Research Poster on German American Internment

Reagan Gately

Department of History, St. Mary’s University of San Antonio, TX

Faculty mentor: Teresa Van Hoy

The Easiest Way to Destroy a Movement for Social Justice in the 1930’s

If you were to ask the average person who Emma Tenayuca was, there is a high chance that they would not know who you were talking about. The few who would recognize the name would probably immediately think “1930s communist.” Inside the community of people who know her name well, opinions can be quite polarized. Some believe Tenayuca was a communist who wanted to lead America down the path of Soviet Russia. Others see her as a passionate visionary who wanted the best for the working class. Regardless of their personal opinions, however, most realize that at the very least, Tenayuca was a courageous woman who stood by her convictions. My personal opinion is that Emma Tenayuca was a fighter for the people. Perhaps the only reason she was ever associated with the communist party was because she viewed is as the easiest way to accomplish her mission of resisting the oppression of the working class. In fact, I argue that her opposition was able to empower themselves by labeling Tenayuca as a communist, thereby destroying her movement.

Introduction

[1] COMMUNISTS FLEE FROM 5,000 TEXANS. 1939. New York Times (1923-Current file), Aug 26, 1939. http://blume.stmarytx.edu:2048/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.blume.stmarytx.edu/docview/103000857?accountid=7076 (accessed April 1, 2018).

[2] Handbook of Texas Online, R. Matt Abigail and Jazmin León, "Tenayuca, Emma Beatrice," accessed April 01, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fte41. 

[3] EL JEFE DE POLICIA KILDAY, DICE QUE LOS LIDERES JAMAS HAN SIDO LIMPIADORES DE NUEZ NI OBREROS. 1938. La Prensa, Feb 4, 1938. http://infoweb.newsbank.com.blume.stmarytx.edu:2048/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=Q4BN4EYJMTUyMjYzNzI2OC4zMTQyNTc6MToxNDo2OS4xNTAuMjA5LjE0Mw&p_action=doc&d_viewref=search&s_lastnonissuequeryname=8&p_queryname=8&p_docnum=9&p_docref=v2:11F30FF2F63C9976@EANX-120FFAE2D5BE2598@2428934-1206C9344E4997C0@0 (accessed April 1, 2018)

[4] Handbook of Texas Online, Richard Croxdale, "Pecan-Shellers' Strike," accessed April 01, 2018, http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/oep01

[5] Americans Who Tell The Truth, Robert Shetterly, “Emma Tenayuca” https://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/emma-tenayuca (accessed April 1, 2018)

Houston Institute for Culture, “Events in the life of Emma Tenayuca”, accessed April 01, 2018 http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/tenayuca.html

San Antonio Light Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections – Institute of Texas Cultures. "Workers Alliance leader Emma Tenayuca, with clenched fist in the air, speaking to crowd outside San Antonio City Hall following a parade of protesting scarcity of Works Progress Administration jobs" UTSA Libraries Digital Collections. Reference L-1541-D. University of Texas at San Antonio, March 8, 1937. http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9020coll2/id/6107/rec/30

San Antonio Light Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections – Institute of Texas Cultures. "Emma Tenayuca in Bexar County Jail." UTSA Libraries Digital Collections. Reference L-1575-C. San Antonio Light, June 30, 1937. http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9020coll2/id/6078/rec/10

San Antonio Light Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections – Institute of Texas Cultures. "Emma Tenayuca in Bexar County Jail." UTSA Libraries Digital Collections. Reference L-1575-C. San Antonio Light, June 30, 1937. http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9020coll2/id/6078/rec/10

San Antonio Light Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections – Institute of Texas Cultures. "STRIKING PECAN SHELLERS PICKETING ON THE SIDEWALK IN FRONT OF THE SOUTHERN PECAN SHELLING COMPANY AT 135 EAST CEVALLOS STREET." UTSA Libraries Digital Collections. Reference L-1769-A. San Antonio Light, February 25, 1938. http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9020coll2/id/9656/rec/1

San Antonio Light Photograph Collection, UTSA Special Collections – Institute of Texas Cultures. "EMMA TENAYUCA SPEAKS TO FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE WORKERS ALLIANCE OUTSIDE OFFICES OF THE U.S. IMMIGRATION OFFICE IN FEDERAL BUILDING DURING DEMONSTRATION TO PROTEST BEATINGS THEY CLAIMED HAD BEEN ADMINISTERED BY BORDER PATROL OFFICERS." UTSA Libraries Digital Collections. Reference L-1540-A. San Antonio Light, February 24, 1937. http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/p9020coll2/id/6085/rec/16

 Tenayuca's opposition successfully painted her as a communist in the public's eye. Her opponents were able to convince the public that Tenayuca was hell-bent on leading America down a path to Russian-style ruin. Indeed, there were few worse words besides "communist" with which you could label someone at the time. Newspaper articles from the New York Times mentioned Tenayuca as a ”Communist Party Leader"[1]. Even prominent Hispanic newspapers portrayed her in a derogatory light. Tenayuca is often known for her leadership of the 1938 pecan sheller strike of the Southern Pecan Shelling Company, an event spurred by wage reductions for workers across the company’s plants [2]. The event included over twelve thousand pecan shellers leaving their jobs, followed by a three month strike. The event clearly angered the Southern Pecan Shelling company, as well as the San Antonio Police department. The chief of police, Owen Kilday, told the La Prensa newspaper he believed that Tenayuca was in no way connected to the pecan shellers, but rather that she was a communist who simply wanted to stir up trouble. Owen also claimed that the pecan shellers did not support Tenayuca. This claim was refuted by the workers [3]. Owen further stated under oath that the strike was a “Red plot” to gain control of San Antonio [4].

 

Due to the public’s perception of her, Tenayuca faced protesta at almost every event in which she participated. In 1939, Tenayuca was scheduled to speak at a meeting held in San Antonio Texas at the Municipal Auditorium. The meeting was under the pledged protection of Mayor Maverick. Before Tenayuca could speak, however, the meeting was disrupted by over five-thousand protesters [1]. The protestors yelled, screamed and began to throw rocks through the windows. “Get out, you red dogs!” was the battle cry that emanated from the crowd. The rather insignificant police force that the mayor had assigned to protect the speakers could not handle the rising insurgency. The protestors became increasingly violent, and with the help of the Ku Klux Klan, they started fires and burned the mayor’s effigy which depicted the mayor as defending Tenayuca’s right to speak [5]. The meeting was cancelled and Tenayuca, fearing for her safety, was escorted away by police officers through an underground tunnel [2]. After the events of that evening, Tenayuca began to receive death threats; she was ultimately forced to leave San Antonio and move to California, where she was separated from her movement. Tenayuca returned to San Antonio in the late 1960s after tensions had eased and spent the rest of her life as a reading teacher, continuing her life long commitment to community service.