June 1939, 1939

An exchange of lengthy letters between J.R. Butler and David Clendenin, Secretary-Treasurer of the WDL, covers the main issues which arose during the month (7,9, 14,26). One of those issues was arranging bail for Louis Johnson, a defendant in the "Night-Riding" case which first arose in October, 1938; the papers include a letter from Johnson (17) and a memorandum on the case (n.d. [June, 1939]). Another major issue was a request from the Farm Workers' Allied Union, which had started organizing in the San Joaquin Valley in California, for affiliation with the STFU (19, 23, 28); see especially a report on the new union from J.B. Nathan in San Francisco (28). The NEC met on June 28 and decided to arrange mass meetings throughout STFU territory in hopes of reviving the union; letters to local secretaries arranging such meetings appear during the last three days of June.