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Remley, Zita Donegan (audio interview #6 of 6)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the sixth and final interview with Zita Remley, conducted ten weeks after previous interview and completing the life history project initiated in the summer of 1976 for a series of women's oral history classes. 2/20/1978
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- 2021-03-18
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- *** File: refzremley13.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-5:00)... When Remley was Postmaster in Alhambra, her husband was city engineer for Tulare. He wasn't well, and when a new city manager came in, he was let go. He had high blood pressure and was losing weight; and the doctor didn't have any success reducing his blood pressure. He applied for and came in first for a civil service job at March Field near Riverside, but failed the physical. Long Beach was expanding its school system in 1951 and Remley's husband, Lou, applied for a civil service job. He again placed first on the oral and written exams. Remley called the doctor giving the physical and told him that Lou was allergic to doctors and got high blood pressure. When Lou failed the physical with high Blood Pressure, the doctor told him he wasn't going to bite him, told him a couple of jokes, and said lie down here. After a wait he took the BP again and it was normal. He called it hypertension. Lou had been out of a job for a year, but he would not have let her intercede. He was so stubborn he'd starve before he'd get something through pull. (5:00-6:50)... Remley says that she never used office for political favors and recounts an incident when she was badgered to get passes to movie studios for a campaign worker. (6:50-10:46)... When her husband tired of commuting from Alhambra to Long Beach, he told Remley that she'd have to move. After eighteen years as Alhambra postmaster she had no interest in moving, but after her husband persuaded their teen-age son to transfer to St. Anthony's she had little choice. She describes their cramped living conditions. (10:46-15:50)... After a year in Long Beach, the Remleys began looking to buy. She wanted ocean property and they ended up buying their present home from an estate for just $10 over the $18,260 previous bid. They worked all day every day fixing it up, with help from a handyman from Alhambra. In the year prior to the interview (1976), it was reassessed for $89,000.00. She rented rooms, which covered maintenance and taxes until higher taxes came along. (15:50-20:35)... After they moved to Long Beach, Remley dove right into politics. In 1952 Ray Simpson was the Democratic candidate for Congress against Craig Hosmer. Democratic HQ gave her a downtown precinct. Hosmer's voting record was dismal, voting with the most conservative Republicans, but his constituent relations were good. Coupled with the endorsement of the Long Beach Press-Telegram, he couldn't be beaten. They didn't get a Democrat in until Hosmer resigned. (20:35-23:03)... The Democrats were increasing in numbers, with no effect on Hosmer. With cross-filing, Hosmer won the Republican nomination [1954?] and Bill Grant, also a Republican, won the Democratic. When Simpson didn't make it , the Democratic State Committee appointed Harry Wade to run. Remley thought that he was a nonentity and worked hard and successfully for Kennick, instead. (23:03-26:50)... Remley had been on the State Committee for twelve years in Alhambra, appointed by Noren, Richards, and Voorhees. In Alhambra she put on an annual 2,000-3,000 person picnic for Voorhees. She was on for all but four years in Long Beach. The party nominees appointed the committee because there weren't enough incumbents, but eventually the incumbents demanded and got more say. In theory the state committee made policy, and the counties carried it out, but in fact both state and county were dormant. That's why the CDC (California Democratic Council) grew and took control so fast. (26:50-29:01)... CDC turned the whole Democratic party around in 1958, in large part by eliminating cross-filing. Until then the voters couldn't identify party by looking at the ballot. After that Democratic voters had to vote Democrat in the primary. Until cross-filing was eliminated not many Democrats were elected. All through the long Warren years, Edmund G. Brown was the only Democrat elected. End of tape. *** File: refzremley14.mp3 (0:00-3:05)... Remley says there were exciting times at CDC conventions. The clubs were well established, but Voorhees urged them to all get together. Her club, the original 12th Congressional District, had its own bylaws, and when the CDC first met in Sylmar, her bylaws were edited and used for the Council. She was secretary and took almost verbatim notes without shorthand. The statewide conventions at Fresno were exciting times. There were factions and they fought "and had more fun". (3:05-6:47)... Once, in a Saturday night session, when Remley saw that her side would lose the vote, she moved to put it off until Sunday, so that a delegate who was coming could vote. The motion carried. At midnight she called three eligible delegates who weren't there, got them out of bed, and ordered them to Fresno. The opposition couldn't believe it when her group won the vote. (6:47-10:28)... [Note: the tape is somewhat garbled here during a discussion about local candidates.] Remley nominated Fred Chel, a lawyer from Holland, who ran for assembly, but lost to Tom Griffin. She also worked for Gerald Desmond as an assembly candidate, who also lost. She comments that the area was too solidly Republican. In 1952 Adlai Stevenson came to LA. Kefauver had won California but lost to Stevenson nationally. The California delegation had to vote for Kefauver. (10:28-16:18)... Remley recounts an incident of Adlai Stevenson asking her to locate and send flowers to a woman who was 100. (16:18-18:54)... In 1954 Richard Graves, former president of the League of California Cities and the mayor of Oakland was a very well qualified gubernatorial candidate. His mother called Remley asking her get a worker for every precinct. (18:54-25:00)... Remley details some of the dirty politics in Long Beach and the attempts in 1954 by an assembly candidate in her district to get Coy Sanders to drop out. When she told Cranston, he told her to write it up and kick him out of her club, which they did. (25:00-25:44)... Despite 25 years of political activity Remley was always home for dinner. Lou never objected to her activities because he and the kids were always fed and had clean clothes. (25:44-28:00)... Remley recounts details of campaigns and elections, including the 1954 victory of Kennick for Assembly District 44, Pat Brown's election as attorney general, and the 1956 Stevenson-Kefauver race. (28:00-30:18)... In the big year, 1958, they elected Brown governor, Anderson Lt. Governor, Mosk attorney general, and Cranston controller. By then the Long Beach school work was petering out and Lou was laid off. He immediately went with the US Engineering Department, but he had to move to San Francisco. By that time all the children were grown, and after a brief period of separation Remley moved to San Francisco, where she had a great time. End of tape. *** File: refzremley15.mp3 (0:00-5:15)... The Remleys found an apartment in San Francisco but kept their Long Beach home. When she received a call from the head of the AFL/CIO Central Labor Council asking her to take charge of opening and supervising HQ's to fight the Right to Work ballot measure, Remley stayed in Long Beach. There were three headquarters for twelve South Bay towns, with a woman staffer in each. Remley was paid $125/week plus mileage, and she made a great circle of the towns every day. Although the plan was to use the offices only for the ballot measure, she suggested that they also be used for the Democratic candidates (except Congressional). The Central Labor Council went along with the idea and that contributed to the big Democratic victory. (5:15-17:50)... Remley became involved in the Stevenson campaign in San Francisco because of Buzz Davidson, who as a teenager had worked hard for Democrats in Long Beach in 1958. He was too busy to work on the Stevenson campaign and so they contacted Remley. when he was 15 and couldn't drive. He wrote an article about Stevenson at Berkeley in [Editor's note: Remley digresses repeating early days in Carlsbad, Alhambra and Long Beach, At 13:45, she resumes discussion of the Stevenson campaign in San Francisco.] Remley comments that she never worked as hard as she did for Stevenson. In the 1960 campaign, she came down to Los Angeles and took over the Paramount theater building. She stayed in a little hotel and worked about twenty hours a day. She didn't like the New York Stevenson people, who tried to take over. She recounts a story of the money she put out for a big sign and the conflict with them over being reimbursed. (17:50-21:30)... Remley continues to discuss the Stevenson campaign, noting that teachers and intellectuals were all for Stevenson, donating money, and wanted nothing to do with Kennedy. While Kennedy was bright, Remley believed that he wasn't the person Stevenson was, commenting that the American people were "just so stupid" not to have Stevenson and Humphrey. (21:30-29:55)... Remley returns to a discussion of San Francisco period and a review of Democratic vicissitudes in the 1950s to 1970s in Long Beach. She met George Moscone and gave him what he said was a winning tactic and slogan. She suggested he buy combs to give away with Moscone for Senate on them. The young democratic workers would say, I'm combing the district for votes for Moscone. In the Bay area the party committee and the CDC worked together, but in Southern California the party committee scorned the CDC, which she notes did recommend some pretty radical candidates. Eventually, Remley recommended folding the Long Beach club, and without the dues of the largest club CDC went into decline during the 1960's. End of tape. *** File: refzremley16.mp3 (0:00-3:09)... Discussing CDC, Remley comments that the pendulum has to swing too far to make any progress. For instance, SALT is supposed to be a great accomplishment, but when the CDC first advocated it, there was loud opposition. Ideas must be considered a long time before being accepted by the middle-of-the-road people, and there was just many complaints within the clubs that CDC was too left-wing. Remley didn't want to lead the club when left wingers were so active. Older women were becoming agitated. CDC was to a considerable extent a victim of its own success. When the hard battles were being fought in the 1950s, Long Beach had many clubs: Long Beach, Bay Shore , East Long Beach, Los Altos, Eleanor Roosevelt, New Frontier, Lakewood. But with success it became harder to get people out, and combined with complaints about left wingers the clubs were practically dead. (3:09-6:00)... A lack of social functions was another weakness of the clubs. Remley's study club, for example, discussed issues in the morning, ate lunch, and had a speaker in the afternoon. There was no time for socializing. She made it political by lining up speakers, but she had to find good candidate to get a turnout. In the beginning, most of the women members liked playing cards with Republicans. The state and county committees did almost nothing. Republicans were better organized with year around headquarters and doing a great deal for the candidates. By contrast, the Democratic candidates almost had to form their own committees. (6:00-10:05)... Remley notes that the younger leadership changed party structure. Alice Travis is state chairman and works hard, but her events are so expensive and younger members can't afford to go, e.g. $25 for a lunch at the Schubert Theater in Century City. Remley describes a morning event that she had organized Esther Peterson, Under-Secretary of Labor in the Johnson administration, which was attended by two hundred people. This compares to the affair that Travis put on for Peterson which was attended by only fifty people. Remley thinks that Travis put money away for support of women candidates in 1978. Travis advocates abandoning the women's division, believing that it inhibits women from competing for top party jobs. (10:05-13:40)... Remley favors organizing more women's clubs in order to get more women interested. That's what Republican women are doing, and they're strong. When Elizabeth Snyder was state chairman she advocated that women shouldn't be treated any differently than men, and now there are many more women in party positions. Snyder, who Remley describes as a savvy woman from her old district, did great to be elected. Her husband was implicated in the big Board of Equalization scandal, went to Mexico, was in jail there, and finally got back. Snyder learned a lot about campaigning, for instance, billboards, and now has one of the biggest public relations companies in the area. (13:40-16:18)... Remley returns to a discussion of Jimmy Roosevelt running for State Chairman against the Pauley people and how he induced her to make a motion for a secret ballot. The motion carried and Roosevelt won. Remley worked hard for him and was bitterly disappointed when he turned against the party and came out for Nixon. (16:18-18:25)... Returning to a discussion of women, Remley thinks that they should organize federated women's clubs like the Republicans have so successfully done. The Long Beach Republican Club is the best in the country. They put on an annual style show and raise $10-12 thousand. Remley was a member of Ebell Club and one of the members was astonished to learn that she was a Democrat when Remley turned down her invitation to be her guest at the style show. (18:25-22:46)... Remley discusses the "sloppy" state of affairs of the Democratic clubs and her relationship with the AFL/CIO state officials. End of tape.
- SUBJECT BIO - Zita Donegan Remley was an influential figure in California Democratic party politics, and was called upon regularly to organize and coordinate election campaigns. One of eight children, Remley was born in North Platte, Nebraska to a family who engaged actively in political discussions and participated regularly in Chautaquas. Her mother was an advocate of women's rights and typified progressive era reform women activists. After her Catholic school education, Remley attended the University of Nebraska. During a summer break, she met a group of school teachers who were selling Chautaqua desks and, in short order joined them, working as a traveling saleswoman. She rose in the ranks of the company and transferred herself to Los Angeles in 1925 in order to be close to her future husband. Remley became involved in politics in 1925 while living in Carlsbad, working hard for the election of Al Smith and then, in 1934, both for John Steven McGroarty, an advocate of the Townsend Plan and for Upton Sinclair. When she moved to Alhambra in 1936, she volunteered for Jerry Voorhees and became his district manager after he won the election. She worked for Voorhees until his defeat by Richard Nixon in 1946; organized the 12th District Council, which became the model in 1958 for the California Democratic Council (CDC); and was elected to serve on the Democratic Party County Committee, State Committee and Executive Board. In 1950, Remley ran Helen Gahagan Douglas's unsuccessful campaign for Senate; and in 1958 worked on the campaigns of Alan Cranston and Stanley Mosk and was recruited by the AFL/CIO State Federation to organize the campaign to defeat a "Right to Work" ballot measure. After following her husband to San Francisco in 1960, she was called on to serve as the secretary-treasurer of the Adlai Stevenson campaign in California. In addition to these campaigns, Remley worked for local Long Beach politicians while she lived there and organized the Democratic club there. Among her other organizing activities and accomplishments, Remley co-founded and chaired the Democratic Women's Forum, an organization devoted to supporting women's participation in politics and running for office. TOPICS - husband's support; husband's employment; move to Long Beach; living conditions in Long Beach for family; getting into politics; and struggles in Democratic party;CDC conventions; Remley's Club; Long Beach politics; 12th precinct club by-laws adopted; Long Beach assembly candidates Fred Chel, Tom Griffin and Gerald Desmond; Adlai Stevenson visit; Richard Graves Democratic nominee, dirty politicking; Simpson run against Hosmer; moving to San Francisco; AFL/CIO Right to Work Measure; and work pace/schedule;working for Adlai Stevenson campaign in San Francisco; repeat of early days in Carlsbad, Alhambra, and Long Beach; teachers for Stevenson, Kennedy opposition; Moscone campaign; radical candidate recommendations; and folding Long Beach Democratic party Club;decline of CDC; weakness of Club; younger leadership changing party structure; Johnson's administration work; more women in politics; assessment of state and county committees; and AFL and amends with Remley;
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