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Everett Massacre Centennial
This video introduces the basics of what is commonly believed happened on November 5, 1916 and invites the community to join the Everett Public Library for a series of free programs to explore the topic.
Everett Public Library presented a series of programs on the centennial year of the Everett Massacre events. We focused less on the catastrophic events of November 5, and more on the context and background that led up to and followed these events.
Speakers
Our speakers, of regional and state repute, examined the Everett of 1916, focusing on aims and actions of the key players of the drama: The Everett mill owners, small businessmen, the shingleweavers, the Wobblies, the clergy...the frictions building and slipping against each other until one spark could ignite the catastrophic event of 11.5.16.
Our goal was to entertain as well as inform you with the best presenters for their piece of the story.
- Event Date:
Saturday, October 15, 2016
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Location:
Main Library
Auditorium - Audience:
Adults
Events
The library opened its series commemorating the events surrounding the Everett Massacre, which occurred on November 5, 1916. Other programs appeared on Saturday, October 22; Sunday, October 30; Saturday, November 5; and Sunday, November 6.
Background
The Massacre was a confrontation between deputized citizens under orders from local mill owners, and members of the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical labor union bent on "fanning the flames of discontent" in Everett. The confrontation provoked gun play that resulted in numerous deaths and injuries at the Everett waterfront.
Speakers
Everett Community College History Professor Jason Ripper focused on the Everett of 1916, whose economy, society, and politics were far different from what we know in 2016.
And, Fred Bird of the Labor Press Project at the University of Washington compared coverage of massacre-related events in the local mainstream and radical press.
- Event Date:
Saturday, October 22, 2016
1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Location:
Main Library
Auditorium - Audience:
Adults
Programs
- 1 p.m.: Doug Honig, Communications Director of ACLU-WA presented "Free Speech Fights of the IWW," focusing on some of the IWW's approximately thirty campaigns to ensure its right to speak politically on public streets.
- 2 p.m.: David Dilgard, Everett Public Library Northwest Room presented "Wobbly Propaganda Art," a review of the IWW's stunning array of posters and handbills.
- 3 p.m.: Screening of "The Wobblies," 1980 documentary by Stewart Bird and Deborah Shaffer, a history of the early Wobblies told through interviews with surviving IWW members.
- Event Date:
Saturday, October 29, 2016 -
1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. - Location:
Main Library
Auditorium - Audience:
Adults
Programs
- 1 p.m. - Artist Deb Fox spoke about the creation of The Everett Massacre: A Graphic Novel, based on the events surrounding the Everett Massacre of 1916.
- Event Date:
Sunday, October 30, 2016
1 p.m. to 4 p.m. - Location:
Main Library
Auditorium - Audience:
Adults
Programs Begin at 1 P.M.
- 1 p.m.: Screening of the documentary Cuts, by Charles Gustafson, a stunning film portraying the work and life of shingle weavers.
- 1:45 p.m.: Real-life shingle sawyer Bill Marcartel commented on the film and opened the floor to questions about shingle weaving.
- 2:30 p.m.: Everett Public Library Reference Librarian Cameron Johnson presented "Sawdust Barons and Shingle Weavers," depicting the poisoned industrial atmosphere of 1916 Everett, a direct contributor to the Everett Massacre.
- Event Date:
Saturday, November 5, 2016 -
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. - Location:
Main Library
Auditorium - Audience:
Adults
Programs Begin at 1 P.M.
- 1 p.m.: Screening of the film Verona, a documentary by Denise Ohio piecing together the events of the Everett Massacre. Included a questions and answers afterward with filmmaker Ohio and historian David Dilgard.
- 3:30 p.m.: The Industrial Workers of the World produced a songbook full of witty songs set to commonly-known tunes. Folk musicians Bob Nelson, John Weiss, and Randall Walker presented a concert of IWW songs.
- Event Date:
Sunday, November 6, 2016
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. - Location:
Main Library
Auditorium - Audience:
Adults
Programs
- 1 p.m.: "The Trial of Thomas Tracy." King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers gives a contemporary view of the trial of Thomas Tracy, one of 74 IWW members arrested for murder in the aftermath of the Massacre, and the only one of which was ever brought to trial.
- 2:30 p.m.: Rebel Voices: Concert of the songs of the Industrial Workers of the World.