The Centralia Tragedy of 1919: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies

by Tom Copeland

Book Overview

On November 11, 1919, the citizens of Centralia, Washington, gathered to watch former servicemen, local Boy Scouts, and other community groups march in the Armstice Day parade. When the marchers swung past the meeting hall of the Industrial Workers of the World, a group of veterans broke ranks, charged the hall, and were met by gunshots. Before the day was over, four of the marchers were dead and one of the Wobblies had been lynched by the mob.

Through...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0295972742
• ISBN13: 9780295972749
• Release Date: September 1993
• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.92 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.3"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

We should all have the guts and vision of Elmer Smith

I never thought that a book of Labor History could be so interesting. Elmer Smith is one of those leaders who was called to duty and stayed true to his vision. I must admit that he is the only lawyer that I think is worthy of Heaven.

Remembering the Rank & File

Social movements depend not on a few charismatic leaders, but on the efforts of countless people whose names will never be remembered in our history books. The tendency, however, is to treat movements as the result of nearly superhuman individuals who alone create structural change. In this interpretation, the average citizens' duty is simply to do nothing but wait for a leader to lead them to the promised land. The cumulative effect of such history is the disempowerment of individuals, who learn to see history as something that "happens" to them, not as something that they can help create.Tom Copeland's book, through the telling of Elmer Smith's story, reminds us of this truth. The progress that has been made during the past century in securing stonger rights for workers is due not to a few huge individuals, but to the Elmer Smiths of the country, whose daily and usually unrewarded sacrifices created a real gain for wage earners. We can never know the stories of all who gave up their comfortable lives to work in the labor movement, or how many suffered dearly for it. But Copeland has recovered one such individual, whose story is both an inspiration to activists and a sobering reminder of the ease with which our government can redefine human rights when dealing with dissidents.As Copeland concludes, "By fanning the fire of discontent during his lifetime, he (Smith) helped keep the flame of justice alive for generations." This book is a reminder that all progress is due to those who question conventional wisdom and refuse to consent to a system which conflicts with their conscience. It also forces us to ask a crucial question: what are we doing today to fan the fire of discontent?

Up in Arms: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies in American Society

In the midst of the first annual Armistice parade in Centralia, WA on November 11, 1919, four soldiers were slain on the streets of their hometown by members of the Industrial Workers of the World, a labor union dedicated to organizing all facets of production workers into "one big union." The chaos and vigilante efforts which immediately followed the shootings resulted in the gruesome lynching of a union man believed to be responsible for the seemingly unprovoked attack and a severe imprisonment sentenced to virtually every union man in the region, regardless of culpability. Significantly, the shootings in Centralia and the struggle to gain clarity on the situation during the aftermath have been largely ignored in American history. Dismissed as a brutal clash rife with misunderstanding on both sides of the labor versus management issue, many historians have elected not to pursue the complex issues surrounding the movement gone tragically awry. Yet Tom Copeland does a magnificent job in bringing these tragic events back to the forefront of consciousness in his biography rife with historical analysis. Copeland reprises the events from the unique perspective of attorney Elmer Smith, virtually the only lawyer in the timber industry region who was willing to champion the working class and the disenfranchised over the deep pockets of big business. Other historical works have deliberated on the actions of both the Legionnaires and the I.W.W., or "Wobblies," on that fateful November day. Though outraged sentiment at the time demanded harsh punishments against the Wobblies, it would later be revealed that a trial laden with manipulated testimony and enforced by the intimidating presence of the U.S. Army only masked the fact that, in this instance, the Legionnaires had provoked the attack. Copeland's book, however, is the first to isolate the actions of Elmer Smith, a lawyer who not only counseled the Wobblies prior to the November attack, but who advised them that they were well within their rights to defend themselves and their I.W.W. hall against mounting aggressions from the Legionnaires and who was jailed for nearly 6 months pending trial for soliciting this (quite legal) advice to the Wobblies. This book should be read for a number of reasons. It is, of course, particularly insightful for those of us who live in the Northwest region and within spitting distance of where the most tumultuous labor disputes in American history took place. More than that, though, it is a sobering lesson in how the wheels of government really turn for those Americans not wealthy enough to grease the axles. It is a demonstration of how the U.S. Constitution can become a suspended after-thought when the concerns of Big Business are at hand. The book also illuminates a rather ghastly period of Americana in the World War One era that many have thought best forgotten: the mighty decimating the weak; the ram