Biographical Information
Clemmie Shuck Barry was born on August 24, 1901, in Edgar, Nebraska. She was the first person in her family to attend college, graduating from the University of Denver in 1927. After college, Barry directed educational programs for the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) in West Virginia and New York. In 1934, Barry resigned from the YWCA and accepted a position as organizer with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA). Between 1934 and 1937, she organized clothing workers in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Georgia. Notably, she participated in the 1934 strike at Sam Finkelstein & Sons in Norfolk, Virginia; and acted as chief organizer during the 1936 strike at Friedman-Harry Marks Clothing Co. in Richmond, Virginia, which led to the 1937 Supreme Court case upholding the National Labor Relations Act (Labor Board v. Friedman-Harry Marks Clothing Co.).
In 1937, Clemmie and her second husband, Dick Barry, moved to San Francisco. There, she worked as a case supervisor for the State Relief Administration, volunteered as an organizer for the State, County and Municipal Workers Union, and became active in the Communist Party. In 1940, she was called before the California Un-American Activities Committee and subsequently blacklisted. In 1946, Clemmie and Dick Barry moved to Mill Valley, California, where Clemmie worked as a real estate agent. In 1952, she was fired and blacklisted after she and Dick sold some of their Mill Valley property to two African American families. In 1957, the couple moved to Lassen County, returning to Marin County ten years later after Dick suffered a massive stroke. At the time of the interviews, Clemmie Barry was an active member of the Marin County Commission on Aging and the Democratic Women's Council of Marin.
From the guide to the Clemmie Shuck Barry Oral History, 1931-1978, 1975-1978, (California Historical Society)
