Centralia massacre (Washington)

Following World War I, labor relations reached a fever pitch in Western Washington. No place is more notorious than Centralia, Washington. There, at an Armistice Day Parade in 1919, American Legionnaires attacked an IWW (International Workers of the World, often called Wobblies) Labor Hall. It would have been the third hall destroyed in the city. Unbeknownst to those who had engineered the attack, not the Legionaires but civic leaders from Centralia, the Wobblies had positioned armed guards in a variety of roof tops, windows of surrounding buildings, and other places. Several Legionaires were wounded and killed in the ensuing battle. One Wobbly was immediately captured and held in the city jail. Later that night the city's electricity was shut down, and a crowd invaded the jail and captured the Wobbly, took him to a local bridge crossing the Skookumchuck River and lynched him. Several Wobblies were subsequently tried in a trial moved to nearby Montesano, convicted and sent to prison. Ultimately all were released. Currently the best popular book on the subject is Wobbly Wars, the Centralia Story by John McCleland. There is also a fine biography of the Wobblies' attorney, The Centralia Tragedy of 1919: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies. The literature and primary material on this subject is extensive.

External link

• University of Washington Libraries, Digital Collection - Essay: The Centralia Massacre