by Todd Daley
In 1921, Harry Bridges joined the Industrial Workers of the World, a seamen’s union that participated in an unsuccessful strike. Bridges’s experience with this union influenced his attitude on the importance of organizing workers to gain better working conditions and higher pay. During the early 1920s, he left the sea for longshoremen work on the West Coast. When he joined the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), Bridges was blacklisted for several years. He was forced to join the fraudulent company union in order to get work as a rigger on a steel-handling gang.
In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt’s National Industrial Recovery Act gave workers the right to organize unions. At that point in time, Harry Bridges was involved with the Communist Party, which was trying to organize sailors, longshoremen, dockworkers, and merchant seamen into the Marine Workers Industrial Union (MWIU), rather than the ILA. Although Bridges was sympathetic to the MWIU, he opted to join the new ILA. When the union held elections, Harry Bridges and his leftist cohorts were chosen to run the longshoremen’s union. Bridges’s group began organizing on a coast-wide basis, forming a confederation of local longshoremen and maritime unions.
In 1933, Harry Bridges’s ILA union called for a strike against a company that had fired four workers for wearing ILA buttons on the job. Bridges’s strike was successful, as the company backed down. In 1934, Bridges organized a West Coast longshoremen strike over working conditions and pay. The San Francisco Police participated in breaking the strike by trucking cargo to company warehouses, beating the strikers with clubs, and even shooting picketing workers and union leaders. Harry Bridges became the chief spokesman for the ILA, as well as its main negotiator. In the ensuing years, Bridges brought all the maritime unions in the West Coast together under one umbrella: the newly formed International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. This union became affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). In 1937, Harry Bridges was featured in Time magazine for his work in organizing West Coast longshoremen.
In 1939, due to his past association with known Communists, Harry Bridges was threatened with deportation under the Alien Act of 1918. Because he was not a member of that political party at the time, Bridges was acquitted. Then in 1949, Bridges was again subject to deportation under the Smith Act, which appeared to be targeted at the West Coast union leader. A second round of deportation hearings ensued, with the attorney general ordering that Harry Bridges be deported. He appealed in a series of court cases that led to the Supreme Court, which ruled in Bridges v. Wixon that the government had not proven Bridges was affiliated with the Communist Party. The court asserted that sympathy with Communist ideas is not tantamount to membership in that notorious political party.
In the early stages of World War II, Harry Bridges was sympathetic to the Soviet Union, opposing the alliance between Roosevelt and Churchill. Bridges’s position against the New Deal was very unpopular with his membership. After Germany attacked Russia, Bridges urged companies to increase wartime productivity and supported a no-strike pledge by the longshoremen. He also supported a proposal by Roosevelt to place certain arms manufacturing under military control. After the war, Bridges opposed the Marshall Plan in Europe and the Truman Doctrine in Greece and Turkey. Consequently, Bridges’s union, the ILA, was expelled from the CIO.
Despite this controversy, Harry Bridges continued to be reelected as head of the West Coast longshoremen’s union year after year. As a result of challenges from black workers, he opened up more jobs to minorities during the Vietnam War, when West Coast ports were particularly busy. In 1977, at the age of seventy-six, Bridges retired from the ILA after more than forty-four years as the leader of the West Coast longshoremen. He was survived by his wife, Noriko, who was of Japanese origin. They were originally denied a marriage license in Nevada because of an 1846 statute forbidding marriage between individuals of different races. In 1958, a federal district court ordered a marriage license be issued for the couple.
The legacy of Harry Bridges is monumental in the American labor movement. The Harry Bridges Institute in San Pedro, California, does research on international economics and the effects of politics on unions. Bridges’ triumphs and accomplishments have been celebrated by folk singers Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. The city of San Francisco named a plaza in Bridges’ honor on the anniversary of his one hundredth birthday. And California Governor Gray Davis declared that day—July 28, 2001—to be “Harry Bridges Day.”
CHAPTER 67
Magnetic Lesson
Perched on Tom’s desk were samples of several common elements—aluminum, copper, iron, carbon, iodine, chlorine, magnesium, calcium, sulfur—plus a horseshoe magnet. Hung from the blackboard was Mendeleev’s periodic table of the elements. The title of the lesson was written on the board: “What are elements?”
As usual, a few students—Barry, Manny, and even Lora—milled around the front desk until Tom shooed them away. Driven by raging hormones and surging energy, most freshmen and sophomores were restless. The concept of passive, sedentary learning was flawed, although it was the most widely used approach to teaching and learning throughout the Western world.
Holding up some of the samples, the skinny science teacher reiterated the key question: “So, what are elements?”
“Pure substances that cannot be subdivided by ordinary chemical methods,” Riner, a student with a good memory but little creativity, answered.
“That’s correct, Riner. There are approximately one hundred elements found on the earth in solid, liquid, and gaseous forms.”
“The only elements I care about are gold and silver,” Barry said.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have any of those elements today,” Tom responded.
“What about copper? Copper has medicinal properties,” Lora exclaimed, shaking her copper bracelets and anklets.
Ignoring the cute, curly-haired youngster, Tom held up the horseshoe magnet. “Which elements are magnetic?”
“Iron and steel,” Manny called out from the back of the room.
“Iron and steel are both forms of iron. There are three magnetic elements—iron, nickel, and also cobalt—which I don’t have with me today.” Tom demonstrated the magnetic properties of iron and nickel with the iron nail and the old nickel coin.
“Wait a minute. I have a nickel here. I didn’t know it’s magnetic,” said Lora, getting up and handing a nickel to the skinny science teacher.
Tom placed the horseshoe magnet near her nickel, but it apparently wasn’t magnetic. “Why is that?”
“Because Lora has wooden nickels, like all gypsies,” Barry snapped.
“Go fuck yourself!” she yelled.
“Send her to the dean for profane language,” Barry replied.
“Both of you, settle down. How about pretending we like each other and get along for a change?”
Moving on, Tom explained that most metals are shiny, malleable, and hard, and had considerable strength, with the exception of the alkali metals like sodium and potassium, which are soft and chemically active. He cut a small piece of sodium with a knife and placed it in some water. The sodium skidded around the water and began burning rapidly. The students weren’t impressed, since some had seen that practical experiment before.
“Cut a bigger piece, and throw it in the water,” Manny called out from the back.
Complying, Tom did exactly what was requested. This time it exploded with a loud noise, and a piece of burning sodium fell on his science notes, setting them on fire—to the joy of his students. Tom poured some water on the notes to put out the fire, which delighted his students even more.
Laughing, Tom declared his notes needed revising anyway. “At least the sodium didn’t set fire to my jacket like the last time that happened. I was forced to buy another suit jacket.”
“Too bad. John’s Bargain Store sure needs the business,” Barry snapped.
“No. J. C. Penne
y needs the business,” Tom replied, thinking of that pretty salesgirl who had sold him his first teaching wardrobe—some sports jackets and a business suit—some years ago.
Relentlessly pushing forward, Tom mentioned one of the most common elements found on the earth: carbon. “Carbon is found in the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide, in green plants, and in fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.”
He showed the class the charcoal and the pencil—both composed of carbon.
“I heard that pencils contained lead, since they’re called lead pencils,” Wendy observed.
“Don’t believe everything you hear, girl,” Barry chided.
Unlike the feisty Lora, Wendy ignored her classmate’s barbs, focusing on the matter at hand.
“That’s a misnomer—lead pencil. Pencils contain a certain form of carbon called graphite. Diamonds also contain carbon, plus other elements, subject to heat and pressure for millions of years, eventually forming one of the hardest substances known to man—diamond.”
“What about charcoal, the stuff you barbecue hamburgers with?” someone asked from the back of the classroom.
“That’s still another form of carbon. Virtually all the fuels we burn for energy contain carbon. What happens when we burn carbon fuels?”
“It produces carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. And the carbon dioxide tends to trap the earth’s heat, causing global warming,” Wendy answered.
“That’s a good thing. I hate snow, ice, and winter. Skiing and ice-skating are dumb sports meant for crackers in white-landia—not for us ghetto folks,” Barry replied half-seriously.
“Ah, give me a friggin’ break,” Lora said, rattling her bracelets.
“Besides, if the earth’s average temperature rises by a few degrees, the ocean levels will rise, flooding the coastal areas of Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Manhattan,” Tom mentioned, thinking of the Mariners Harbor area where the Kill Van Kull fronted Richmond Terrace.
“We’ll build dikes like those Dutchmen did in Holland,” Manny called out.
“That’s why they all wear wooden shoes, so they can float in the Zuider Sea,” Barry said, unperturbed by the prospect of coastal flooding.
“It’s called the Zuiderzee—not the Zuider Sea,” Riner corrected his outspoken classmate.
“Only a weird dude like you would know about the Zuiderzee.”
“Now that’s enough, Barry. We all have something to contribute to class discussions,” Tom said, aware that Barry dominated classroom proceedings.
At that juncture, the bell rang, bringing the class to an end before Tom could introduce the Mendeleev’s periodic table. Lora came up to Tom and apologized for her profane language. Tom suggested that she spin her copper bracelets and anklets whenever she felt like cursing someone out.
“You mean spinning them brings on good vibrations that could neutralize the bad vibrations of jerks like Barry?”
“Not exactly, but it could help you cope with negative energy of others,” Tom asserted, trying to convince himself, as well as his naive student.
“I’ll give it a shot. Anything to snuff out his annoying motormouth,” she replied, following the stream of students prancing out of the room, her copper bracelets and anklets jingling all the way down the long, dark hallway.
CHAPTER 68
The Elements Redux
Following up on his previous lessons on the elements, Tom had on display the elements of the previous day: aluminum, copper, iron, carbon, iodine, chlorine, magnesium, calcium, sulfur, and mercury. As with the day before, Mendeleev’s periodic table of the elements was hung on the front blackboard. In addition, Tom had a big jar of marbles on his desk, which drew some interest from Barry and Manny. Through a series of questions and answers, definitions for the three basic kinds of substances were placed on the board.
Element: a pure substance that cannot be subdivided by chemical means.
Ex: aluminum, carbon, iron, gold, silver, sulfur, oxygen, hydrogen.
Compound: two or more elements chemically united in definite proportions.
Ex: water, salt, sugar, alcohol, rust, limestone, plastic.
Mixture: two or more substances mixed together, but not chemically united.
Ex: air, salt water, sugar water, oil and vinegar.
Tom showed the class some matches, which he said were mostly made from sulfur. Then he took a strip of magnesium and ignited it with a match. The magnesium burned with an intense white light. “What would be an application of magnesium?”
“Magnesium bracelets for medicinal purposes, like copper bracelets,” Lora replied, nodding her curly head.
“Girl, only gypsies believe in that bullshit,” Barry snapped.
Growing angry, she shouted, “Why you …” Then spinning her copper bracelets and anklets, Lora regained her tranquility and smiled sweetly at her long-term foe.
Seizing the rare moment of tranquility, Tom asked about the periodic table of elements, which was hung on the blackboard.
“It shows the elements arranged in order of increasing weight. It was invented by that Russian guy Dmitri Mendeleev,” Riner, a serious student, replied.
“What is the most important feature of Mendeleev’s periodic table?”
“The vertical columns represent families of elements. These elements have similar properties, which is why they’re called families,” Wendy responded. She was another serious student, but unlike the short, bespectacled Riner, Wendy combined brains, beauty, and a pleasant manner. In addition, she had learned to ignore the snide remarks of her rowdy classmates.
“That’s correct, Wendy. Metals are to the left, and nonmetals to the right of the table, with the transition elements in the middle of the periodic table. You’ll find the most active metals on the left—the alkali metals like sodium and potassium, and the alkaline earth metals like magnesium and calcium. The most active nonmetals are the halogens, like fluorine and chlorine, and the less active nonmetals, like oxygen and sulfur, are on the right side of the periodic table.”
“What about that group of elements on the extreme right side of the periodic table?” Ronnie asked.
“Those are the noble gases—helium, neon, argon, and krypton,” Riner said.
“Correct. The noble gases are chemically inert, meaning they don’t react with other elements,” Tom replied.
“Krypton is the superman element, which made him a weakling,” Manny called out from the back of the room.
“Well, copper makes me strong and impervious to evildoers,” Lora declared resolutely.
“Oh, yeah? Catch this!” Barry exclaimed, throwing a rubber ball at his classmate, who blocked it smartly with her bracelets, causing the ball to rebound off his head—to the delight of the entire class.
“Shit! Them damn bracelets have black magic,” the pesky teenager complained.
Ignoring the troublesome twosome, Tom asked the class what Jacob Berzelius was known for. Nobody knew, and few cared, but the skinny teacher pushed forward. “Berzelius developed the system of symbols we use today to represent the elements and compounds used in chemical formulas.”
“How come scientists have such dumb names like Berzelius, Newton, Galileo, Volta, Ohm, Planck, and that guy Gay-Lussac, who sounds gay to me?” Barry remarked.
“By the way, Mr. Gay-Lussac discovered the chemical formula of water: H2O. If you make a discovery in chemistry or physics, they’ll name a unit after you.
How about the Barry—as a possible unit of random disorder or chaos?”
“Very funny. By the way, is Halley’s Comet named after someone in your family?” Barry asked.
“No. Different family and a different spelling.”
“The Haley family is better known for drinking booze. One Haley equals two gallons of beer—the usual consumption of our teacher on a good drinking night,” Manny called out from
the back of the room.
“Flattery will get you nowhere,” Tom quipped, turning to the board.
Instructing his students to get out their science notebooks, Tom began writing the major elements with their symbols on the blackboard. He explained that most chemical symbols come from the first letter or first two letters of the element’s name. A few of the symbols come from the Latin names of elements, such as gold, silver, iron, copper, lead, mercury, sodium, and potassium.
Symbols of Key Elements
Carbon: C
Hydrogen: H
Oxygen: O
Nitrogen: N
Phosphorus: P
Sulfur: S
Iodine: I
Fluorine: F
Helium: He
Nickel: Ni
Silicon: Si
Aluminum: Al
Calcium: Ca
Lithium: Li
Magnesium: Mg
Chlorine: Cl
Zinc: Zn
Platinum: Pt
Copper: Cu
Iron: Fe
Uranium: U
Gold: Au
Silver: Ag
Radium: Ra
Sodium: Na
Potassium: K
Lead: Pb
Mercury: Hg
Chromium: Cr