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| Title | Labor spy report by Agent #106 to Broussais Beck, November 11, 1919 |
| Author | Unknown |
| Date of Publication | 1919 |
| Notes | In this report to Broussais Beck on November 11th, 1919, "Agent #106" notes that there is "considerable excitement over the I.W.W. situation in Centralia", referring to the events later known as the Centralia Massacre. Walker C. Smith comments to #106 that they still don't know what has happened in Centralia, but he personally doesn't believe that the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.) would shoot at men solely for marching in a parade. He notes the hostility of the Centralia business community -- referring to Centralia as "a bad town" at one point -- and says that something was bound to happen between the two sides eventually. Kennedy tells #106 "Now you see what a scrape the radicals get into. A shooting scrape. Something that can never do anybody any good." Kennedy emphasizes the dangers of violence, suggesting that labor's only way forward is to educate the workers and to accept that change comes slowly. The Metal Trades Council that evening largely focuses on the various requests for funds from striking unions. At the end of the meeting, President Martin of Local 104 notes that important business will be conducted at upcoming meetings, and shares his concerns about spies taking information back to their employers. He moves, therefore, that the meetings hereafter will be closed to all but the appointed delegates, but after extensive argument, that motion fails and the meetings remain open to all. |
| Contextual Notes | Broussais Coman Beck (1886-1936) was a prominent Seattle businessman and rowing enthusiast. He was educated at the University of Washington and at Yale, graduating from the latter university in 1911. He returned to Seattle later in the 1910s to work as the store manager for the Bon Marche. In the wake of the Seattle general strike of 1919, Beck paid spies to infiltrate the labor movement in Seattle, and received frequent reports from his agents (often accompanied by clippings or ephemera relating to labor organizations) in 1919 and 1920. Due to the information acquired through these reports, the Bon Marche was centrally important to the alliance of Seattle employers who organized against labor, a group called the Associated Industries of Seattle -- and, consequently, the Bon Marche became the target of increased pressure and boycotts by organized labor in this time period. |
| Subjects (LCSH) | Beck, Broussais C., 1886-1936; Labor movements--Washington (State)--Seattle; Labor unions--Washington (State)--Seattle; Business intelligence--Washington (State)--Seattle; Union busting--Washington (State)--Seattle; Industrial Workers of the World |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital ID Number | PNW00881 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions contact: photos@u.washington.edu. |
| Digital Collection | Pacific Northwest Historical Documents
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| Repository | University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. |
| Repository Collection | Broussais C. Beck papers. Accession No. 0155-001. Box 1/16 |
| Object Type | Typescript
|
| Physical Description | 1 leaf; 28 x 21.5 cm. |
| Digital Reproduction Information | Scanned from original text or image at 150 dpi saved in TIFF format, resized and enhanced using Adobe Photoshop, and imported as JPEG2000 using Contentdm software's JPEG2000 Extension. 2011. |
| Restrictions | For information on permissions for use and reproductions please visit UW Libraries Special Collections Reproduction & Use page: http://content.lib.washington.edu/sc-use.html |
