Caporale, Ralph, Jr., 1917-2007

Ralph Caporale, Jr. (1917-2007) was a New York City teacher and school principal and an early organizer of teachers. He was involved in the High School Teachers Association and was acquainted with Al Shanker and other United Federation of Teachers (UFT) pioneers.

His daughter, Lynn, completed a small scrapbook in 1959 as a school project. Clippings in the scrapbook document an episode that took place in New York City in April of 1959. In January of that year, close to 1,000 evening high school teachers handed in their resignations as a protest against poor working conditions and even worse pay ($12.50 a night for four hours). This action was not authorized by any union although it did win the backing of the High School Teachers Association (HSTA) and the Teachers Guild. The evening schools were shut down for several weeks and finally the Board of Education gave in and increased wages to $24 a night.

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