Remembering Black Labor History in Dallas: Moving Picture Machine Operators Union, Local 249-A

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Dallas Moving Picture Machine Operators Union, Local 249-A was chartered on November 1, 1949 to represent African American motion picture operators in Dallas. It was affiliated with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Operators of the United States and Canada (Dallas Moving Picture Operators Union, Local 249-A Records), which in turn was affiliated with the American Federation of Labor ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre"). The goal of Local 249-A was to represent motion picture operators ("projectionists") at theaters that catered to African American audiences during the Jim Crow era ("Time Frames"). Prior to the chartering of Local 249-A, Black projectionists in Dallas had negotiated their contracts directly with theater managers alongside white union members, but were not directly represented by a union local. According to Ernest Obadele-Starks, writing in The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Local 249-A benefited not just Black projectionists, but also carpenters, electricians, and other Black professionals involved in the theater business (Obadele-Starks).

Obadele-Starks credits much of the success of the union to two members in particular, LeRoy Hawkins and S. R. Tankersley. Both had a background in the insurance industry, while Hawkins also had experience working in theaters in Abilene during World War II. Tankersley spent two years honing his skills as a projectionist before becoming, in Obadele-Starks' words, one of the "principle voices of protest against the unfair treatment" of Black workers in Dallas (Obadele-Starks). While employed at the Star Theater in Dallas, Tankersley learned that Local 249 denied Black projectionists full membership in the union local while demanding an initiation fee of $500, while at the same time a majority of the white members consistently ignored the concerns of Black projectionists (Obadele-Starks).

With support from the Dallas Negro Chamber of Commerce, an organizational meeting for establishing a new union local in October 1949 resulted in ten prospective members attending, more than the seven-person minimum to charter a new local. One of their first decisions was establishing a much more modest initiation fee, just $20 (Obadele-Starks).

Just a month after it was formed, in December 1949, Local 249-A picketed the Lincoln Theater at 5414 Bexar Street in Dallas. It was a theater with an exclusively African American audience that employed a single white projectionist. The operators of the theater, G. L. Griffin and E. W. Conrad, refused to negotiate with the union local, which responded by picketing the theater ("Theater Men Sue To End Picketing," "Pickets Ordered To Take 'Negro' From Placards"). In the words of an unnamed union spokesman quoted in the Dallas Express, the Black newspaper in Dallas at the time, the goal of the picket was simply "the employment of Negro machine operators" ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre"). The spokesman elaborated that other theaters in African American neighborhoods of Dallas employed Black projectionists, and Local 249-A had recently convinced two others to employ African Americans when their current contracts were to be renewed the following year, in 1950. He also mentioned that negotiations with the management of the theater failed to result in an agreement to employ Black projectionists ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre").

On its picket signs, Local 249-A called attention to the fact that the Lincoln Theater did not employ an African American projectionist. The theater operators argued this was inflammatory and that the picket was intimidating its patrons, which they cited while requesting an injunction to stop the picket. The two owners claimed none of their employees were dissatisfied while the white projectionist they employed, Frank Paradis, joined them in their suit. Presiding over the case, trailblazing female judge Sarah T. Hughes ruled against the Lincoln Theater's attempts to stop the picket. However, she also decreed that Local 249-A could not continue referencing race on their placards and could only have two pickets in front of the theater, each no less than 50 feet from either the entrance or each other ("Theater Men Sue To End Picketing," "Pickets Ordered To Take 'Negro' From Placards").

In an interview with the Dallas Express, theater operator G. L. Griffin mentioned that he "has not refused to employ" African American projectionists, but that "it is the union help that I am opposed to hiring" ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre"). He argued that the small size of his theater would result in higher ticket prices if he hired a unionized employee. He also claimed that he employed numerous African Americans in other roles and also helped obtain improvements for the neighborhood, such as resurfaced streets, storm sewers, and street lights ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre").

According to a union spokesman, Griffin refused to meet with African American members of Local 249-A, instead only meeting with white union business agent Harvey Hill, who represented the interests of the all-Black union local. However, Griffin denied this claim when interviewed by the Dallas Express ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre"). Referring to Local 249-A, Griffin claimed "they have not treated me fair," complaining that "just one conference with a stiff contract offered you and no alternatives is no way to work out such a matter" ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre").

The union spokesman disputed Griffin's account, mentioned that three out of the union's four efforts to meet with Griffin were unsuccessful and that he "could not get anywhere" when talking with Griffin. The spokesman elaborated that on one occasion, union officials, rank-and-file members, and an unnamed civic leader went together to meet with Griffin, but he was not there at the agreed upon time ("Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre").

In the judgement of Obadele-Starks, Local 249-A's picket of the Lincoln Theater was part of a "series of successful strikes" that "brought about dramatic changes in the Dallas theater industry," including improvements to workplace sanitation, overtime policies, wage scales, and vacation time (Obadele-Starks). By the early 1950s, however, Obadele-Starks argues that Local 249-A's strikes eventually "exacerbated many of the existing problems the industry was experiencing," as theaters closed and there were more union members than available jobs (Obadele-Starks). This decline in opportunities was partially due to the growing popularity of television during this period (Obadele-Starks).

In June 1955, Local 249-A members picketed the Elite Theater in Dallas because it only employed non-unionized projectionists ("Time Frames," "Movie Case Hearing Set"). The strike lasted for six weeks before a contract was signed, but the underlying issue was not resolved ("Time Frames"). In July 1955, Elite Theater operator W. M. Burns requested an injunction against the union to end the picket, with District Judge W. L. Jack Thornton ruling in his favor and issuing a temporary restraining order against Local 249-A ("Movie Case Hearing Set"). In 1956, the union itself leased the Elite Theater, but after six months closed it due to insufficient business ("Time Frames").

On February 11, 1969, Local 249-A merged with Local 249, the previously all-white local of the same union (Dallas Moving Picture Operators Union, Local 249-A Records).

The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries Special Collections offer a rich and diverse collection of materials on the history of Texas and the Southwest. Located on the sixth floor of UTA's Central Library, Special Collections is open to the public 9 am - 5 pm, Tuesdays through Saturdays. The finding aid for the Dallas Moving Picture Machine Operators Union, Local 249-A Records is available online on Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO). These records can be requested in-person in Special Collections. Digitized photographs from the collection are also available online via the UTA Libraries Digital Gallery.

Dallas Moving Picture Operators Union, Local 249-A Records, AR65, Special Collections, The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries.

"Machine Operators Union Pickets Lincoln Theatre." The Dallas Express, Dec. 17, 1949.

"Movie Case Hearing Set." The Dallas Morning News, July 10, 1955.

Obadele-Starks, Ernest (April 2003). "Black Texans and Theater Craft Unionism: The Struggle for Racial Equality." The Southwestern Historical Quarterly.

"Pickets Ordered To Take 'Negro' From Placards." The Dallas Morning News, Dec. 30, 1949.

"Theater Men Sue To End Picketing." The Dallas Morning News, Dec. 24, 1949.

"Time Frames." The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Feb. 22, 2004.