''

			''Photo: ILWU Archive''

	Harry Bridges retired in 1977 amid the accolades of almost everyone associated with the West Coast shipping industry. Unionists, shippers, media people and government officials joined in a chorus of praise for the historic longshore leader, who had served as the first and only president of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) for the preceding forty years and had led the coast's militant dock workers as they fought for their survival as unionists during the great maritime strikes of 1934 and 1936-37. The 1930s had been turbulent years for Bridges and the longshoremen: the 1934 strike had, for a few days, swelled into a general protest strike in San Francisco after police killed two waterfront pickets; the 1936 strike had been marked by a bitter propaganda contest. But after a major longshore walkout in 1948, the shippers had finally decided to live with Bridges, and a new look had come to the waterfront. In 1960 Bridges negotiated an innovative mechanization and modernization agreement to cooperate with management so that the coast's port facilities might be modernized without continual industrial warfare.		Harry Bridges retired in 1977 amid the accolades of almost everyone associated with the West Coast shipping industry. Unionists, shippers, media people and government officials joined in a chorus of praise for the historic longshore leader, who had served as the first and only president of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) for the preceding forty years and had led the coast's militant dock workers as they fought for their survival as unionists during the great maritime strikes of 1934 and 1936-37. The 1930s had been turbulent years for Bridges and the longshoremen: the 1934 strike had, for a few days, swelled into a general protest strike in San Francisco after police killed two waterfront pickets; the 1936 strike had been marked by a bitter propaganda contest. But after a major longshore walkout in 1948, the shippers had finally decided to live with Bridges, and a new look had come to the waterfront. In 1960 Bridges negotiated an innovative mechanization and modernization agreement to cooperate with management so that the coast's port facilities might be modernized without continual industrial warfare.

Ccarlsson: added lnk to new Vincent Hallinan page

2009-03-16T05:48:12Z

added lnk to new Vincent Hallinan page

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:48, 15 March 2009
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	Nonetheless, Bridges was soon charged with belonging to an organization which sought to overthrow the government by force. A highly publicized deportation hearing was held on Angel Island near San Francisco in 1939. Dean James M. Landis of the Harvard Law School was retained as trial examiner for the Department of Labor, which then had administrative jurisdiction in matters of immigration. The Supreme Court had recently determined that federal statute necessitated proof of membership in a proscribed organization at the time of arrest as reason for deportation. After eleven weeks of hearings, Landis decided that the evidence failed to show that Bridges had been a Communist Party member when the warrant for his arrest had been issued.		Nonetheless, Bridges was soon charged with belonging to an organization which sought to overthrow the government by force. A highly publicized deportation hearing was held on Angel Island near San Francisco in 1939. Dean James M. Landis of the Harvard Law School was retained as trial examiner for the Department of Labor, which then had administrative jurisdiction in matters of immigration. The Supreme Court had recently determined that federal statute necessitated proof of membership in a proscribed organization at the time of arrest as reason for deportation. After eleven weeks of hearings, Landis decided that the evidence failed to show that Bridges had been a Communist Party member when the warrant for his arrest had been issued.

	Unfortunately for Bridges, Congress soon enacted the Alien Registration Act of 1940, known as the Smith Act, making ''past'' member-ship in organizations like the Communist Party reason for deportation. The next year he was subjected to another hearing, this time before Judge Charles B. Seras, trial examiner for the Department of Justice, which had recently taken over the Immigration and Naturalization Service from the Labor Department. Sears decided that Bridges was subject to deportation and Attorney General Francis Biddle, who had final say for the Justice Department, agreed. Biddle ordered Bridges deported in 1942, but the complex set of appeals which followed landed the case in the Supreme Court. In 1945, by a vote of five to three, the Court held that Communist Party affiliation had not been proved. Later that year Bridges signed his naturalization papers after attesting that he had never been a member of the Communist Party. But when the McCarthy period dawned, the "everlasting Bridges case," as it became known, was reopened. In April 1950, the longshore leader was found guilty of having given false testimony during his naturalization proceedings. He and his two witnesses in the oath-of-citizenship ceremonies, J.R. (Bob) Robertson and Henry Schmidt, both ILWU officials, were also convicted of conspiracy to defraud the government.		Unfortunately for Bridges, Congress soon enacted the Alien Registration Act of 1940, known as the Smith Act, making ''past'' member-ship in organizations like the Communist Party reason for deportation. The next year he was subjected to another hearing, this time before Judge Charles B. Seras, trial examiner for the Department of Justice, which had recently taken over the Immigration and Naturalization Service from the Labor Department. Sears decided that Bridges was subject to deportation and Attorney General Francis Biddle, who had final say for the Justice Department, agreed. Biddle ordered Bridges deported in 1942, but the complex set of appeals which followed landed the case in the Supreme Court. In 1945, by a vote of five to three, the Court held that Communist Party affiliation had not been proved. Later that year Bridges signed his naturalization papers after attesting that he had never been a member of the Communist Party. But when the McCarthy period dawned, the "everlasting Bridges case," as it became known, was reopened. In April 1950, the longshore leader was [[Vincent Hallinan\|found guilty of having given false testimony]] during his naturalization proceedings. He and his two witnesses in the oath-of-citizenship ceremonies, J.R. (Bob) Robertson and Henry Schmidt, both ILWU officials, were also convicted of conspiracy to defraud the government.

	A few months later, while he awaited legal appeal, Bridges' bail was revoked when U.S. District Court Judge George Harris, who had presided at the perjury trial, decided that the unionist was a danger to national security since he was critical of American intervention in the Korean war. Bridges was jailed for three weeks during August 1950 before being released under bail by the U.S. Court of Appeals. In 1953 the case reached the Supreme Court, which set aside the conviction of Bridges, Robertson and Schmidt because their indictment had occurred over three years after the statute of limitations provided for in such criminal cases. A final effort by the Justice Dept. to deport Bridges ended in 1955 when Judge Louis E. Goodman dismissed the department's civil action to denaturalize the ILWU President.		A few months later, while he awaited legal appeal, Bridges' bail was revoked when U.S. District Court Judge George Harris, who had presided at the perjury trial, decided that the unionist was a danger to national security since he was critical of American intervention in the Korean war. Bridges was jailed for three weeks during August 1950 before being released under bail by the U.S. Court of Appeals. In 1953 the case reached the Supreme Court, which set aside the conviction of Bridges, Robertson and Schmidt because their indictment had occurred over three years after the statute of limitations provided for in such criminal cases. A final effort by the Justice Dept. to deport Bridges ended in 1955 when Judge Louis E. Goodman dismissed the department's civil action to denaturalize the ILWU President.

Ccarlsson: Protected "Harry Bridges": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

2009-01-06T06:53:18Z

Protected "Harry Bridges": finished essay [edit=sysop:move=sysop]

← Older revision	Revision as of 23:53, 5 January 2009
(No difference)

Ccarlsson: PC and fixed quotes

2008-12-10T06:38:09Z

PC and fixed quotes

Show changes

Ccarlsson at 23:42, 5 August 2008

2008-08-05T23:42:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:42, 5 August 2008
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	Conservative agitation to expel Bridges as a member of the Communist Party, USA, began in 1934. His opponents pointed out that deportation was not technically a punishment for crime, but was merely an administrative process for the return of unwelcome aliens to their native countries, and could, at least theoretically, be easily effected. Following an investigation in 1936, though, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials reported that no basis existed for deportation proceedings against the labor leader.		Conservative agitation to expel Bridges as a member of the Communist Party, USA, began in 1934. His opponents pointed out that deportation was not technically a punishment for crime, but was merely an administrative process for the return of unwelcome aliens to their native countries, and could, at least theoretically, be easily effected. Following an investigation in 1936, though, Immigration and Naturalization Service officials reported that no basis existed for deportation proceedings against the labor leader.

			[[Image:1939-Labor-day.jpg]]

			'''1939 Labor Day March on Market Street led by ILWU'''

			''Image: ILWU Archives''

	Nonetheless, Bridges was soon charged with belonging to an organization which sought to overthrow the government by force. A highly publicized deportation hearing was held on Angel Island near San Francisco in 1939. Dean James M. Landis of the Harvard Law School was retained as trial examiner for the Department of Labor, which then had administrative jurisdiction in matters of immigration. The Supreme Court had recently determined that federal statute necessitated proof of membership in a proscribed organization at the time of arrest as reason for deportation. After eleven weeks of hearings, Landis decided that the evidence failed to show that Bridges had been a Communist Party member when the warrant for his arrest had been issued.		Nonetheless, Bridges was soon charged with belonging to an organization which sought to overthrow the government by force. A highly publicized deportation hearing was held on Angel Island near San Francisco in 1939. Dean James M. Landis of the Harvard Law School was retained as trial examiner for the Department of Labor, which then had administrative jurisdiction in matters of immigration. The Supreme Court had recently determined that federal statute necessitated proof of membership in a proscribed organization at the time of arrest as reason for deportation. After eleven weeks of hearings, Landis decided that the evidence failed to show that Bridges had been a Communist Party member when the warrant for his arrest had been issued.
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	Yet in the 1930s, when many historians -- still influenced by Charles Beard's economic interpretation of history -- were sympathetic to the new unions, labor scholars seemed resistant to the kind of red-baiting of Bridges found in non-academic books like Paul Eliel's chronicle of the 1934 strike, which appeared soon after the crisis. Eliel, an employee of the business community's San Francisco Industrial Association, condemned Bridges as a man who later was proved to have strong Communist leanings if not actually Communistic connections. By the end of the decade such lurid popular books as Martin Dies's ''The Trojan Horse in America'' and Eugene Lyons' ''The Red Decade'', which represented Harry Bridges as the Joseph Stalin of American shipping, made Eliel seem moderate by comparison. Some of the earliest publications by professional scholars, however, were quite balanced in their treatment of Bridges and his movement. Whether Bridges is or is not a Communist is extremely difficult to prove, wrote the University of California's Paul S. Taylor and Norman L. Gold in an article printed a few weeks after the 1934 strike. Certainly neither the marine strike nor the [San Francisco] general strike were basically communist strikes. . . In 1934 the presence of Communists on the scene . . . [was] seized upon to defeat aggressive, but essentially orthodox unions and unionists. In the spring of 1935 Richard T. La Piere, a Stanford University sociologist, characterized Bridges as a genuine rank-and-file leader, not in any way a communist, even though he seemed to believe that under conditions as they now exist, labor and capital are opposed. Edward Levinson, a journalist and CIO writer whose 1938 classic, ''Labor on the March'', was seriously regarded by labor scholars, presented a sympathetic and stirring view of the Pacific Coast longshore union's gains under Bridges' leadership. Finally, later in the decade Philip Taft commented on the longshore leader in a pioneering study of the problems facing the nation's new CIO unions. The famous labor scholar was cautious in assessing the recent rift in Pacific Coast maritime union solidarity. The chief complaint of the West Coast sailors, Taft reported guardedly, seems to be that Harry Bridges was too close to the Communists.		Yet in the 1930s, when many historians -- still influenced by Charles Beard's economic interpretation of history -- were sympathetic to the new unions, labor scholars seemed resistant to the kind of red-baiting of Bridges found in non-academic books like Paul Eliel's chronicle of the 1934 strike, which appeared soon after the crisis. Eliel, an employee of the business community's San Francisco Industrial Association, condemned Bridges as a man who later was proved to have strong Communist leanings if not actually Communistic connections. By the end of the decade such lurid popular books as Martin Dies's ''The Trojan Horse in America'' and Eugene Lyons' ''The Red Decade'', which represented Harry Bridges as the Joseph Stalin of American shipping, made Eliel seem moderate by comparison. Some of the earliest publications by professional scholars, however, were quite balanced in their treatment of Bridges and his movement. Whether Bridges is or is not a Communist is extremely difficult to prove, wrote the University of California's Paul S. Taylor and Norman L. Gold in an article printed a few weeks after the 1934 strike. Certainly neither the marine strike nor the [San Francisco] general strike were basically communist strikes. . . In 1934 the presence of Communists on the scene . . . [was] seized upon to defeat aggressive, but essentially orthodox unions and unionists. In the spring of 1935 Richard T. La Piere, a Stanford University sociologist, characterized Bridges as a genuine rank-and-file leader, not in any way a communist, even though he seemed to believe that under conditions as they now exist, labor and capital are opposed. Edward Levinson, a journalist and CIO writer whose 1938 classic, ''Labor on the March'', was seriously regarded by labor scholars, presented a sympathetic and stirring view of the Pacific Coast longshore union's gains under Bridges' leadership. Finally, later in the decade Philip Taft commented on the longshore leader in a pioneering study of the problems facing the nation's new CIO unions. The famous labor scholar was cautious in assessing the recent rift in Pacific Coast maritime union solidarity. The chief complaint of the West Coast sailors, Taft reported guardedly, seems to be that Harry Bridges was too close to the Communists.

	[[Harry Bridges cont'd \| Part 2]]		[[Harry Bridges cont'd. \| Part 2]]

	''by Harvey Schwartz, a San Francisco-born labor historian''		''by Harvey Schwartz, a San Francisco-born labor historian''