Centralia Tragedy of 1919: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies

by Tom Copeland

On November 11, 1919, the citizens of Centralia, Washington, gathered to watch former servicemen, local Boy Scouts, and other community groups march in the Armstice Day parade. When the marchers swung past the meeting hall of the Industrial Workers of the World, a group of veterans broke ranks, charged the hall, and were met by gunshots. Before the day was over, four of the marchers were dead and one of the Wobblies had been lynched by the mob.

Through a wealth of newly available primary source material including previously sealed court documents, FBI records released under the Freedom of Information Act, and interviews with surviving witnesses, Tom Copeland has pieced together the events of that day and has traced the fate of the men who were accused and convicted of murdering the marchers. Copeland focuses on Elmer Smith, the local attorney who advised the Wobblies that they had the right to defend their hall against an anticipated attack.

Although he never belonged to the IWW, Smith sympathized with their interests, championing the rights of working people, and speaking on their behalf. He was originally arrested with the Wobbles and then took up their cause in the courts, beginning a life-long struggle to free the men who were charged with murdering the Centralia marchers. Copeland recounts Smith's disbarment and eventual reinstatement, his run for political office, his speeches throughout the Northwest, and his unyielding support for the workers' cause.

This book is a balanced treatment of the Centalia tragedy and its legal repercussions written by a practicing lawyer. It is also a compelling human drama, centering on the marginal life of an industrial frontier labor lawyer, a study of radical politics of the 1920s, and a depiction of conditions of life in the lumber camps and towns. It is thus biography as well as legal, political, and social history.

Genres: Labor, Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is only half-accurate: relatively little of the book discusses the Centralia Massacre, a deadly 1919 encounter between the International Workers of the World and American Legionnaires which resulted in six deaths and endless bitterness, trials and recriminations. Copeland instead focuses on the travails of Elmer Smith, a lawyer and labor organizer who gradually drifts into the Wobblies' radical orbit, becomes arrested in conjunction with Centralia and struggles to obtain justice for his comrades. Smith seems such a peripheral figure in the events described that it's a wonder why Copeland chose him for a subject; certainly there's little in the book to justify it. Between this and John McClelland's underwhelming, though impeccably-researched The Wobbly War, Centralia is still aching for a worthy non-fiction treatment (though novelists like John Dos Passos have done a lot with it).

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up in a small, independent book store in the Chehalis/Centralia area. This is one of the things I LOVE about small, independent bookstores, in that I can find local "gems" like this, which are not widely known, but which represent local history.

This book details the Centralia Massacre of 1919, the killing of four American Legion men during the first Armistice Day Parade held in town, which then led to the lynching of another man, Wesley Everest with the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), the other group involved in this incident.

My grandfather was born in this area in the year 1919, so I could easily imagine by great grandparents living here, and I wondered what their reactions were to this incident. Apparently there was a huge division between the groups and classes involved immediately following World War 1. I wonder which side my great grandparents supported? Were they in favor of the government/business owners/American Legion? Or did they support the working class men/the loggers/the IWW?

I will never again visit Centralia without at least briefly remembering the events of this massacre. I will now always think of the bridge over the Chehalis river, right next to Interstate 5, as "Hangman's Bridge", where Wesley Everest was lynched. If I visit the Olympic Club restaurant in downtown, I will picture Elmer Smith and the IWW Wobblies meeting there to discuss the events. If I drive down Tower Avenue I will imagine the parade and shooting.

I think this book would be enjoyed by anyone with any ties or connections to the Centralia area, or to anyone with an interest in the IWW, the Wobblies, and life immediately following the end of WWI. May Wesley Everest rest in peace. Sad that he was lynched by a mob, yet nobody was ever held accountable or brought to justice for his death.

[Kwadwo]

good