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Labor spy report by Agent #17 to Broussais Beck, November 12, 1919
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| Title | Labor spy report by Agent #17 to Broussais Beck, November 12, 1919 |
| Author | Unknown |
| Date of Publication | 1919 |
| Notes | In this report to Broussais Beck on November 12th, 1919, "Agent #17" informs Beck that, after the previous night's meeting of the Industrial Workers of the World, one of the speakers, "R. Johanson", was arrested by "Two secret service agents". #17 reports that he was held without bail overnight, and that the I.W.W.'s attorney has not been allowed to meet with him. #17 reports that the other speaker from the previous evening, "Dougherty", has not been arrested, but he informs Beck about Dougherty's widespread speech-making on the I.W.W.'s behalf, and reminds him of Dougherty's criminal record. #17 notes that Dougherty works "on the Times paper as a linotype man". The previous evening, #17 was in the basement of the Postal Building with I.W.W. members, listening to their feelings about "the lynching of one of the I.W.W.s at Centralia", and offers to give the names of "all the principal leaders here in Seattle". A note is handwritten underneath the report, recording that Johanson is "out of $5, 000 Bail from Leavenworth" and that he was one of the I.W.W. members convicted in Chicago. |
| 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; Industrial Workers of the World; Civil rights--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital ID Number | PNW00914 |
| 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 1/30 |
| 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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