Charles James Hendley (1881-1962) was a teacher, education reform advocate, political activist and union leader. A member of the Teachers Union of the City of New York (Teachers Union of NYC) from 1921 until his death, he served as its president from 1935-1945.

Born in North Carolina on June 4, 1881, Hendley was the son of Alvis Francis Hendley, a section foreman on the Southern Railway who was a pioneer in organizing the maintenance-of-way men on the southern railroads. After attending local schools, he graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1905. He taught for several years in small towns in North Carolina then moved north in 1915 and taught in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before coming to New York. In 1919 he helped organize a local of the American Federation of Teachers in Paterson, New Jersey, and in 1920, worked for the State Federation of Labor in Pennsylvania, teaching labor classes in Bethlehem, Reading and Lancaster. Once in New York, he taught labor classes for Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and for a Wall Street local of telegraphers.

Hendley earned a masters degree at Columbia University and taught history and economics at George Washington High School in Manhattan from 1921 until 1946. A member of the Teachers Union of NYC, he served as its treasurer from 1922 through 1932 then became president in 1935 and held that position until just before his retirement from teaching.

In 1940, Hendley appeared before the Rapp-Coudert Committee. Although under the threat of arrest and probable dismissal from his teaching position, he defied the Committee, refusing its request to turn over the Teachers Union membership list. In January of 1941, however, at the behest of the Executive Board, on advice of union counsel, he complied with the Committee's demands.

After his retirement, Hendley continued his association with the Union serving on the Executive Board, as a member of the Educational Policies Committee and as Director of the Teachers Union Institute. In 1946, he became a field representative of the National Teachers Division of the United Public Workers of America (UPWA/CIO) and held that position until 1948. From his early years as a teacher, Hendley had been a member of the Socialist Party, resigning in 1938. He later grew closer to the Communist Party, apparently joining the Party in the late 1940s, but maintaining his oppostion to totalitarianism and authoritarianism in all forms.

In addition to his work with the Union, Hendley was active in the American Labor Party, running for State Senate (28th District, Bronx) in 1948 and for Congress (25th Congressional District) in 1950. In his later years he was a stockholder and served as Secretary-Treasurer of Publishers New Press, Inc., publisher of The Daily Worker. In that capacity he was called before the Senate Internal Security Committee in 1952 and also before a Grand Jury inquiry in 1962, consistently restating his belief in civil liberties for adherents of all political ideologies.

He remained active in his support of educational reform and other progressive causes. He wrote many articles, essays and letters to the editor; organized lectures; maintained throughout his life a keen interest in the political and cultural events of the day; and never lost his enthusiasm for learning.

Charles Hendley married Okla Dees of Grantboro, North Carolina, in 1916. They had two sons, Charles and Daniel.

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The history of the Teachers Union of the City of New York was marked by controversy and changing affiliations. Organized in 1916 as Local 5 of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), it began its long struggles on behalf of civil liberties, increased salaries, reduced classroom size, tenure for teachers, improved pensions and increased state aid to education. By 1925, however, organized political factions began appearing within the local's ranks and controversy over the Communist leanings of several of the factions culminated in a major crisis in 1935. The leadership petitioned the national office to investigate the local and hoped that the findings would allow them to reorganize without the Communist elements. This plan failed to gain adequate support from the AFT National Convention and, as a result, eight hundred dissatisfied members left Local 5 to join a newly organized, independent Teachers Guild. Charles Hendley, as a Socialist, was seen as a unifying figure when, in 1935, he took over the presidency of Local 5 and significantly expanded its membership.

Conflicts and disagreements continued however, and subsequent efforts to revoke Local 5's charter were finally successful in 1941. Although unaffiliated, the union continued to operate, initially attempting to rejoin the AFT but, eventually, in September of 1943, uniting with the State, County, Municipal Workers of America (SCMWA), a CIO union, as Local 555. In 1946, SCMWA allied with the United Federal Workers of America to become the United Public Workers of America (UPWA); the teachers continued as UPWA Local 555. In 1950, the UPWA was expelled from the CIO for alleged Communist domination; the Teachers Union of NYC withdrew from the UPWA in 1952. After twelve years as an independent organization, the Teachers Union of NYC was dissolved with the recommendation that its members join the the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which had become the official collective bargaining agent for the City's teachers. The UFT had been formed as a result of the merger of the Teachers Guild with the Committee of Action through Unity (CATU) and strengthened after the first successful teachers' strike in New York City (May 1960.)

Sources:

Zitron, Celia Lewis, The New York City Teachers Union 1916-1964 (Humanities Press, 1968).