COMMEMORATION OF THE CENTRALIA TRAGEDY OF 1919
Nov 12, 2009
On November 11, 1919, in a showdown between members of the American Legion and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), four Legionnaires were killed and an IWW organizer, Wesley Everest, was tortured and lynched. Eight IWW members were sentenced to 25-40 years in prison for shooting the Legionnaires, but no community members were ever brought to trial for the lynching of Everest. To commemorate the 90th anniversary of this tragedy, several events will be held in Centralia this week. All Events are Free and Open to the Public Friday, November 13 - 7-10pm Music by folk legend Marc Ross A Screening of Lewis County: Hope and Struggle, a film by Anne Fischel Discussion Location: Corbett Theatre, Centralia College600 Centralia College Blvd. Saturday, November 14 - 9:30am-12:30pm - Washington Hall, Centralia College 9:30 am - 10:00 am: Live music with Brendan Phillips 10:00 am - 11:00 am: Overview of the IWW: The Broader Context - Aaron Goings The Centralia Tragedy - An Overview - Anne Fischel Documents That Tell the Story - Sandy Polishuk 11:00 am - Roundtable Discussions A) WalMart and Retail Organizing - Gary Lyle, UFCW Organizing in the Woods- Steve Fluke, Bill Street, Chip Elliott (IAM/IWA) B) The IWW Today - Brendan Maslauskas Dunn and the Olympia IWW C) Organizing at Fort Lewis - Josh Simpson, IWW D) Immigrant Workers and Immigrant Rights - Antonio Flores, El Comité Pro-Reforma Migratoria y Justicia Social (In Spanish) E) Songs of the Wobblies - Patrick Edalbacher, Brendan Phillips, Mark Ross F) The Ghost of Hangman's Bridge - View of a developing feature film-Ursula Richards Coppola G) Dramatic reading/performance of affidavits of witnesses, jurors, journalists, arrestees, legionnaires, & Wobblies collected by Wobbly defense committees: Sandy Polishuk and Johnny Stallings. 12:30 - 1:00 pm Box Lunch 1:00 - 3:30 pm: Walking/Busing Labor History Tour of Centralia (gather at the Centralia College Diversity Tower) 8:00 pm: Alexander Berkman Collective, Olympia Mark Ross and Brendan Phillips in concert. For more information, email maslauskas84@gmail.com For more information, contact Peter Kardas at the Evergreen Labor Center: (360) 867-6526 kardasp@evergreen.edu or go to http://laborcenter.evergreen.edu/
