Agitprop News: Special Centralia IWW Mural Issue Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source:lamp@igc.apc.org Thu Oct 30 12:15:01 1997 LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT AGITPROP NEWS Special Centralia Mural Issue 10.30.97 In this issue: 1. Mural Depicts Labor's View 2. Muralist Was Activist Before Artist 3. Tender Feelings 4. American Legion Anti-Mural Resolution 5. Challange to Debate 1. MURAL DEPICTS LABOR'S VIEW OF 1919 STRIFE The Chronicle, Page 1 RECALLING A SAD DAY By Sharon Michael The scaffolding is up and work is in progress on the Centralia Union Mural Project commemorating the Armistice Day 1919 events known to some as the Centralia Massacre and to others as the Centralia incident. Union members, business people, community residents and educators are among those who see the events of Nov. 11, 1919 as a part of the city's history that should be shared. Those events left four American Legionnaires and a union man dead, A year ago they formed the Centralia Union Mural Project to raise money for the mural that is going up on the upper level of north side of the Centralia Square Antique Mall overlooking Washington Park and the Sentinel -- a statue honoring the four Legionnaires who died the same day as Industrial Workers of the World organizer Wesley Everest. The Sentinel was unveiled on Armistice Day 1924. The mural honoring Everest is scheduled to be dedicated Nov. 9. Business owner and committee member Kathleen Campbell thinks the mural will be a good thing for Centralia. "It should be, if anything, a way to give us a perspective on history -- a healing process, I hope. It's part of our history. "It's a historical event. It happened -- not only here, but in Everett and several other places," she added. "We've got to get over our paranoia." Campbell, also president of Destination Centralia, said the union mural is one more of the series of historical murals that attract tourists to downtown Centralia. The 16 completed murals depict early transportation, industry and pioneers that are part of history of the early settlement and development of the region. Among those who oppose the union mural are Legionnaires from Grant Hodge Post 17 and others across the country. A resolution condemning the "installation of the IWW mural in Centralia," was passed at the American Legion state convention in the spring, and at the Legion's national convention in September. The resolution says the IWW "used violence as a tool to further their cause and agenda" and "did plan to ambush members of Grant Hodge Post 17, The American Legion. "A group of labor officials, college professors, and current members of the local IWW are planning to install a wall mural in downtown Centralia, Washington, to tell labors' side of the story and honor the 1919 IWW assassins," states the resolution. "We figure this is something that has stayed in the background since 1919 and it should stay in the background," said Don Bradshaw, commander of Winlock Post 101. "It's not going to heal this community." "You're going to hear one hell of an outcry from vets, even union members," predicted Bradshaw. "It will divide the community at the very least, or you'll get someone hurt again. Vets will go out of their way to deface it. It will stir up hate and discontent." "They're depicting the person who instigated the shooting," said Dean Hendrickson, also of Winlock Post 101. "He was the shooter. I don't think they should be portraying him as a martyr. I don't think it's right." But Hendrickson says the American Legion doesn't think it can stop the union mural project. "There's nothing we can do about it, but we object to it," he said. Bill Henry, co-chair of the union mural committee and member of Operating Engineers Local 612, said he anticipated hate calls about the project. "I was expecting the worst." But that hasn't happened. "People were calling telling me that it was about damn time the story was told," he said. "There's only been one side of the story told. There's a story of labor's side that's never been told." "One of the vets called me up and was kind of irate about the mural project. He didn't even know they had a monument in the park," Henry added. He said the union mural should spark controversy. "We felt if we get a mural up and people looked at it and walked away, we didn't do our job." Henry said he believes looking history in the eye is a good way to way to prevent the same mistake twice from being made again, but "somebody had done a good job of suppressing this. "Prominent people were involved. Lynching was murder with no statute of limitations," he explained. Henry's great-grandfather was one of the jurors in the Wobblies' trial held in Montesano. According to Henry, he thought the defendants were innocent, but he feared for their safety. "He felt if they were not in protective custody, they would be killed anyway," Henry recalled. American Legion members were invited to participate in the mural project, but "nobody showed up," Henry said. "Many, many lives were damaged by this. Wesley's family -- they've spent their whole life waiting for someone to tell the rest of the story," said Helen Lee, mural committee co-chair. Lee is also director of The Evergreen State College Labor Center and president of the Thurston-Lewis County Labor Council. Lee's uncle, Russell Carothers, Sr., was a life-long member of the American Legion and a member of the citizens committee that investigated the incident at the time. "My uncle said when all was said and done, it was everybody's fault. "Russ said there was an atmosphere of fear in the air," Lee recalled. "Everyone just got back from the war. He said lots and lots of people carried guns. The Legionnaires came down the street looking for a fight." Lee said in those years just after World War I there was a bias against newcomers. She said Centralia was a small, insulated community and the Wobblies were feared as much because they were foreigners or outsiders as for their unionism. Actions against Wobblies took place in Kelso, Longview and other small towns in Southwest Washington during that time, she added. But times have changed. "Business is promoting the revitalization of Centralia and (business people) are very much a part of promoting this mural project," Lee said. "(Committee members) all had different views of the world, but we came together to put together this mural," she said. "My most optimistic self hopes the mural creates an incredible amount of discussion and healing in this town." "We have ambitious hope for this mural," Lee admitted. "We're not interested in creating another martyr, but it does tell the other side of the story. Beyond Wesley Everest, we wanted the mural to say something about the future." 2. MURALIST WAS ACTIVIST BEFOR HIS ART CAREER The Chronicle, Page 1 By Sharon Michael Mike Alewitz was a political activist long before he became an artist. His art is an extension of his politics. The internationally known muralist is in Centralia to paint a mural honoring Wesley Everest, an Industrial Workers of the World organizer killed by a mob following a 1919 Armistice Day clash between union members and American Legionnaires. The larger-than-life painting will go on the side of the Centralia Square Antique Mall. It depicts Everest rising from his grave with clenched fists raised above his head. Alewitz says the resurrection of Wesley Everest represents the resurrection of labor. Alewitz calls his work "agitprop art -- a school of art out of the Russian revolution. It's using art in an organic way in social struggles people are involved with," he explained. "It's an instrument of education, enlightenment and inspiration. "It's very much a teaching thing. It's not what most art is in our society," he added. "In our society we believe art comes from individual genius. I don't believe that." Alewitz has bachelor's and master's degrees in fine art and has taught art as an adjunct professor for nine years in East Coast colleges and universities. But his political education and experience as a working man preceded his art education and infuses his work. In 1967, when he was still in high school, he was active in the anti-Vietnam War movement. He was chairman of the Student Mobilization Committee at Kent State University when Ohio national guardsmen shot and killed four student demonstrators on campus. Later, he was a leader of a national student strike and a member of the Anti-War Coalition. In the early 1970s he organized GIs in Texas. In the late 1970s and early 1980s he worked on the railroad and as a machinist. After that he worked as a sign painter until 1985 when he "started doing art." Today, Alewitz is artistic director of the Labor Art & Mural Project at Rutgers University's Labor Education Center. His work can be found on public and union buildings in Nicaragua, Mexico, the Ukraine and Belgium, as well as Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Yakima, Los Angeles and Oxnard, Calif. Over the years, Alewitz has been involved in abortion rights, women's rights and environmental protection issues, as well as labor organizing efforts. The Centralia Union Mural Project appealed to him because it "flowed out of what I was doing." Alewitz' most recent project was a Teamster-sponsored mural painted in Chicago in celebration of the union's successful strike against United Parcel Service. Alewitz sees the Teamster resolve as the beginning of the "revitalization of the labor movement." "There is something going on," he added. Alewitz said most strikes in the last 20 years have been lost by the unions, but more importantly, the UPS strike was the first time union organizations had gone to bat for workers on the "lowest rung. This was fought and won by part-timers," he explained. Alewitz believes the Wobbly mural will get national attention and be a boost to labor. "Let's announce to the world we're back," he said. But he understands some people won't get the political message in his art and others will disagree with it. If the mural causes just a few people to question their assumptions about what happened in 1919 and what is happening to working people today, he said that will be a step in the right direction. "It's an aspiration and that's how it starts," Alewitz observed. 3. FEELINGS STILL TENDER, THOUGH EVENT WAS LONG AGO The Chronicle, Page 1 By Sharon Michael Events that happened nearly 80 years ago in Centralia are still the source of dissension in some quarters today. World War I veterans and Industrial Workers of the World union members clashed during the 1919 Armistice Day parade that drew nearly 1,000 people to downtown Centralia. Four veterans and an IWW organizer, who was also a veteran, were killed that day. Legionnaires Warren O. Grimm, Ben Casagranda, Earnest Dale Hubbard and Arthur McElfresh were killed by gunfire when shooting erupted during an Armistice Day parade through downtown Centralia. Later that evening, IWW member Wesley Everest died at the hands of a mob. He was hanged from the Mellen Street Bridge and shot. No one was ever arrested for Everest's murder, but eight IWW members -- known as Wobblies -- were convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of the four Legionnaires. Although many historians would come to support the Wobblies' claim that Legionnaires planned to attack the union hall during their parade, Legionnaires and other local people alleged union members fired into the parade without provocation, thus instigating the assault on IWW headquarters. In the days, months and years following the killings and the trial of the IWW members, the community fell into two camps: those who believed the attack was planned by the Legionnaires and those who believed it was provoked by the IWW. Later, a third faction developed -- those who believed the two groups shared the blame for the incident. But a view apparently shared by most local residents was that the incident and its aftermath weren't events the community wanted known, and for decades there was a conspiracy of silence. Now, just a few days short of the day's anniversary, those who know the 1919 incident are still divided into three camps, and some still believe talk of events of that day will open old wounds and make the city look bad to outsiders. But there are others who want the story told, and those who believe the community can learn from its history and benefit from sharing the story. 3. Legion Resolution SEVENTY-NINTH NATIONAL CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN LEGION ORLANDO, FLORIDA September 2-4 1997 Resolution No. 140: Oppose The Installation of the IWW Mural Submitted by: Americanism As Amended WHEREAS, The International Workers of the World (IWW), also known as Wobblies, used violence as a tool to further their cause and agenda; and WHEREAS, The Centralia Chapter of the IWW did plan to ambush members of Grant Hodge Post #17, the American Legion; and WHEREAS, On November 11, 1919, during the Armistice Day parade, in Centralia, Washington; members of the IWW chapter did open fire on and kill (4) Legionnaires, including the Post Commander, and wound (3) other Legionnaires; and WHEREAS, a group of labor officials, college professors, and current members of the IWW are planning to install a wall mural in downtown Centralia, Washington to tell labors' side of the story and honor the 1919 IWW assassins, now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, By The American Legion in National Convention assembled in Orlando, Florida, September 2, 3, 4, 1997, That The American Legion condemns and opposes the installation of the IWW mural in Centralia, Washington. 4. A Challange to Debate To the Editor: I read with amazement the comments of Don Bradshaw of American Legion Winlock Post 101 regarding the Centralia Union Mural Project. In his remarks to the Chronicle, Bradshaw states that the murder of Wesley Everst has "...stayed in the background since 1919 and should stay in the background." He goes on to addthat "It will divide the community at the very least, or you'll get someone hurt again. Vets will go out of their way to deface it. It will stir up hate and discontent." Is Mr. Bradshaw aware that threatening to hurt someone or defacing the mural is against the law? Does he have knowlege of such a plan? Is the American Legion planning violence against the workers of this town who are promoting the mural project, the way they planned violence against the IWW in 1919? Who are "the vets" that he is talking about? Veterans like Wesley Everest, who organized against the carnage of the world wars? The tens of thousands of Vietnam Vets, sick of being used as cannon fodder for corporate profits, who marched and organized to be brought home from Southest Asia? The Ressurrection of Wesley Everest is a gift to this town and the entire world from the working people of Centralia. We expect the authorities to protect and defend it as the valuable contribution to culture that it is. Any attempt to deface this work is against state and federal law. Of course, Mr. Bradshaw is free to disagree with the goals of labor or the creation of this art. With that in mind, I challenge him to a public debate. Let him come forward and defend his ideas. Surely a veteran like Mr. Bradshaw will have no fear of public scrutiny. Mike Alewitz Muralist ARTISTS AND WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE... YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT BAD TASTE! LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT Labor Education Center Rutgers University Ryders Lane & Clifton Avenue New Brunswick, NJ 08903 Phone: 732-220-1472 - Fax: 732-296-1325 Email: lamp@igc.apc.org - Website: http://www.igc.apc.org/laborart Subscribe to AGITPROP NEWS at this address Spanning the Globe to: ORGANIZE - AGITATE - EDUCATE - INSPIRE Mike Alewitz, Artistic Director ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrad-10.31.97-20:47:41-24347