EVERETT – To this day, many in the heavily unionized Everett area view as martyrs the labor activists who died in the 1916 Everett Massacre.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise that a ceremony Wednesday honoring the descendants of two law officers who died in the gunbattle left some union officials wondering when the families of the dead workers would be recognized.
“It’s long overdue” that descendants of Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies Charles Curtiss and Jefferson Beard were given medals, said Dan O’Connor, business manager of Laborers International Local 292 in Everett. “It’s a shame anyone had to die down there, whether they were deputies or workers.”
But, he added, “I don’t think it’s fair that just the descendents of law enforcement officers are being honored, and not the descendants of the Wobblies.”
Wobblies was the nickname of the radical Industrial Workers of the World union. Historians have placed the number of slain Wobblies at anywhere from five to 17.
Alexis Buss, general secretary-treasurer of the Philadelphia-based Wobblies, said the union members died fighting for workers’ rights.
“I wouldn’t want to dishonor anyone who lost a family member there, but this seems one-sided,” Buss said of the medals bestowed Wednesday. “Ordinary working people lost their lives because they were fired upon.”
Everett Public Library historian David Dilgard said he is unaware of any medals that descendants of the Wobblies have received.
“But you can say that, in the broader sense, they’ve received more recognition,” he said. “History and legend have tended to make them the heroes, while the same process has tended to vilify law-enforcement people.”
The emotions surrounding the event were on display in November when Denise Ohio unveiled a rough version of a documentary about the massacre at the Historic Everett Theatre. Some union members loudly accused Ohio of not being harsh enough toward law officers.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
