Digital Commons Network^™

A Misguided Quest For Legitimacy: The Community Relations Department Of The Southern Organizing Committee Of The Cio During Operation Dixie, 1946-1953, Michael Andrew Sloan

History Theses

This thesis is a study of the Community Relations Department of the Southern Organizing Committee of the Congress of Industrial Organizations during the CIO’s Southern Organizing Drive, often referred to as “Operation Dixie.” The Community Relations Department was primarily interested in improving relations between organized labor and organized religion, in the hopes that improved church-labor relations would produce a situation more conducive to labor organizing, and reduce attacks on the CIO from religious leaders. This thesis examines the methods utilized by the CRD to achieve this end, and presents an analysis both of their efficacy and of their implementation. Specific …