Helen Tamiris and the WPA Dance Theatre Strike - 85 years ago this month

Above: This photo was taken on May 19, 1937, and shows picketers outside the Nora Bayes Theatre, New York City. They are protesting cuts to WPA funding. Unknown photographer, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

"People Need Art, Artists Need Jobs"

After the May 19, 1937 performances of How Long Brethren? and Candide, at the Nora Bayes Theatre in New York City (both WPA, Federal Theatre productions), performers Helen Tamiris and Charles Weidman asked the crowd to participate in a sit-down strike. Tamiris and Weidman--and millions of others across the country--were angry that WPA funding was about to be cut. The audience, and about 30 cast members, stayed inside the theatre until at least 3 a.m.

Meanwhile, "Hundreds of pickets arrived outside the building from other directions almost simultaneously with the strike announcement, many of them carrying banners such as 'The WPA Must Go On,' 'There Shall Not Be More Layoffs,' and 'Keep Us Out Of the Breadline'" ("Sit-Down Strike Called At A WPA Theatre In N.Y.," Standard-Sentinel (Hazleton, Pennsylvania), May 20, 1937, p. 1). Emergency police squads were called to the scene to keep the peace.

(If you look VERY closely at the photo above, you'll see a sign that says, "People Need Art, Artists Need Jobs.")

Unfortunately, the strike was for naught (other than expressing displeasure); the WPA cuts were enacted; the so-called Roosevelt Recession ensued; then WPA funds were restored; and the economy sprung to life again (turns out... in a consumer-driven economy... consumers need money! - oh well, who could've known??).

Above: A poster advertising How Long Brethren? and Candide at the Nora Bayes Theatre. Note that Helen Tamiris choreographed and directed How Long Brethren? and Charles Weidman choreographed and directed Candide. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: Helen Tamiris, ca. early 1930s. Tamiris was a pioneer of Modern Dance, and a leader in the Federal Dance Project (see the Living New Deal's biography of Helen Tamiris and summary of the Federal Dance Project). Unknown photographer, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: Charles Weidman helped Tamiris lead the strike. Weidman was also a pioneer of the Modern Dance movement. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.