Research the archive
Narrow 22,457 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 24 |
| 1877 | 20 |
| 1878 | 10 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 9 |
| 1882 | 6 |
| 1883 | 26 |
| 1884 | 12 |
| 1885 | 39 |
| 1886 | 34 |
| 1887 | 15 |
| 1888 | 27 |
| 1889 | 64 |
| 1890 | 7 |
| 1891 | 28 |
| 1892 | 92 |
| 1893 | 102 |
| 1894 | 170 |
| 1895 | 9 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 17 |
| 1900 | 4 |
| 1902 | 3 |
| 1903 | 41 |
| 1904 | 31 |
| 1905 | 4 |
| 1909 | 36 |
| 1910 | 32 |
| 1911 | 32 |
| 1912 | 12 |
| 1914 | 5 |
| 1915 | 7 |
| 1916 | 32 |
| 1917 | 6 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 3 |
977 stories matching strike
- A Town on Trial: Sprague Fights Back Against Strike Rumors
As the 1894 railroad strike roils the nation, Sprague residents and its National Guard troop deny reports of lawlessness and mutiny, insisting their town is peaceful and loyal.
- When the Right to Strike Met the Power of the Union
An 1885 editorial examines the evolution of labor relations in Seattle, as workers shift from individual bargaining to collective power that forces employers to the table.
- The Grays Harbor Sawmill Strike
The President of the State Federation of Labor details the brutal suppression of striking sawmill workers in Aberdeen and Hoquiam.
- The Siege of Port Blakely
When mill workers organized for better conditions at the Port Blakely mill, the company responded by calling in the National Guard, turning a labor dispute into a military occupation.
- The Labor Volcano That Cooled: Seattle’s Coal Strike Ends in Days
A walkout by the Knights of Labor at Newcastle and other local mines appeared to be a major escalation, but operators quickly filled the spots with non-union labor, ending the dispute before it could spark a general strike.
- The Camera as a Weapon on the Picket Line
Local machinists are using photography to document and shame strikebreakers in their ongoing eight-hour day strike.
- The Switchmen’s Strike Remains Unbroken
Local union leaders condemn the 'treachery' of trainmen who crossed picket lines during the ongoing regional railway strike.
- Plumbers Strike and Demand Wage Hike
Spokane master plumbers face a complete work stoppage as journeymen strike for better pay, sparking fears of a broader construction crisis.
- A Judge Tells Spokane's Restaurant Men Their Strike Injunction Is Worthless
Judge J. Stanley Webster refused to restrain the cooks' and waiters' union, upheld the right to strike and to publish 'union house' cards — a rare courtroom win for organized labor in 1910.
- Roslyn's Coal Strike Ends—but the Company Wants to Blacklist Its Leaders
Miners have accepted the company's wage scale, yet the coal operator refuses to rehire the dozen men it blames for leading the strike.
- The Pullman Strike Shuts Down Washington's Rails
Federal troops and the U.S. Army move to break the nationwide rail strike, with tensions running high in Seattle, Tacoma, and Snohomish.
- Troops Take the Yards as Seattle Braces for the Great Railroad Strike
Regular artillery, deputy marshals and a nervous militia dig in across the city — even hauling the state's rifles up to the university for safekeeping — as the 1894 Pullman boycott reaches Puget Sound.
- The Streetcar Strike and the Press
Everett labor leaders push back against media portrayals of the ongoing streetcar strike, demanding an end to misrepresentation.
- Too Late to Surrender: Roslyn's Miners Are Locked Out and Blacklisted
After three months idle, the white miners agreed to the company's brutal 30-percent pay cut — only to learn the Northern Pacific Coal Company had already imported Black strikebreakers from the East and would rehire only the men it chose.
- Telegraph Operators Walk Out Nationwide in 1883
Across the nation and deep into the Pacific Northwest, 22,000 workers have walked off the job in a massive clash against the Western Union monopoly.
- The Rifle War: Knights of Labor vs. Mine Owners in Newcastle
A bitter feud between rival labor unions in King County erupts into armed conflict, with rifles smuggled from Seattle to support striking miners.
- The Great Northern Strike: Quiet on the Tracks
Striking workers for the Great Northern railroad maintain a disciplined presence, even stepping in to clear dangerous landslide debris to protect the company's property.
- The Pullman Strike Paralyses Seattle Rail Traffic
Striking railway workers in Seattle join a nationwide boycott against Pullman cars, leading to federal court intervention and military involvement.
- The Pullman Strike hits Seattle
Striking railway workers and curious mobs gather at the Columbia Street depot, testing the city's resolve during the national railway paralysis.
- Blacklisted for Striking, a Railroad Man Vanished—and His Family Was Left to Chop Wood
A Seattle charity worker found a mother and three children destitute on the Grant Street line after her husband, blacklisted by every railroad, sailed for South Africa and stopped writing.
- The Roslyn Coal Strike and the 'Supplanting' of Labor
As a wave of five hundred Black miners from Illinois arrives by rail to replace striking workers in Roslyn, the Yakima Herald records the cold mechanics of industrial strikebreaking.
- Railroad Switchmen Walk Out in Massive Strike
Everett switchmen join a regional effort to shut down rail traffic from the Great Lakes to the Pacific in a fight for higher wages and safer working conditions.
- The Strikebreakers Who Became Policemen
During a four-month strike at Sumner Iron Works, Everett's police commission armed strikebreakers with police authority—and the Labor Journal demanded to know who was protecting whom.
- The Sailors' Strike and the Scab Sailors
Tensions rise at the Seattle waterfront as the Sailors' Union strike continues, with shipowners bypassing union halls to hire non-union crews.
- Railroad Strike Paralyzes Grays Harbor Industry
As the Pullman strike spreads across the nation, 500 local workers are left jobless, and Ocosta residents joke about a diet of clams as shipping comes to a standstill.