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History Day at Special Collections: Topic: Seattle General Strike

Special Collections is a great resource for all your Pacific Northwest primary source needs!

Background Information

As veterans from World War I came back to Seattle expecting jobs they'd been promised for their service and workers who had worked through war-time wage controls expected promised pay hikes, the city faced enormous unrest and conflict. The General Strike began on February 6, 1919, 60,000 people in a city of 315,000 wer eon strike. This strike was the first city-wide labor action known as a "general strike" and was a key moment in labor movements in the early 20th century.

UW Special Collections has a variety of materials related to the General Strike including papers and pamphlets for groups like the International Worker sof the World (IWW or Wobblies), records for businessman who wanted to stop the strike, and records for people who supported the strike and wrote about it like journalist Anna Louise Strong.

Digital Collections

Primary Sources

Exhibit