Marine Cooks and Stewards Union

Noted queer historian Allan Berubé's forthcoming book, Dream Ships Sail Away, focuses on the history of the Marine Cooks and Stewards Union (MCSU), members of which are featured here in this photograph of a union meeting in the 1950s.

In a recent lecture at Stanford University, Berubé explained that the union was founded in 1901 by white men trying to prevent Chinese men from working on passenger ships. MCSU members worked primarily on luxury

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liners. They were the cooks and waiters and personal attendants who catered to the whims of the passengers. That overt racism gave way in the 1930s, when the union was radicalized by the presence of many communist members, who strongly supported such militant labor actions as the 1933 General Strike in San Francisco. The union became racially integrated as members learned the hard way that employers could successfully bust racially segregated strikes and picket lines by hiring members of racial groups. Perhaps surprisingly, given the rough and tough working-class environment of maritime unions, the MCSU was noted for the high proportion of self-identified "queens" among its ranks.

Throughout much of its history, Berube claims, the MCSU was derided as "red, black, and queer" by many of its opponents. The union, however, took pride in the broad solidarity it was able to forge from the diversity of its membership. For decades, from the '30s through the '50s, most MCSU members were people of color who held progressive political views, and the organization had many visible "queens" of color serving in leadership positions. A big sign in the union hall proclaimed, "Race-baiting, Red-baiting, and Queer-Baiting is Anti-Union."

In an age when the contemporary queer movement is deeply divided along class, race, and gender lines, the fact that some of these barriers could be overcome so effectively and for so long is truly inspiring.