The San Francisco Workers' School was an ideological training center of the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a communist party in the United States which was established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revo ...

(CPUSA) established in San Francisco for

adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...

in 1934. "It was a typical specimen of a Communist school, such as would come under investigation by federal and state authorities for decades afterward.". in the 1940, it emerged as the California Labor School.

History

In 1934,

Anita Whitney Charlotte Anita Whitney (July 7, 1867 – February 4, 1955), best known as "Anita Whitney", was an American women's rights activist, political activist, suffragist, and early Communist Labor Party of America and Communist Party USA organizer in C ...

, Samuel Adams Darcy, Benjamin Ellisberg, Lincoln Steffens, and Steffens' wife Ella Winter supported the establishment of the San Francisco Worker's School, housed at CPUSA headquarters at 121 Haight Street in San Francisco. The school drew inspiration from the Jack London Memorial Institute (founded 1917).

Organization

Like similar workers' schools in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and Chicago, it held classes at night (after normal work hours) and taught the basics of Communism.

Administrators

(forthcoming)

Advisory board

According to Tenney Committee report of 1947, the following people served on an advisory board for the school: *

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

* Lincoln Steffens *

Teachers

According to Stephen Schwartz, the following people taught at the school: *

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (1905–1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Although he did not consider h ...

- Art * Samuel Adams Darcy - unknown * Elaine Black - unknown * Karl Hama (Party name for Goso Yoneda) - unknown *

Sam Goodwin Samuel Gourlay Goodwin (14 March 1943 – 9 March 2005) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Airdrieonians, Crystal Palace, Motherwell and Clydebank. He was later manager of Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professi ...

- unknown *

Louise Todd Lambert Louise Todd Lambert (May 12, 1905 – June 4, 1991) was a Communist Party activist, organizer, and political candidate in California. She played a strong leadership role in the Communist Party, serving as state organizational secretary for Californi ...

- unknown

Courses

According to Stephen Schwartz, the following courses were taught at the school: * Principles of Communism * Marxian Economics * National and Colonial Problems * History of the Social and Communist Movements * Self-Defense in Courts (4-session) * Organizing the Working Class (only for CPUSA and YCL members)

Publications

The school published a journal called ''Writers' Workshop'', edited by activist, novelist, historian

Alexander Saxton Alexander Plaisted Saxton (July 16, 1919 – August 20, 2012) was an American historian, novelist, and university professor. He was the author of the pioneering '' Indispensable Enemy'' (1975), one of the founding texts in Asian American studie ...

Impact

(forthcoming)

Legacy

"The early San Francisco Workers School morphed into the Tom Mooney School, and then reappeared as CLS" (the California Labor School).