|
| Title | Labor spy report by Agent #17 to Broussais Beck, November 24, 1919 |
| Author | Unknown |
| Date of Publication | 1919 |
| Notes | In this labor spy report given to Broussais Beck on November 24, 1919, "Agent #17" informs Beck about a meeting held on Sunday by the Boilermakers' local in Tacoma. #17 reports increasing levels of dissatisfaction with the union's strike, which had begun three months prior, and records that most of the union's membership would be happy to "return to work at the old wage scale". That evening, a meeting was held in the Scandia Pool Hall on Occidental Avenue by members of local #325 of the Shipbuilders Industrial Union of the Industrial Workers of the World. #17 notes that some union leadership was not present, and that the meeting had been kept quiet "because of fear of being arrested". He notes the actions of those present to support the men accused in connection with the Centralia Massacre, and also describes how the Industrial Worker, the I.W.W. newspaper, is continuing to be produced despite the closure of the Equity Printing Company by "Federal officers". #17 adds some information about the use of the Scandia Pool Hall as a meeting-place for I.W.W. members, both at the present time and formerly when the building had been under "Jap management". |
| 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; Scandia Pool Hall (Seattle, Wash.); |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital ID Number | PNW00945 |
| Ordering Information | To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions contact: photos@u.washington.edu. |
| Digital Collection | Pacific Northwest Historical Documents
|
| Repository | University of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division. |
| Repository Collection | Broussais C. Beck papers. Accession No. 0155-001. Box 2/1 |
| Object Type | Typescript
|
| Physical Description | 1 leaf; 28 x 22 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 |
