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Truth of the Tragedy

Film, mural, concert pay homage to deadly attack on Centralia union hall

MOLLY GILMORE; For The Olympian | • Published November 10, 2009

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In Centralia’s Washington Park stands a statue commemorating the Nov. 11, 1919, deaths of four American Legionnaires who died “on peaceful parade.”

But a mural overlooking the park tells a different story of those deaths – a story that went largely untold for nearly 80 years but echoes to this day.

The story is that of the Centralia Tragedy, and although this weekend marks its 90th anniversary, public discussion of the events of that day has been limited.

On the first Armistice Day, American Legionnaires marching in a parade broke ranks and attacked the new union hall built by the Industrial Workers of the World. The IWW members, prepared for the attack, were armed and fired on the Legionnaires. Four Legionnaires were killed and IWW member Nathan Wesley Everest was taken from jail that night, tortured and lynched.

“It was known that this would be an excuse to attack the union hall,” said Anne Fischel, whose film “Lewis County: Hope and Struggle,” about the tragedy and the creation of the mural, will be shown as part of the commemoration. “This was a very public plan in the town. There had been news articles.”

Eight IWW members were convicted in the deaths, but no one was ever tried or convicted in Everest’s death. After the incident, union organizing declined, said Fischel, a professor at The Evergreen State College.

“The identities of the lynch mob were known to the town, but people were afraid to talk about it,” she said. “It became what was known as Centralia’s secret. It was not safe for people to talk about this act of violence that had ripped open the community.”

This might be the first time the anniversary has been commemorated, said Peter Kardas, director of Evergreen’s Labor Center, which is planning the events along with the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association, regional labor unions, staff and faculty from Centralia College and individuals.

“This is the first for quite a while, at least,” he said. “When the mural was done, it was as far as I know the first time that the incident had been brought up again to the public there so people could look at it.”

The creation of the mural, “The Resurrection of Wesley Everest,” was a step in the right direction, but only a step, Fischel said.

She said there are workers in Lewis County today facing some of the same difficult and dangerous conditions that loggers in the IWW faced in 1919.

“The mural legitimated public discussion and public celebration of the role of labor in the community,” she said. “But you have to keep looking for opportunities to raise these issues again. One of the reasons we’re planning this celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Centralia Tragedy is to once again raise this dicussion.”

Honoring history

What: Events have been planned to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the 1919 Centralia Tragedy, a major event in U.S. labor history in which four Legionnaires and one member of the Industrial Workers of the World were killed.

When: Friday and Saturday

Where: Centralia College, 600 Centralia College Blvd., Centralia

Tickets: Free

More information: 360-867-6526 or laborcenter.evergreen.edu

Schedule

Friday at Corbet Theater

7 p.m. Screening of “Lewis County: Hope and Struggle,” plus a trailer for “The Forgotten: Armistice Day 1919” and a performance by folk legend Mark Ross

Saturday at Washington Hall

9:30 a.m.: Performance by folk singer Brendan Phillips

10 a.m.: Speeches about the tragedy and the Industrial Workers of the World

11 a.m.: Discussions and workshops

1:30 p.m.: Labor-history tour

‘A Night of Rebellion and Music’

What: Folk legend and Industrial Workers of the World member Mark Ross; folk singer Brendan Phillips, son of the late Utah Phillips; and the Citizens’ Band will play a benefit show for the IWW.

When: 6:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Alexander Berkman Collective (ABC) House, 105 Sherman St. N.W., Olympia

Tickets: $5-$20 donation

More information: maslauskas84@gmail.com