6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Up in Arms: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies in American Society, September 12, 2000
This review is from: The Centralia Tragedy Of 1919: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies (Paperback)
In the midst of the first annual Armistice parade in Centralia, WA on November 11, 1919, four soldiers were slain on the streets of their hometown by members of the Industrial Workers of the World, a labor union dedicated to organizing all facets of production workers into "one big union." The chaos and vigilante efforts which immediately followed the shootings resulted in the gruesome lynching of a union man believed to be responsible for the seemingly unprovoked attack and a severe imprisonment sentenced to virtually every union man in the region, regardless of culpability. Significantly, the shootings in Centralia and the struggle to gain clarity on the situation during the aftermath have been largely ignored in American history. Dismissed as a brutal clash rife with misunderstanding on both sides of the labor versus management issue, many historians have elected not to pursue the complex issues surrounding the movement gone tragically awry.
Yet Tom Copeland does a magnificent job in bringing these tragic events back to the forefront of consciousness in his biography rife with historical analysis. Copeland reprises the events from the unique perspective of attorney Elmer Smith, virtually the only lawyer in the timber industry region who was willing to champion the working class and the disenfranchised over the deep pockets of big business.
Other historical works have deliberated on the actions of both the Legionnaires and the I.W.W., or "Wobblies," on that fateful November day. Though outraged sentiment at the time demanded harsh punishments against the Wobblies, it would later be revealed that a trial laden with manipulated testimony and enforced by the intimidating presence of the U.S. Army only masked the fact that, in this instance, the Legionnaires had provoked the attack. Copeland's book, however, is the first to isolate the actions of Elmer Smith, a lawyer who not only counseled the Wobblies prior to the November attack, but who advised them that they were well within their rights to defend themselves and their I.W.W. hall against mounting aggressions from the Legionnaires and who was jailed for nearly 6 months pending trial for soliciting this (quite legal) advice to the Wobblies.
This book should be read for a number of reasons. It is, of course, particularly insightful for those of us who live in the Northwest region and within spitting distance of where the most tumultuous labor disputes in American history took place. More than that, though, it is a sobering lesson in how the wheels of government really turn for those Americans not wealthy enough to grease the axles. It is a demonstration of how the U.S. Constitution can become a suspended after-thought when the concerns of Big Business are at hand. The book also illuminates a rather ghastly period of Americana in the World War One era that many have thought best forgotten: the mighty decimating the weak; the rampant xenophobia which dictated public and business policy; the patriotic jingoism which overruled any dissent in American foreign policy. Copeland's book mostly succeeds on a humanitarian level, though, in his portrayal of plain Elmer Smith as a man of integrity, ignited by his passion for social reform and at all times gifted with an overwhelming sense of morality and human decency. It's not by coincidence that others joked of him: "What's more frightening than a working man with brains? A lawyer with a heart."
Copeland is every bit as strong in pointing out the flaw in Smith's character along side his strengths. In his zeal for supporting the Wobblies both before 1919 and in the decade after when he worked tireless for their release from prison, Smith's family suffered enormously. They were instantly social pariahs to the community of Centralia, WA and their needs were often secondary to Smith's concerns for the union. Smith's family barely scraped by financially after he was disbarred by the State of Washington and were left devastated after Smith, ignoring his own deteriorating health, died at the age of 42 from a series of bleeding ulcers. In all, Copeland does a tremendous job gathering the sentiments of Smith's surviving family and molding a 3-dimensional portrait of a human being, warts and all.
I read a review recently of the Academy Award winning documentary, "One Day in September" which chronicles the kidnapping and assassination of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. "Why should the film have been made and why should it be shown?" the Washington Post asked. "Because the world must not be allowed to forget, no matter how much it would like to." The same could be said of the tragedy in Centralia, which sadly, seems to have totally been forgotten in a truly deliberate fashion.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remembering the Rank & File, June 21, 2001
This review is from: The Centralia Tragedy Of 1919: Elmer Smith and the Wobblies (Paperback)
Social movements depend not on a few charismatic leaders, but on the efforts of countless people whose names will never be remembered in our history books. The tendency, however, is to treat movements as the result of nearly superhuman individuals who alone create structural change. In this interpretation, the average citizens' duty is simply to do nothing but wait for a leader to lead them to the promised land. The cumulative effect of such history is the disempowerment of individuals, who learn to see history as something that "happens" to them, not as something that they can help create.
Tom Copeland's book, through the telling of Elmer Smith's story, reminds us of this truth. The progress that has been made during the past century in securing stonger rights for workers is due not to a few huge individuals, but to the Elmer Smiths of the country, whose daily and usually unrewarded sacrifices created a real gain for wage earners. We can never know the stories of all who gave up their comfortable lives to work in the labor movement, or how many suffered dearly for it. But Copeland has recovered one such individual, whose story is both an inspiration to activists and a sobering reminder of the ease with which our government can redefine human rights when dealing with dissidents.
As Copeland concludes, "By fanning the fire of discontent during his lifetime, he (Smith) helped keep the flame of justice alive for generations." This book is a reminder that all progress is due to those who question conventional wisdom and refuse to consent to a system which conflicts with their conscience. It also forces us to ask a crucial question: what are we doing today to fan the fire of discontent?
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