Today in labor history Nov 11 IWW organizer Wesley Everest lynched

[Omaha Steve]

November 11

November 11, 1887 - Four Haymarket Martyrs, including Albert Parsons and August Spies, were executed. Although they advocated armed struggle and revolution, there was no evidence they had any role in the bombing at Haymarket Square in May 1886. Like Sacco and Vanzetti, the Haymarket Martyrs have come to symbolize the injustices of the capitalist system.

November 11, 1918 - World War I ended. Originally celebrated as Armistice Day, November 11 is now commemorated as Veterans Day.

November 11, 1919 - Wesley Everest, a young lumberjack who fought back against racist lynch gangs, was mutilated and murdered by a mob in Centralia, Washington. His life was immortalized in a sonnet by songwriter Ralph Chaplin.


57 crewmen on three freighters die over a three-day period when their ships sink during a huge storm over Lake Michigan - 1940

[midnight]

1. So many brave people have given their lives while trying to make

life better for others. Thank you for reminding us of these brave soles who came before us.

[pnorman]

2. "Centralia Massacre"

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The death of Wesley Everest

As evening fell on November 11, 1919, a vigilante mob began to grow outside the jailhouse. Suddenly, the power grid at the municipal electric power plant was turned off, plunging the town into darkness. Whether this individual responsible was working alone, supporting the growing mob, or was acting under the direction of Centralia’s sheriff remains another disputed issue. Regardless, the effect was the same.

Under cover of darkness, the mob got its hands on Wesley Everest. Although Everest’s personal identity was unknown, with some believing him to be IWW leader Britt Smith, he was positively recognized as the Wobbly who had shot and killed both Cassangranda and Hubbard. Everest was the only Wobbly taken from the jail. The subsequent details surrounding the death of Everest are as hotly and violently contested as the death of Warren Grimm.

The IWW claims that the mob proceeded to beat Everest, caving in his teeth with a rifle butt and castrating the helpless man. They then carried him to the bridge on Mellon Street, tied a noose around his neck, and threw him over the edge three times, the final toss breaking his neck and killing him. That bridge was subsequently known as the “Hangman’s Bridge”.

Centralia’s town records make no mention of the beating, let alone any castration. The “official” coroner’s report lists the cause of death as a “suicide”. Centralia’s prosecutor, Herman Allen, claimed that he would prosecute the lynching if any evidence was brought forth. However, none of the vigilantes were ever charged.

Unfortunately, the coroners of Centralia or nearby Chehalis did not examine Everest’s body. As a consequence, there was no physical evidence to support either position. However, considering the mood of the mob that night and what Everest had done, Everest was almost certainly beaten and hung. He was eventually buried in an unmarked grave. Everett became one of the union's best known martyr
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_Massacre_(Washington)

Centralia mural: http://virtualguidebooks.com/Washington/SeattleTacomaPuget/Centralia/IWWMuralCentralia_F.html

pnorman
On edit: Here's an article about that mural: http://www.wafreepress.org/32/Centralia.html