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:[email protected]@[email protected] (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://d.

1. 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.

2. 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_n
bid=Q4BN4EYJMTUyMjYzNzI2OC4zMTQyNTc6MToxNDo2O
S4xNTAuMjA5LjE0Mw&p_action=doc&d_viewref=search&s_l
astnonissuequeryname=8&p_queryname=8&p_docnum=9&p_do
cref=v2:[email protected]@[email protected] (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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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.
References
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