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Labor spy report by Agent #106 to Broussais Beck, April 2, 1920
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| Title | Labor spy report by Agent #106 to Broussais Beck, April 2, 1920 |
| Author | Unknown |
| Date of Publication | 1920 |
| Notes | In this report to Broussais Beck on April 2nd, 1920, "Agent #106" relates a conversation with "Connors", who informs him that the Seattle Union Record may be hurting itself by publishing stories against the banking system, or encouraging workers to find jobs away from the city. Connors says that the Union Record needs to remember that the only way for them to exist is to promote Seattle businesses. Frank Turco tells #106 that labor will "make a real issue of the Centralia affair", since they have determined that the workers only fired their weapons in self-defense, but that most of the country's workers are unaware of the truth. Because they cannot trust the press, they will send speakers around the country to spread the information in person. Turco mentions an incident in Bogaloosa, Louisiana, where several A.F. of L. members were killed by the lumber industry, as evidence that violence against labor affects all the unions, and not merely the Industrial Workers of the World (I.W.W.). Turco tells #106 that Paul K. Mohr, one of the labor jurors, will be the speaker sent out by the Central Labor Council of Seattle. |
| 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; Seattle union record (Seattle, Wash. : 1918); Centralia Massacre, Centralia, Wash., 1919; Industrial Workers of the World; American Federation of Labor |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital ID Number | PNW00899 |
| 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 |
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