Eugene Nelson
Encyclopedia
Eugene Nelson was a radical American writer and labor leader.
He was born in Modesto, California
. Growing up on farms, he twice saw his family's home and his garden taken over by bankers. He then lived in towns all over California, where his mother worked as a waitress. At age twelve, Nelson read the Boy Scout
manual with its message of kindness to others. That motivated him to think seriously about the desirability of economic and political improvement. He also learned of the need for social change
by reading Citizen Tom Paine by Howard Fast
, and the poems and essays of Percy Shelley. While in high school, he made friends with Mexican-American
and Chinese-American
boys who lived in the slums.
Nelson won first place in a Lions Club speaking contest with a speech on world peace, and in the high-school poetry contest with a poem on Thomas Paine
. At age sixteen, he read the poems of Walt Whitman
and began writing poetry. He decided to spend his life as a wandering poet, but discovered that it is too cold in the U.S. much of the year to be able to sleep outdoors.
After high school, Nelson worked for a while with Mexican immigrants thinning sugar beet
s near Stockton, California
with a short-handled hoe. It was hard low-paid work, and made him sharply aware of the falsity of the myth that Mexicans are lazy. "They were the warmest, friendliest and highest-spirited people I have ever known," he observed, "and fueled my interest in things Mexican." Later he worked at forty or fifty different jobs, trying to get different and new perspectives on the world. He learned to speak Spanish
fluently.
Eugene married a Mexican-American nurse, who gave birth to two daughters. "We planned to raise an international family," he wrote wistfully, "to show that different peoples can live together in harmony. Alas, we didn't have sufficient dedication or wherewithal to carry through on this... We had a successful marriage for several years, partly because we each made the decisions on alternate days."
In 1966 Nelson became Texas director of the first grape boycott
by César Chávez
's farmworker union. Later, in south Texas, he founded a union called the Independent Workers Association, which later affiliated with Chávez's United Farm Workers
. A long strike and march to Austin resulted in improved pay and conditions for workers in south Texas. The police arrested Eugene on various spurious charges, including inciting a riot and threatening the lives of Texas Rangers. As a roving farmworkers' advocate and organizer, he also joined the Industrial Workers of the World
(Wobblies).
In his later years, Nelson continued to write and research on topics of social and political controversy. "I think the chief priorities today," he wrote in 1993, "are preventing nuclear explosions
; feeding the starving; lessening pollution and the exhaustion of the earth's resources; achieving a much lower birth rate
; homes for all; and cooperative and participatory democracy
(with compassion) in all aspects of life."
In 1999, Eugene Nelson died of a massive stroke in his retirement home
in Haleiwa, Hawaii
.
He was born in Modesto, California
Modesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
. Growing up on farms, he twice saw his family's home and his garden taken over by bankers. He then lived in towns all over California, where his mother worked as a waitress. At age twelve, Nelson read the Boy Scout
Boy Scout
A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...
manual with its message of kindness to others. That motivated him to think seriously about the desirability of economic and political improvement. He also learned of the need for social change
Social change
Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic...
by reading Citizen Tom Paine by Howard Fast
Howard Fast
Howard Melvin Fast was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E. V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson.-Early life:Fast was born in New York City...
, and the poems and essays of Percy Shelley. While in high school, he made friends with Mexican-American
Mexican American
Mexican Americans are Americans of Mexican descent. As of July 2009, Mexican Americans make up 10.3% of the United States' population with over 31,689,000 Americans listed as of Mexican ancestry. Mexican Americans comprise 66% of all Hispanics and Latinos in the United States...
and Chinese-American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
boys who lived in the slums.
Nelson won first place in a Lions Club speaking contest with a speech on world peace, and in the high-school poetry contest with a poem on Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine
Thomas "Tom" Paine was an English author, pamphleteer, radical, inventor, intellectual, revolutionary, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
. At age sixteen, he read the poems of Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
and began writing poetry. He decided to spend his life as a wandering poet, but discovered that it is too cold in the U.S. much of the year to be able to sleep outdoors.
After high school, Nelson worked for a while with Mexican immigrants thinning sugar beet
Sugar beet
Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...
s near Stockton, California
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
with a short-handled hoe. It was hard low-paid work, and made him sharply aware of the falsity of the myth that Mexicans are lazy. "They were the warmest, friendliest and highest-spirited people I have ever known," he observed, "and fueled my interest in things Mexican." Later he worked at forty or fifty different jobs, trying to get different and new perspectives on the world. He learned to speak Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
fluently.
Eugene married a Mexican-American nurse, who gave birth to two daughters. "We planned to raise an international family," he wrote wistfully, "to show that different peoples can live together in harmony. Alas, we didn't have sufficient dedication or wherewithal to carry through on this... We had a successful marriage for several years, partly because we each made the decisions on alternate days."
In 1966 Nelson became Texas director of the first grape boycott
Delano grape strike
The strike began when the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, mostly Filipino farm workers in Delano, California, led by Philip Vera Cruz, Larry Itliong, Benjamin Gines and Pete Velasco, walked off the farms of area table-grape growers, demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage...
by César Chávez
César Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
's farmworker union. Later, in south Texas, he founded a union called the Independent Workers Association, which later affiliated with Chávez's United Farm Workers
United Farm Workers
The United Farm Workers of America is a labor union created from the merging of two groups, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee led by Filipino organizer Larry Itliong, and the National Farm Workers Association led by César Chávez...
. A long strike and march to Austin resulted in improved pay and conditions for workers in south Texas. The police arrested Eugene on various spurious charges, including inciting a riot and threatening the lives of Texas Rangers. As a roving farmworkers' advocate and organizer, he also joined the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
(Wobblies).
In his later years, Nelson continued to write and research on topics of social and political controversy. "I think the chief priorities today," he wrote in 1993, "are preventing nuclear explosions
Effects of nuclear explosions
The energy released from a nuclear weapon detonated in the troposphere can be divided into four basic categories:*Blast—40-50% of total energy*Thermal radiation—30-50% of total energy...
; feeding the starving; lessening pollution and the exhaustion of the earth's resources; achieving a much lower birth rate
Birth rate
Crude birth rate is the nativity or childbirths per 1,000 people per year . Another word used interchangeably with "birth rate" is "natality". When the crude birth rate is subtracted from the crude death rate, it reveals the rate of natural increase...
; homes for all; and cooperative and participatory democracy
Participatory democracy
Participatory Democracy, also known as Deliberative Democracy, Direct Democracy and Real Democracy , is a process where political decisions are made directly by regular people...
(with compassion) in all aspects of life."
In 1999, Eugene Nelson died of a massive stroke in his retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
in Haleiwa, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
.
Works
- Huelga! The First One Hundred Days of the Delano Grape Strike
- Bracero - novel, Culver City, Calif. : Peace Press Pub., 1975
- Pablo Cruz and the American Dream, 1975
- Poems, Sane and Insane, 1992
- Fantasia of a Revolutionary
- Tales of Crapitalism
- Break Their Haughty Power: Joe Murphy in the Heyday of the Wobblies: ism press, 1993