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| Title | Labor spy report by Agent #17 to Broussais Beck, May 8, 1920 |
| Author | Unknown |
| Date of Publication | 1920 |
| Notes | In this labor spy report given to Broussais Beck on May 8, 1920, "Agent #17" attends the weekly meeting of the Boilermakers and Helpers Union, Local #104. A letter was read from William Short announcing that the State Federation of Labor convetion will be held in Spokane on June 28, and that "business of the most important kind" will be transacted there. Percy May of the Longshoremen then addresses the meeting, announcing that the longshoremen's strike would be the beginning of a battle with the Associated Industries, who intend to make the city and state "open shop". May announces that they will dispense with the middle men: the longshoremen will bid on the work of unloading the boats now themselves. (A handwritten note adds that "this action was taken at the Longshoremen convention here last week and will be in effect from San Diego to Vancouver B.C.") |
| 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; International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, Iron Ship Builders, and Helpers of America. ǂb Local 104 (Seattle, Wash.) |
| Geographic Coverage | United States--Washington (State)--Seattle |
| Digital ID Number | PNW00958 |
| 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 2/6 |
| Object Type | Typescript
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| 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 |
