We needn’t have worried. The Musicians for Amalgamation at Local 47 put on a continuous and masterful campaign. As early as April 10, 1952, in a letter printed in Overture, these members of Local 47 had urged that an amalgamation be favorably considered. They advocated the merging of the financial resources of the two locals, and immediate full membership for 767 members upon the date of the amalgamation. This letter, listed in the Overture as having been signed by Alexander Koltun, Seymour Sheklow and Robert Konrad (because of space considerations), was actually signed by 350 members.

An October 1952 Overture article (Page 22) asked Local 47 members to accept the merger proposal presented to the Local 47 Board meeting of May 13, 1952. The article outlined the many advantages of having all of the musicians of the Los Angeles area gathered in one organization. Finally, in a hard hitting article titled "MUSICIANS OF LOCAL 47, AMALGAMATION WITH LOCAL 767 WILL NOT COST YOU ONE CENT," the committee pointed out that immediately upon amalgamation 600 Local 767 members would start paying dues and taxes (now called work dues) into the treasury of Local 47. This letter also dealt with the philosophical factors of wiping out segregation and living up to our stated (but not yet realized) American traditions, (November 1952 Overture, Page 2). These musicians also published pamphlets, held unofficial discussion meetings with prominent speakers, and, in short, conducted a proud, professional campaign.

Without this dedication on the part of our white brothers and sisters of Local 47, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO AMALGAMATION, at least not at that time.

The Musicians For Amalgamation also sent out a position paper with the sample election ballot urging a Yes vote on the 767 proposal. We got an unexpected break when the Local 47 position paper, written by Secretary Maury Paul (in which we expected that he would urge a NO vote on the proposition) turned out to be relatively neutral. He summarized the Local 47 Board’s position, but also stated that ridding the Musicians’ Union of the "blight of segregation" might outweigh the cold financial facts involved in the amalgamation. He left it up to the Local 47 membership to decide the matter.

The Sunday night (Dec. 14, 1952) before the 47 election, in an effort to increase public interest in our cause. Ms. Edson and I took news releases about the election to every newspaper, every news service, and every radio (and television) station in the Los Angeles area. We literally stuffed a release in commentator Chet Huntley’s hands five minutes before his KABC broadcast. Several minutes later we turned on my car radio and were thrilled to hear him mention the Local 47 election and the vote on the Amalgamation Proposal. This gave us a great feeling but we knew that the real and decisive work which would determine the outcome of the vote on the amalgamation proposal had been done by our friends at Local 47.