Useful Links
Emma Tenayuca- Pecan Sheller's Strike of 1938
Biography
https://www.nps.gov/people/emma-tenayuca.htm
103 Years Later: Emma Tenayuca's Push For Labor Rights Still Resonates In San Antonio
https://www.tpr.org/news/2019-12-20/103-years-later-emma-tenayucas-push-for-labor-rights-still-resonates-in-san-antonio
On One of the Great Unsung Heroes of the American Labor Movement: Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938
https://lithub.com/on-one-of-the-great-unsung-heroes-of-the-american-labor-movement/
Biography & Images
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tenayuca-emma-beatrice
Biography
https://www.nps.gov/people/emma-tenayuca.htm
103 Years Later: Emma Tenayuca's Push For Labor Rights Still Resonates In San Antonio
https://www.tpr.org/news/2019-12-20/103-years-later-emma-tenayucas-push-for-labor-rights-still-resonates-in-san-antonio
On One of the Great Unsung Heroes of the American Labor Movement: Emma Tenayuca and the San Antonio Pecan Shellers Strike of 1938
https://lithub.com/on-one-of-the-great-unsung-heroes-of-the-american-labor-movement/
Biography & Images
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tenayuca-emma-beatrice
Primary & Secondary Sources
Classroom Activities
Life Story: Emma Tenayuca (1916–1999)
Latina Labor Activist and Communist Party LeaderThe story of a labor leader who led a major food-industry strike in her early 20s and was eventually ostracized for her political beliefs
Suggested Activities
https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/great-depression/emma-tenayuca/
Latina Labor Activist and Communist Party LeaderThe story of a labor leader who led a major food-industry strike in her early 20s and was eventually ostracized for her political beliefs
Suggested Activities
- Emma is part of a long history of female labor leaders. Compare her life story with those of Clara Lemlich and Ella May Wiggins. How was her life different, particularly given that she was not an industrial worker, but an outside organizer?
- The Communist Party was a growing presence in 1920s–1930s America. Connect Emma’s story to that of other women activists associated with the Communist Party, including Ella May Wiggins and militant housewives.
- Emma witnessed firsthand the complications of Mexican American life in Texas. Study the challenges of the Latinx community by pairing her life story with that of Jovita Idar and the newspaper articles about El Paso laundry workers.
https://wams.nyhistory.org/confidence-and-crises/great-depression/emma-tenayuca/