Formation, governance and mission Brookwood Labor College

1 formation, governance , mission

1.1 brookwood school
1.2 formation of brookwood labor college
1.3 values , goals

formation, governance , mission
the brookwood school

between 1914 , 1921, number of adult education , training organizations founded serve american labor movement. adult education considered these organizations , individuals key promoting class consciousness , teaching skills needed challenge power of employers. among many different types of organizations created labor colleges—experimental institutions of higher education designed meet needs of labor movement educational needs of labor s often-uneducated adult members.

the brookwood school predecessor brookwood labor college. on march 19, 1914, william mann fincke, liberal clergyman , son of coal mine owner, purchased 53-acre (210,000 m) brookwood estate in katonah, new york, $3,700. upset crushing of steel strike of 1919, fincke , wife, helen hamlin fincke, decided found school teach working-class teenagers nonviolent ways achieve social justice , political change. curriculum organized fincke reflect business life of local community. curriculum emphasized social service , study of economics, english literature, mathematics, social problems, , history. students urged participate in daily management of school. financial assistance , organizational support robert w. dunn, john nevin sayre, , norman thomas, brookwood school opened in fall of 1919. student body 16- 19-year-old males accepted on basis of merit, , there no tuition.

formation of brookwood labor college

brookwood labor college best remembered association first director, pacifist christian minister a.j. muste.

by 1921, brookwood school facing major obstacles. cost of running school mounting, , finckes realized brookwood needed expand in order meet needs of working class. m. tuscan bennett , wife, josephine, joined school in february 1921, , close friends of finckes. after extensive discussion bennetts, finckes decided turn brookwood school on group of trade union activists. negotiations transfer of estate occurred during march 31-to-april 1, 1921, conference @ brookwood. among present @ conference fannia cohn, education director of international ladies garment workers union; william z. foster, leader of 1919 steel strike; abraham lefkowitz, president of american federation of teachers; james h. maurer, president of pennsylvania federation of labor; rose schneiderman, president of women s trade union league; , a. j. muste, pacifist minister , secretary of amalgamated textile workers of america. brookwood labor college founded once transfer complete. fundraising open new college proceeded. tuscan bennett oversaw effort, , donors included jane addams, stuart chase, john r. commons, herbert croly, john dewey, , freda kirchwey.

brookwood governed 10-member board of directors, majority of whom officials of american federation of labor (afl) unions. faculty, student, , alumni representatives comprised rest of board. unions providing scholarships students eligible seats on board. board members included john brophy, president of united mine workers of america district 2; john fitzpatrick, president of chicago federation of labor; clinton s. golden, former textile union organizer; rose schneiderman, president of amalgamated textile workers of america; , j.b.s. hardman, education director of amalgamated clothing workers. james maurer elected president of board.

the board changing entity. later board members included fannia cohn; cara cook, brookwood faculty member , librarian; robert fechner, vice president of international association of machinists; gustav geiges, president of american federation of full fashioned hosiery workers; fred hewitt, editor of machinists monthly journal; abraham lefkowitz; a.j. kennedy, president of amalgamated lithographers of america; tom tippett, brookwood extension director; , phil ziegler, editor of official journal of brotherhood of railway clerks.

tuscan bennett served school s executive secretary first 3 years of operation, , golden served many years business manager. advisory board established.

values , goals

brookwood s founders believed worker education play key role in helping bring social change in nonviolent way. founders believed in 4 tenets: first, new social order needed , coming—in fact, on way. second, education not hasten coming, reduce minimum , perhaps away entirely resort violent methods. third, workers ones usher in new order. fourth, there immediate need workers college broad curriculum, located amid healthy country surroundings, students can apply task @ hand. of brookwood s founders pacifists, , of them sought end violence , war. believed in strong , powerful labor movement. existing labor movement, epitomized dominant american federation of labor, unwilling, felt, challenge employers, wedded existing political , economic system, , focused on organizing highly skilled workers craft unions. instead, brookwood s leaders emphasized mass unionization of workers industrial unions (workers organized not job type, industry), unionization of semi-skilled workers , unskilled workers, , merger of craft unions merge industrial unions. believed in new social order based on equality of workers , elimination of discrimination based on race, gender, or nationality.

brookwood s leaders , faculty left-wing in politics. meant unclear. labor historian philip s. foner argued brookwood s political leanings radically left-wing, historian francis ryan contends leadership , faculty ran gamut center-left hard-core marxist. william green biographer craig phelan describes faculty progressives , labor reformers, few of whom supported craft union , conservative trade union policies of afl. generalization difficult since, ryan points out, no single political orthodoxy governed college s faculty or students. there did, however, seem broad consensus among faculty , leadership brookwood should cultivate proletarian consciousness in students. many of college s leaders , faculty assumed brookwood graduates seek employment in labor movement after graduation, , work change conservative policies of afl president samuel gompers.