A Return to Apprenticeship

Recently my father discovered a very interesting document in his mother’s hope chest that brought a personal, family connection to the work I’ve been doing in promoting and supporting Apprenticeship training for the past eight years. Rolled up and thankfully not crushed, he found a Certificate of Apprenticeship, presented by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway System to his father, affirming the following:

“George Milton Dunn has served four years as an Apprentice in the shops of this Company learning the art and trade of Machinist. He has regularly attended the Apprentice School conducted by this Company and has completed the prescribed course. His workmanship, services and conduct have been satisfactory. In evidence thereof this Diploma is awarded.”

In Richmond, California on October 5, 1927. 

Almost ninety years ago.

"...learning the art and trade..."

That Diploma was his passport to a better life, a life that later included a wife and two sons, one of whom (my father) earned two Masters Degrees and was a teacher, administrator and lifelong supporter of Vocational Education/Career Technical Education. The skills he learned in his Apprenticeship enabled him to survive the Great Depression and later work in the shipyards and factories that helped the US and its Allies win WWII. Skills that he used to buy a house, feed his family and help grow the economy during the 1950’s and 60’s. 

As often occurs when you find something of your family’s past, it opens up the mind and long forgotten memories flow out. My father remembered that my grandfather dropped out of high school to join the Apprenticeship program, because of an over zealous drafting teacher who was suspicious of how neat his lettering was and accused him of cheating. My mother countered with a memory of her father talking about how he would work in the shipyard during the day and attend night classes at the local Adult School to learn how to be a Plumber/Pipefitter. Her father later worked for many years at the Shell Oil refinery in Martinez, after also building ships during the war. With his skills, he supported my mother and her siblings. She went on to have a 35+ year career as a teacher.

It’s unfortunate that I was not able to learn more from my grandfathers’ experiences or hear the word “Apprentice” spoken around the house. I told a good friend several years ago when my daughter was learning to weld in her California Partnership Academy class that it seemed strange to me that my Pipefitter grandfather had never taught me how to weld. He had all of the equipment in his garage, still tinkered around and made interesting things but never once invited me to learn about it. And unfortunately, I may not have asked. My friend, who has both a degree from UC Berkeley AND completed a Machinist Apprenticeship, said that maybe he didn’t want me or my brother to learn to weld, that he wanted us to go to college like our parents had.  

If that is the case, he had it all wrong. Both of my grandfathers made a good, honorable living working with metal in one form or another, completing an apprenticeship training program that was equal to (and sometimes more valuable than) a college degree in many ways. The employers knew that they needed to find quality employees and they agreed to train them, rather than searching for someone who already had the polished skill set required for the job. Apprentices knew that they could work hard and complete the training and would have a job and potential career in front of them. 

The pendulum over time swung dramatically away from Apprenticeship training, except in occupations within the traditional building trades crafts of Carpenters, Electricians, etc. From the 1980’s to the present, our youth were told that the only way to be successful was to have a college degree. When I was teaching high school, I should have been providing information to my students about all options, including those Apprenticeships in the building trades. Thankfully, we are now seeing a return to a more common sense approach, one that promotes post-secondary training but does not limit success to possession of a bachelor’s degree. My goal is that on the 100th anniversary of my grandfather’s graduation, in October of 2027, we have even more apprenticeship opportunities for our youth and young adults. I intend to devote the next ten years to accomplishing that so that we can create a more balanced approach to education and workforce training, to build a deep and wide talent pool full of skilled workers who are safe, efficient and earn a middle-class income, or better.

More to come, stay tuned…