A sidebar to “Grace Lonergan Lorch Fought Back From Dorchester To Little Rock, And Paid Severely”
The Boston Federation of Teachers was Boston’s broadest reaching teachers union in 1944. It was nationally active, affiliated with the Boston Central Labor Union, and represented teachers of every background—urban and rural, public and private, from primary schools to colleges. It was small, rife with sectional disputes, and lacked power.
Chartered as Local 441 of the American Federation of Teachers in January 1936, the BFT was deeply disorganized, at one time prevented from voting at the AFT’s annual convention for not paying dues. Lonergan Lorch was one of the BFT’s two delegates at the AFT’s 1938 convention. She sparred with the Federation, advocating for teachers to be included in both teacher and nonteacher issues, and fought to maintain the freshman class at Boston’s Teacher College. During her time in the BFT, she consistently spoke out on international issues.
As membership increased in the early 1940s, the union’s tensions became noticeable to many teachers, as documented in 1975 by BFT member and Boston Teachers Union co-founder and unofficial historian, Martha O’Neil in the Boston Union Teacher. She described meetings as “generally non-productive,” with national, international, or personal issues often taking precedence over Boston-specific issues.
But a small and disorganized faction within the union helmed by Mary Cadigan was pushing for a new, public-school-specific union. Lonergan Lorch, a public school teacher, was not among the dissidents. At an Oct. 27, 1944 meeting intended on bringing the union together, Cadigan’s bloc made its move.
“The usual pointless discussions went on and the hour became late,” O’Neil wrote, and teachers slowly left. The minute Cadigan’s caucus had a majority, they moved to charter a new union and abolish the old. The motion passed by one vote, shocking Lonergan and the rest of the union’s leadership.
Once the AFT approved the new union’s charter in September 1945, the BFT was forced to make a decision. It could remain chartered if it just sent in a request for a name change. But the BFT had seemingly given up. Its history came to a close with a whimper, never turning in the request. The new local, the Boston Teachers Union, has represented Boston teachers since.
Read the whole BINJ feature on Grace Lonergan Lorch here
