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| Title | Labor spy report by Agent #106 to Broussais Beck, March 22, 1920 |
| Author | Unknown |
| Date of Publication | 1920 |
| Notes | In this report to Broussais Beck on March 22nd, 1920, "Agent #106" describes a conversation with "O'Brien" who notes that the shipbuilders "succeeded in breaking up the Unions", pointing out specifically that the boilermakers' union had declined from 15, 000 members to 5, 000 members. But O'Brien is certain that, when the shipyards open up again, the workers will flood back to the unions rather than work in an open shop. In another conversation, #106 hears from "Hiens" that the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.), far from disappearing after the "Centralia shooting affair", is reorganizing to be "stronger than ever". Hiens is confident that the A.F. of L. will stand by the I.W.W., and that they will raise the funds for a "fair & square trial" for those accused in the Centralia Massacre: the I.W.W. members will be set free, and "the gentlemen of Centralia who conspired to turn the lights off at 8:00 p.m. so as to give them a chance to murder a man will be brought to trial". |
| 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 movement--Washington (State)--Seattle; Labor unions--Washington (State)--Seattle; Business intelligence--Washington (State)--Seattle; Union busting--Washington (State)--Seattle; American Federation of Labor; Industrial Workers of the World |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital ID Number | PNW00898 |
| 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 1/22 |
| Object Type | Typescript
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| 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 |
