Mill Town: A Social History of Everett, Washington, from Its Earliest Beginnings on the Shores of Puget Sound to the Tragic and I

by Norman H. Clark

Book Overview

"The Pacific Northwest's classic confrontation between militants demanding ambiguous change and an establishment intransigently defending the status quo occurred on Sunday, November 5, 1916. To this day no one knows who shot first, nor even how many died, but thanks to Mill Town, we have at last a charting of the forces, economic and personal, that led to the tragedy."-Murray Morgan

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0295952415
• ISBN13: 9780295952413
• Release Date: July 1972
• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Length: 277 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Facsinating

Well-written history of the colorful, corrupt, amusing, hard life, complex building of early WA state communities, including competition between Seattle and Everett. Compelling description of the struggles between skilled labor unions, the Wobblies, and the imperialist timber barons and mill owners who pitted the two against each other in order to control workers. Rich descriptions of individuals heavily involved and their own motivations, as well as the fierce battles that led to a shameful massacre of Wobblies by good town folk in Everett, WA. Also explains how the aftermath of this stage in labor organizing led to employee sabotage efforts on the part of the skilled locals, which led to the federal government forcing middle class unions on private sector industries. WWI needed fighting and the US government needed cooperative laborers.