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- Working for a Living: a solidarity exhibit 1919-2019
- Spotlight on Lumber & Logging
Working for a Living: a solidarity exhibit 1919-2019: Spotlight on Lumber & Logging
Lumber was one of the most dangerous industries in the Pacific Northwest. Loggers often worked ten-hour days for low pay, handled deadly machinery, and lived in squalid, over-crowded conditions. Attempts to organize the lumber industry began in the late 19th century by the shingle weavers, a group of craftsmen within the industry, but their progress, and those of other organizations, fluctuated with the economic status of the industry. In the years preceding 1917, a surplus of labor in the region and the instability of this workforce gave lumber companies the edge when it came to negotiations. However, the United States’ entry into WWI in 1917 led to an increased need for labor and lumber, setting up conditions favorable for the loggers to organize a successful strike. Further labor strikes by lumber workers, including the notable 1935 strike, would occur into the later 20th century.
Lumber and Labor in the Pacific Northwest
- Timber Workers and Pacific Northwest HistoryDetailed reports on important labor milestones in the logging industry, from the Labor History Encyclopedia of the Pacific Northwest.
Lumber and Labor by Call Number: HD8039.L9 J4ISBN: 0405029284A detailed examination of labor history in the lumber industry. Discusses lumber regions across the United States, including the Pacific Northwest.
Rebels of the Woods by Call Number: HD8055.I5 T9ISBN: 0870713884This classic history traces the rise and fall of the Industrial Workers of the World -- the Wobblies -- in the region, from their 1907 strike in the Portland lumber mills and the Centralia tragedy of 1919 to the closing of Seattle's I.W.W. hall in 1965.
- Hoquiam Shingle WeaversA brief history of the Hoquiam Local No. 21 of the International Shingle Weavers' Union of America (ISWUA), a lone stable source of unionism in Grays Harbor County.
Lumber Union Newspapers
The Timber Worker, 14 January, 1914
- The shingle weaver.A weekly devoted to the interests of the shingle weavers of America. This title is continued by the Timber Worker. Available from the years 1903 - 1913 on microfilm A12776.
- The Timber worker; a publication devoted to the interests of the timber workers of America.Published by the International Union of Timberworkers, coverage available from March 1,1913 - February 15,1915 on microfilm A180.
- Seattle Union RecordSeattle Union Record absorbed the Timber Worker and continued it as a section with the title: The Shingle weaver. Available on microfilm A1659 and A7092.
- Monthly bulletin (Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen)Monthly publication from the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen (4L). Years 1918 - 1919 can be requested on microfilm through Summit.
- Timber workerA publication of the Federation of the Woodworking Industry and precursor to the International Woodworker, the official newspaper of the International Woodworkers of America. Published from August 28, 1937 - January 15, 1942 and available on microfilm A7046.
- International woodworkerThe monthly, official publication of International Woodworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC. January 21, 1942 - April 28, 1967 (inc.) are available on microfilm A3977.
Falling crew and 9 foot wide spruce, Copalis Lumber Company, ca. 1917
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, CKK0088
Image Collections on Pacific Northwest Logging
- Industries and Occupations Photographs - Logging and LumberAn ongoing and expanding collection featuring logging and lumber workers in the Pacific Northwest from the 1880s to the 1940s.
- Kinsey Brothers Photographs of the Lumber Industry and the Pacific Northwest, ca. 1890-1945Darius Kinsey was the most important and prolific photographer of logging activities in the Pacific Northwest. This collection of selection of images from the Libraries' collection illustrate all aspects of logging and lumbering from the turn of the century until the 1940s.