The San Francisco Workers' School was an

ideological An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...

training center of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) established in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

for adult education 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 The California Labor School (until 1945 named the Tom Mooney Labor School) was an educational organization in San Francisco from 1942 to 1957. Like the contemporary Jefferson School of Social Science and the New York Workers School, it represent ...

History

In 1934, Anita Whitney,

Samuel Adams Darcy Samuel Adams Darcy (born Samuel Dardeck , as known as "Sam Darcy," 1905 – November 8, 2005) was an American political activist who was a prominent Communist leader in both New York and California. While active in the organization of New York Ci ...

, Benjamin Ellisberg,

Lincoln Steffens Lincoln Austin Steffens (April 6, 1866 – August 9, 1936) was an American investigative journalist and one of the leading muckrakers of the Progressive Era in the early 20th century. He launched a series of articles in '' McClure's'', called " ...

, and Steffens' wife

Ella Winter Leonore (Ella) Sophie Winter Steffens Stewart (1898–1980) was an Australian-British journalist and activist. Early life She was born in 1898 to Freda Lust and Adolph Wertheimer in Nuremberg, Germany. Her parents were Freda Lust and Adolph W ...

supported the establishment of the San Francisco Worker's School, housed at CPUSA headquarters at 121

Haight Street Haight Street () is the principal street in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, also known as the Upper Haight due to its elevation. The street stretches from Market Street, through the Lower Haight neighborhood, to Stanyan Street in the U ...

in San Francisco. The school drew inspiration from the Jack London Memorial Institute (founded 1917).

Organization

Like similar workers' schools in New York and Chicago, it held classes at night (after normal work hours) and taught the basics of

Communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

Administrators

(forthcoming)

Advisory board

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

* Anita Whitney

Teachers

According to Stephen Schwartz, the following people taught at the school: * Kenneth Rexroth - Art *

- unknown * Elaine Black - unknown * Karl Hama (Party name for Goso Yoneda) - unknown * Sam Goodwin - unknown * Louise Todd Lambert - 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.

Impact

(forthcoming)

Legacy

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