The Centralia Tragedy, also known as the Centralia Conspiracy and the Armistice Day Riot, was a violent and bloody incident that occurred in Centralia, Washington, on November 11, 1919, during a parade celebrating the first anniversary of Armistice Day. The conflict between the American Legion and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies") members resulted in six deaths, others being wounded, multiple prison terms, and an ongoing and especially bitter dispute over the motivations and events that precipitated the event. Both Centralia and the neighboring town of Chehalis had a large number of World War I veterans, with robust chapters of the Legion and many IWW members, some of whom were also war veterans.
The ramifications of the event included a trial that attracted national media attention, notoriety that contributed to the First Red Scare in 1919 to 1920, the creation of a powerful martyr for the IWW, a monument to one side of the battle, a mural for the other side, and a formal tribute to the fallen Legionnaires by US President Warren G. Harding."Nation's Chief Pays Glowing Tribute to Slain War Veterans", United Wire, November 11, 1922
Background
Prior conflicts
Washington State Throughout late 1800s, Washington IWW organizing efforts illuminated the friction between the vision the initial settlers had for the Northwest and the evolving needs of the denizens of the urban and industrial centers. In late 1908, Wobblies protested Spokane agencies that fraudulently recruited workers for jobs that did not exist. In response, the city passed an ordinance banning street meetings and public rallies. When that ordinance was amended to allow specifically the Salvation Army to speak and hold meetings in public, the Wobblies took to the streets to defend their right to free speech. Within a month, 500 protesters had been arrested including 19-year-old Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. The fight ended with the ordinance revoked, with both sides declaring victory.
Hoping to come to the assistance of striking shingle weavers in Everett with another free speech demonstration, Wobblies traveled north to sustain the strike. The shingle weavers were striking to restore their wages as the price of cedar had recovered. City officials and mill owners wanted to prevent the IWW from landing and further radicalizing the conflict and deployed local police to hold off any external influences. After a series of beatings, two boats full of Wobblies traveled up the Puget Sound from Seattle and were met at the dock by the county sheriff. A shootout ensued, and both sides of the conflict saw casualties. The Everett Massacre and the harsh treatment the Wobblies received foreshadowed the events of the latter half of the decade.
Centralia, Washington Locally, Wobblies were active in the union from at least 1914. Although open conflict was avoided, tensions simmered on both sides. 1914–1918 saw scattered strikes in the mining and mill industries. IWW efforts to open a hall for local members were met by opponents of the IWW who lived in Centralia.
The IWW succeeded in opening a union hall in the Spring of 1918. Relations with non-union members, particularly with the veterans who would eventually form the local chapter of the new American Legion, continued to deteriorate. The Bolsheviks had come to power in Russia and many feared that the IWWs intentions were similar, due in part to constant inflammatory allegations of ties between the two. Union members were being arrested across the country on federal sedition charges. IWW members were often targeted by vigilante violence around the region. To the business owners of Centralia, and the American Legion members in particular, the political leanings of the Wobblies were believed to be un-American and possibly treasonous.
On April 30, 1918, the union hall was looted during a Red Cross parade. The building was severely damaged and a number of Wobblies were dumped on the outskirts of town and warned against returning. Members were thrown out into the street and beaten by both Centralia business owners and their, allegedly, hired muscle. After this incident, the union hall reopened in the old Roderick Hotel. The Wobblies vowed they would not be evicted again.
Contributory conditions Elmer Smith was a Centralia lawyer sympathetic to the IWW. A pacifist, Smith strongly encouraged union members to pursue a non-violent course and to try to reach a peaceful arrangement with the other residents of Centralia. He also reached out to the governor to attempt to get him to intervene to prevent a vigilante raid. The landlady for the hall and Britt Smith, the local secretary, contacted law enforcement and asked for protection, but were told nothing was possible. The Wobblies then printed and widely distributed a flier calling on the people of Centralia to take action. None of these efforts yielded any response. Under these circumstances an extra-legal raid on the Wobbly hall seemed likely.
With attempts at a peaceful compromise unsuccessful, local IWW Secretary Britt Smith pressed Elmer Smith for additional advice. Elmer Smith agreed that it would be legal for the Wobblies to physically defend themselves, but, as he later testified, only in self-defense if attacked first. The IWW members interpreted this legal advice as justification to arm themselves for what they perceived as an inevitable and dangerous confrontation.
During Smith's trial the following year for his part in the Centralia Massacre, prosecutors would present this advice as proof that the IWW had planned the massacre."Visited I.W.W. Hall with Elmer Smith at Noon on November 11th", Chronicle (Spokane, WA), February 16, 1920 However, considering Elmer Smith's strong belief in non-violence and seeming good character, it is doubtful that armed conflict was his objective. The true intent of Smith's recommendation will probably never be known.
Legion Post Commander Warren Grimm, who would become the first casualty of the massacre, was a local lawyer who interacted regularly with Smith. Despite vastly different viewpoints, evidence from personal logs indicates that the professional dealings between these two men were generally respectful and they had an appreciation for each other's legal acumen.
Grimm was one of the leading figures in Centralia. A local high-school football star and an All-American at the University of Washington, he had served with distinction as a U.S. Army officer with the American Expeditionary Force Siberia protecting the Trans-Siberian Railway during the Russian Revolution. To this day, the American Legion believes that Grimm was specifically singled out in advance as a target, especially since he had made a public speech about the "evils of the Bolsheviks" based on his experiences in Siberia, and was known to be strongly anti-IWW. The post-massacre Labor Jury of union leaders paints him as a lead participant in a "Centralia Conspiracy" who subverted his own men into attacking the Roderick Hotel. Wobbly-sympathetic author John Dos Passos ironically described Grimm as a "young man of good family and manners" in 1919, the second book of the U.S.A. trilogy, published in 1932.
Warren's brother and law partner, Huber "Polly" Grimm, was Centralia's city attorney at the time. Regardless of his personal feelings toward the Wobblies, Huber is on record during the town hall meeting of October 20, 1919, asserting that the IWW had legal rights and there was no law that could be used to force them to leave town.Centralia Chronicle, October 21, 1919.
To celebrate Armistice Day, the town leaders of Centralia planned a combined parade with the neighboring city of Chehalis, to be followed by festivities. The full contingent of both Centralia and Chehalis American Legion Posts, along with other civic organizations, were to march in the parade. This helped create a parade body that was overly crowded and unwieldy.
To make matters worse, the route was entirely inadequate, with the parade doubling back on itself at Third Street, a short way from the IWW Hall on North Tower. In addition, the route was modified only weeks before the festivities. According to event planners, this new route was meant to accommodate the larger-than-usual parade. In consequence, the parade was beset by a high number of starts and stops, tight crowding, and large gaps. More menacing, for the first time, part of the changes would result in the parade passing directly in front of the new Wobbly hall.
There were persistent rumors circulating among union members that the lumber companies and local business leaders were ready for a repeat of the 1918 incident and would use the Armistice Day parade as cover. The changes to the parade route, along with various inflammatory speeches by Centralia leaders, helped to fuel these fears.
Regardless of the truth of these rumors, they began to take on a life of their own. They became so prevalent that the owner of the Roderick Hotel, who was renting the facility to the IWW, asked the local sheriff for assistance during the march. The sheriff declined to provide protection. According to the Centralia Sheriff's Department, it was unable to commit already scarce resources simply on the basis of a rumor. In contrast, the Wobblies viewed this unwillingness as additional proof of what they believed to be the developing conspiracy against them.
Some members of the Legion marched with rubber hoses and gas pipes.Zinn, Howard: A People's History of the United States, 379 The postmaster and a local minister were seen carrying nooses.
According to the IWW, their union members, fearing attack, decided to place men armed with pistols within their hall. To help prevent a repeat of the 1918 street beatings, additional Wobblies were staked out across the street in the Avalon and Arnold hotels. Members were also stationed on nearby Seminary Hill, with a commanding view of the street in front of the Roderick.
According to other people living in Centralia, the IWW, being on the losing end of the previous confrontations, was looking for a fight and wanted to even the score with bloodshed. As proof, they point out that only seven Wobblies were actually inside the hall. The rest, allegedly armed with high-powered rifles and stationed in those other buildings and on Seminary Hill, served not as lookouts but as ambushers. Since they could not influence any confrontation within the hall, these residents believed, the Wobblies' goal was to create a killing field in the middle of North Tower Street.
However, there was no general agreement among the IWW on how to defend their hall. Some Wobblies did not know that others were armed and not all were armed. Some did not know that other Wobblies were watching the parade from locations outside the hall.
Both sides have cited witnesses, claimed witness intimidation and false testimony by the other, and have used forensic evidence to support their arguments.
Armistice Day
Armistice Day, on November 11, 1919, was a celebration marking the end of World War I and commemorating the millions of victims. The memorial parade kicked off with the usual fanfare as local civic organizations and war veterans marched in full regalia. As the parade unevenly wound its way through Centralia, the Chehalis contingent of the American Legion passed in front of the IWW Union Hall.
Both sides agree that the Centralia contingent, which was beginning to press up on the Chehalis contingent, paused just before reaching the site of the hall. As the gap began to open back up with the Chehalis group, Warren Grimm turned to address his troops and uttered the command "Halt. Close up." Then, the front ranks began to mark time."Testimony of Frank Van Gilder not Shaken by Cross-Examination", Chronicle (Spokane, WA), February 17, 1920