GLENN SCOTT

1948 - 2018

Elizabeth “Glenn” Scott was a native Texan, labor organizer, activist, and feminist whose values led her to work with multiple unions across the state. 

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, she moved to Austin for graduate school and joined the local progressive movement — honing her organizing skills along the way. Throughout the 70s she worked on Austin’s radical underground newspaper, The Rag. She helped found Austin’s Bread and Roses School for Socialist Education and co-founded Peoples History in Texas, which she stayed active with her entire life. She was also very active in the New American Movement (NAM).

In 1982, Scott took her first organizing job for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), advocating for pay raises and better benefits for city workers. She went on to work for the Clothing & Textile Workers Union, where her love for union-made boots and hats started.

In 1994, she worked for the Texas AFL-CIO Workforce Transition Project, helping displaced workers find training and new jobs when factories would close down and made sure the owners didn’t cheat on their responsibilities.

Scott went on to organize for Education Austin, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and the National Nurses Union, making her mark all over Texas and the country.

Scott retired in 2015, remaining a mentor to young activists. She was co-chair of Austin’s DSA and president of the Austin chapter of Texas Alliance for Retired Americans (TARA). 

She built coalitions, connected people, brought people into the fight, protested, block walked, and generally raised hell. Central to everything was socialist feminism. It is a way to live and collaborate and fight with love rather than hate. Her legacy on the Texas labor movement will inspire future feminists for generations to come.