Angel Island and Trial of Harry Bridges

With Harvey Schwartz

Harry Bridges, the Australian-born founding president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, was hounded by government investigations, hearings, and trials from 1934 to 1955. As the leader of the famous 1934 Pacific Coast Maritime and San Francisco General Strikes, Bridges was the target of powerful conservative forces in and out of government. In 1939, U.S. federal authorities conducted a hearing on Angel Island to determine whether there were legal grounds to deport the foreign-born labor leader as an alien Communist. The Angel Island hearing attracted major media attention and remains an important historical event in Bay Area labor and immigration history. The 1939 Bridges inquiry was a prelude to the later witch-hunts of the McCarthy era, with its persecution of immigrants, radicals, labor activists, and dissenters of every stripe. Harvey Schwartz, curator of the ILWU Oral History Collection, will explore the circumstances surrounding the Bridges hearing and describe the trials that followed it, which reached the U.S. Supreme Court twice. In an era of difficult times for organized labor, renewed intolerance, and anti-immigrant national politics, knowledge of the Bridges Angel Island hearing remains as relevant today as it was in 1939.

Meet at the benches in front of the entrance stairs to the U.S. Immigration Station. You can reach the Immigration Station by hiking a 1.5 mile trail uphill or by paying $ 7 to ride the Island’s shuttle. Please check our website (www.laborfest.net) or call LaborFest (415-642-8066) for any changes.

FERRY INFORMATION
Depart – SF Ferry Building: 9:15, SF Pier 41: 9:45 Return from Angel Island – 2:20, 4:20 Fares: One way Adult $9.75, Senior $5.50 You need round trip ticket. For more information including ferry from Tiburon departing at 10 AM: https://www.oursausalito.com/angel-island/angel- island-ferry-schedule.html

http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Harry_Bridges