90th Anniversary of the "Everett Massacre"

Here's what's on "Indymedia Presents" #226:

It was 90 years ago, in Everett, WA, when Sheriff's "deputies" open fire on a boatload of activists, members of the International Workers of the World, (IWW). The IWW members had sailed up from Seattle to Everett to fight for Free Speech on the streets of that mill-town, and to support local shingleweavers, who were on strike. The Everett Mayor owned the biggest shingle mill in town, and he was running for State Governor on an anti-labor Republican ticket. The strike was bitter and hard fought. Knowing that the IWW was on the way, the Sheriff hid his riflemen among the buildings on the dock on both sides of the ferryboat slip. As the first of two boats of activists tied up to the dock, a barrage of fire killed many, and wounded even more. This event and the ensuing trials of the IWW members, who were blamed for the incident made headlines around the world. It is the most famous thing that ever happened in Everett, WA.

This year, in commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the "Everett Massacre," high school students who are fighting for Free Speech in their school newspapers, sponsored a standing-room only event which linked their current day struggle with the legacy of their town. We devote the whole show to the event, held in the Everett Public Library.

Pepperspray Productions formed shortly after the WTO protests in Seattle, in response to the Independent Media Center's call, "don't hate the media, be the media". We believe that the Corporate Media is not telling us the whole story, and that the people must make our own media if we want our voices to be heard. www.indymedia.org

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• labor
• history
• strikes