Which Side Are You On?

I got a few hours at the San Francisco State University Labor Archives and Research Center to see if the haystack would yield any needles about ol' Joe Garcia, recalling that Jerry had said his pops had had some hassle with the musicians' union.

What we think we know

Blair narrates that in April 1937 Ruth became pregnant, and "around this time an incident occurred that forced Joe Garcia to quit playing music professionally".[i]

Jerry's aunt Leonor recalled:

He'd been out of work for a little while, and then he was offered a good job: There was a big, new nightclub being opened in San Francisco out at the beach [perhaps the Nut Club], and they asked him if he and his orchestra would like to play, and of course that was a big break, so he said sure. They told him they wanted to put him on the radio to show people what a great orchestra he had, but they told him, 'We won't pay you the first time you play; we just want to see how it turns out.' Joe was very ignorant about this kind of stuff and they did play for the radio for free and then when the club opened they played there for free the first time, too. When the musicians' union found out he'd played for free they suspended him for six months and fined him something like $1,500, which was a lot of money in those days. Joe was shocked. He didn't know he had done anything wrong. So he said, 'To hell with this,' and he quit playing.[ii]

What I found

At the meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Federation of Musicians Local 6 in San Francisco of October 17, 1933, Joe Garcia appeared "for questioning re activities before making application to join organization." The Board would "accept Garcia as member if information is without foundation" and concurred "in action of officers in permitting him to accept engagement at Dugout pending" his appearance.[iii]

A week later, the Board took up Joe's membership application. Garcia "admits answering questions on application falsely … explains his activities since in this jurisdiction and that he worked at Bagdad Ballroom while on National Unfair List … Admits membership in Los Angeles Local." The Board's "Secretary reads letter from Los Angeles Local [no. 47] advising that Garcia was dropped from their rolls for non-payment of dues, etc. Board rules Garcia must straighten his accounts with Los Angeles Local, and instructs Secretary to return down payment on admission fee, advise Los Angeles Local of his activities and that Garcia must be taken from job at Dug-Out."[iv]

At a special meeting two days later, the Board discussed Garcia's membership. It first read a telegram from local no. 47 (L.A.) indicating a $50 fee plus dues owed from his Bagdad Ballroom gigs. So the Board agreed to "accept Garcia as a new member on payment of $23 due Los Angeles Local, $50 Federation fine and $50 added $50 initiation fee, a total of $123 cash", and dropped its objection to him gigging at the Dugout.[v] As of the November 7, 1933 meeting he was recognized as a member.[vi]

The next reference I found to Joe Garcia was when he was dropped from the rolls around September 30, 1943.

Interpretation

I am not quite sure how to square these various things. I am about 99.9% sure the Joe Garcia being discussed in 1933 is Jerry's dad - he is identified as a saxophonist and clarinetist, and Blair informs us that he spent some time in LA.  Beyond that, the evidence diverges from the existing account. The troubles started in 1933, not 1937. There's no evidence around the radio, a six month suspension, or a $1,500 fine, which is an order of magnitude higher than the $123 the papers say he was made to pay. What's more, while Leonor suggests that he up and quit, the evidence suggests that he kept his union membership for a decade after the initial hassle.

Memory is a fickle thing, and we call it family lore rather than family fact for a reason. Maybe I have the wrong Joe Garcia, especially leaving the union in 1943 - he could well have decided to bag the whole thing back in FDR's first term and gotten the bar going. There is almost certainly more to find in the union archives, for those who might be inclined to look. And, since my imaginary intrepid fellow researcher is already digging back into the haystack, perhaps they might look for evidence around Tillie Olsen, Jerry's grandmother who was active in the laundry workers' union and the CIO, or the sailor's union next to the Garcia family bar at 1st and Harrison. Always more to do!

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[i] Jackson 1999, 6.

[ii] Jackson 1999, 6.

[iii] Musical News v. 16 n. 11 (November 1933), p. 12.

[iv] Musical News v. 16 n. 12 (December 1933), p. 5.

[v] Musical News v. 16 n. 12 (December 1933), p. 7.

[vi] Musical News v. 16 n. 12 (December 1933), p. 10.