IWW Organizers in Everett
IWW Organizers in Everett
James P. Thompson and the Free Speech Fights
James P. Thompson was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World. Thompson was at the IWW’s first convention in 1905, helped rewrite the Preamble to the IWW Constitution in 1908, and worked as General Organizer through the IWW main office. Perhaps best known for his leadership role in the free speech fights of the early 1900s, Thompson and other Wobblies took to the streets to promote the IWW vision of industrial unionism, internationalism, and an end to oppressive working conditions under a capitalist system. Thompson served jail time for his participation in these fights, including the Spokane Free Speech Fight campaign of 1909-1910 which violated an ordinance outlawing street meetings.
With tensions mounting between the striking shingle weavers and mill owners in summer of 1916, the Seattle IWW seized the opportunity to increase their membership by holding free speech fights in Everett. In August, shingle weavers sympathetic to the IWW cause petitioned Thompson to hold a free speech fight there on August 22nd. Sheriff McRae warned that this would not be permitted and ordered the Wobblies to leave Everett. In defiance of the warning, Thompson and fellow Seattle member James Rowan (previously arrested for speaking in July), delivered their speeches. As a result, Rowan, Thompson, and several others were promptly removed from the platform and arrested. To better oppose the IWW, lumber baron David Clough and Sheriff Donald McRae created the Commercial Club, the organization that coordinated the violent attacks of armed citizen deputies upon IWW members at Beverly Park and in the Everett Massacre.
Following the Everett Massacre, James Thompson served as a witness for the defense of Thomas H. Tracy, on trial for the murder of Deputy Jefferson Beard. During his testimony, he read the IWW preamble and defended Wobbly ideology as one that promoted solidarity and equality. This strongly countered the portrayal of the IWW as unruly, violent radicals by the opposing side.
Thompson was imprisoned in Leavenworth Penitentiary between 1917 and 1923 for making speeches opposing the United States’ entry into World War I. In 1918, the United States Justice Department arrested 101 Wobblies and raided their offices. The prosecution argued that the IWW was trying to undermine the war, accusing the union of such things as resisting the draft, advocating industrial sabotage, and conspiring with the enemy. Thompson was sentenced to ten years as a result.
Jack Leonard Miller
Jack Miller, one of the 74 IWW members charged with killing Deputy Beard, was 27 at the time of the Everett tragedy. He was the oldest surviving passenger on the Verona and passed away in 1986.
Among the multiple interviews conducted with Miller about his experience of the Everett tragedy is a filmed interview from the early 1980s conducted by President of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, Ross Rieder. The interview is a part of Washington Works, a video series created by the Washington State Labor Council. A part of the Washington State Labor Council Photograph and Video Tape Collection, you can view this interview with Miller online in the UW Digital Collections database.
The Trial of Thomas H. Tracy
Of the 74 IWW members arrested during the Everett Massacre, only Teamster Thomas H. Tracy was tried for the murder of Snohomish County Deputy Jefferson Beard, one of two deputies killed by gunfire during the skirmish. The trial received national attention, covered by journalists from all sides of the political spectrum, including activist and journalist, Anna Louise Strong whose papers are housed by the Labor Archives of Washington. Tracy was acquitted on May 5, 1917 after two months of court proceedings, tried in Seattle by Superior Court Judge J. T. Ronald and defended by Attorneys George F. Vanderveer and Fred H. Moore.
Tracy was initially meant to be tried in Everett; however, Vanderveer and Moore made a strong case that extreme prejudice against the IWW and working class in the town would prevent him from receiving a fair trial. As a result, the trial was moved to Seattle, Washington. The evidence indicating Tracy’s guilt was weak, the prosecution relying on an argument that what transpired at the dock was a result of conspiracy orchestrated by the IWW. It was ultimately determined, after Attorney Vanderveer demonstrated a reenactment at the Everett dock, that Tracy’s position on the ship at the time of the event made it impossible for him to fire the shot that killed Deputy Beard. In fact, Beard was shot in the back, indicating that his death was a result of “friendly fire” at the hands of another citizen deputy.
Following Tracy’s release, charges against the other 73 arrested Wobblies were dropped. Little evidence remained to convict them, and the state had already spent over 20 thousand dollars on Tracy’s trial alone. Not to mention, the United States had just entered World War I on April 6, shifting attention away from the events of November 5th.
References:
Anderson, Matthew. “Everett Massacre Aftermath: The Battle to Control the Story.” IWW History Project, Mapping American Social Movements, University of Washington. 2016, http://depts.washington.
edu/iww/everett_story.shtml.
Clark, Norman H. Mill Town: A Social History of Everett, Washington, from Its Earliest Beginnings on the Shores of Puget Sound to the Tragic and Infamous Event Known as the Everett Massacre. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1970.
Riddle, Margaret. “Everett Massacre (1916).” HistoryLink.org. December 18, 2011, http://www.historylink.org/File/9981
Tyler, Robert L. Rebels of the Woods: the I.W.W. in the Pacific Northwest. Eugene: University of Oregon Books, 1967.