Political divisions, attacks from conservatives, and the financial strain of the Depression combined to destroy the labor colleges. Brookwood closed in 1937, its financial resources exhausted. Conservatives mounted an effective attack against Commonwealth College, weakened by left-wing factional disputes, and succeeded in destroying the school in 1940. Work People's College fell victim to ethnic assimilation as its Finnish-immigrant base joined the mainstream. Classes were suspended in 1941, although summer school continued and the college existed as a financial entity until 1963. Nonetheless, the schools made important contributions to the labor movement. Their students became organizers and leaders of the CIO. Walter Reuther and his brothers, organizers of the United Auto Workers' groundbreaking 1936 sitdown strike against General Motors, were Brookwood alumni, and Brookwood theater skits entertained the strikers during the action. Other labor-college graduates went on to positions in mainstream colleges, making important contributions in various history and sociology departments...