Description
Transcript and sound recording of Lucille Kendall's November 7, 1979 interview with San Francisco labor organizer Louis Goldblatt
documenting his involvement in the labor movement of the 1930s and 1940s in San Francisco, California, and throughout the
Pacific Coast, as well as the history of the San Francisco hotel strikes of 1937 and 1941-1942.
Background
Louis Goldblatt was a prominent labor organizer in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the Pacific Coast for over five
decades. Born in the Bronx and educated at the University of California, Berkeley, Goldblatt began his labor career in 1936
as a San Francisco warehouse union organizer. A close associate of Harry Bridges, he helped organize the International Longshoremen's
and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) the following year. From 1938 to 1977, Goldblatt served as secretary-treasurer of the ILWU.
At the same time, he was active in the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), serving as secretary-treasurer of the California
State Industrial Union Council from 1938 to 1942. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Goldblatt helped organize workers in California
and Hawaii across racial and industrial lines. Although he did not actively participate in the San Francisco hotel strikes
of 1937 and 1941-1942, Goldblatt spoke before mass audiences of striking culinary workers in 1941. He died in 1983.
Extent
Transcript: 1 folder (0.1 Linear feet);
Tapes: 2 audiocassettes
Restrictions
Copyright has been assigned to California Historical Society. Materials in these collections are protected by the U.S. Copyright
Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) and may not be used without permission of California Historical Society. Use may be restricted by terms
of CHS gift or purchase agreements, privacy and publicity rights, licensing terms, and trademarks. All requests to reproduce,
publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Library and
Archives, North Baker Research Library, California Historical Society, 678 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. Restrictions
also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational
purposes.