The Centralia Tragedy of 1919

Elmer Smith and the Wobblies

Author: Tom Copeland
ISBN: 9780295972749

On November 11, 1919, the citizens of Centralia, Washington, gathered to watch former servicemen, local Boy Scouts, and other community groups march in the Armistice 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 a wealth of newly available primary source material including previously sealed court documents, FBI records released under the Freedom of Information Act, and interviews with surviving witnesses, Tom Copeland has pieced together the events of that day and has traced the fate of the men who were accused and convicted of murdering the marchers. Copeland focuses on Elmer Smith, the local attorney who advised the Wobblies that they had the right to defend their hall against an anticipated attack. Although he never belonged to the I.W.W., S

Publisher: University of Washington Press
Publish Date: 1993

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Lawyers & Judges, History / General, History / United States / State & Local / Pacific Northwest (OR, WA), Law / Civil Procedure, Law / Legal History, Political Science / Labor & Industrial Relations

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Raza Recource Centro (Location: Wall B, Shelf 2)