Wonder Woman of the Week: Emma Tenayuca

I have written about a handful of labor and social activists on this blog. Few can compare to the big names like Susan B. Anthony and Gloria Steinem. This week’s spotlight though is an underappreciated name in the history of the United States. This labor activist was arrested for multiple strikes, fought for the rights of women and Hispanics, and is one of the most important figures of Texas state history. Emma Tenayuca is the Wonder Woman of the Week.

   Emma Tenayuca was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1916. At the time, Hispanic/Latino Americans had few freedoms and were massively discriminated against- especially in Texas where racial tensions were high. Tenayuca’s granfather would read the newspaper with young Emma and took her to rallies aimed at increasing and protecting the rights of the poor. The childhood experiences led Tenayuca to gain a hunger for learning and politics. [1]

    While in high school, Emma Tenayuca was an active member of a school club that discussed the political theories of Karl Marx and Leo Tolstoy. In 1933, Tenayuca joined the Finck Cigar Strike. The strike occurred among female laborer force who went on strike over the lack of sympathy from both the company and the Catholic Church (which for the uninformed plays a major role in Latino issues). Tenayuca was arrested during the strike at the age of sixteen. [2]

    After leaving jail, Emma Tenayuca continued her social activism. She organized strikes against San Antonio’s pecan shelling industry, founded two International Ladies’ Garment Workers Unions, was an active member of the Workers Alliance of American and Women’s League for Peace and Freedom, lobbied the San Antonio major to improve relief for unemployed workers, and organized protests against migrant beatings from the hands of US Border Patrol agents. Tenayuca was a member of the Communist Party and received death threats, faced riots during public appearances, and all of that happened before Tenayuca turned twenty-five. [3]

     Emma Tenayuca moved to San Francisco to earn a teaching degree. While working in the education field, Tenayuca continued to champion the rights of women and immigrants. She helped organize protests and petitions including the right to strike, minimum wage increases, and an end to mass deportations. In 1981, the Institute of Texan Cultures inducted Emma Tenayuca’s tenure as a part of its exhibit of outstanding Texas women. [4]

     A champion of Latino/Hispanic and Women’s Civil Rights, Emma Tenayuca predated Caesar Chavez and Gloria Steinem. She worked to improve the living conditions of the hungry, petitioned for the rights of Hispanics, and protested for improved working conditions of women. She fought against mass deportation, apathetic factory owners, and racist border patrol agents- and was a teenager for most of it. Tenayuca is one of the most significant women of United States history and is a superhero of the American Great Depression.

Shetterly, Robert. “Emma Tenayuca.” 2015. Women Who Tell the Truth. Accessed 28 October 2015. http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/emma-tenayuca

Gonzales, Gabriela. “Emma Tenayuca.” October 2007. American National Biography Online. Accessed 28 October 2015. http://www.anb.org/articles/15/15-01312.html

“Events in the Life of Emma Tenayuca.” 2015. Houstonculture.org. Accessed 28 October 2015. http://www.houstonculture.org/hispanic/tenayuca.html

Botello, Roberto. “Women’s History Month: Emma Tenayuca.” 15 March 2008. Communist Party USA. Accessed 28 October 2015. http://cpusa.org/women-s-history-month-emma-tenayuca