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PATTERNS OF WORKERS EDUCATION

 

seemed unnecessary, organized labor on the whole did not press for other than
rudimentary education. A few local groups, however, including the New
York and Philadelphia trade unions, became interested in workers’ education
in the early 1800's. They wanted to develop independently the resources
which educators, philanthropists and business men were offering. Further, the.
unions felt that they might use to advantage an educational process which
could acquaint the public with their problems and simultaneously train their
own members and leaders. Finally, influenced by an increasing number of
local resolutions, the American Federation of Labor in the early twentieth
century encouraged local classes for workers.

Women workers were a potent force for workers’ education within the
young labor movement. Grudgingly admitted into organizations by the men
members, they had to prove they could be good trade unionists. To accom-
plish their goal they needed political and educational as well as economic
opportunities. And as industry expanded and employment of women in-
creased, trade unionism became of more vital importance to them. Assisted
by middle-class women interested in the general advancement of their sex,
they first sponsored a cultural program of education. In 1903, however, they
formed the National Women’s Trade Union League and began to emphasize
industrial information and instruction in methods of labor organization.

The influx of immigrants into the economy of the United States and their
absorption by trade unions also influenced the official labor movement to sup-
port workers’ education. As the newcomers with Socialistic inclinations and
certain cultural traditions demanded instruction, workers’ schools were estab-
lished and political programs of education endorsed. For example, the Work-
ers’ School, which became the Workers’ Educational League, was founded in
1899; two years later the non-partisan Jewish Workers’ School began opera-
tion; and in 1906 the Socialist Rand School for Social Science was started.
Although trade unions did not direct the programs, they recognized that the
schools could help assimilate foreign workers and develop a truly American
labor movement.

Rapid social change, mobilization of economic resources, and progress
made by organized labor during and after the World War broadened the sup-
port of workers’ education. Through a variety of projects, workers themselves
offered general adult instruction, supplemented by specific training for union
activities. By the close of the war, a number of large trade unions, including

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