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74 stories matching seamen
- The Tug-of-War at the Pioneer Square Celebration
A grueling contest of strength between Coast Seamen and Longshoremen turns the Fourth of July into a high-stakes spectacle.
- A Final Port of Call
When a lonely sailor died in a local hospital, the Coast Seamen's Union ensured his burial reflected his true brotherhood, not a stranger's fate.
- The Seamen’s Friend Society Reports a Year of Maritime Ministry
A look back at the Tacoma Seamen’s Friend society's year of shipboard outreach, social gatherings, and the solemn loss of a long-time leader.
- Seattle’s First Call for a Seamen’s Bethel
In 1877, a local captain campaigned in New York to build a refuge for the thousands of sailors arriving in the 'future storehouse of the Territory'—a young, booming port that lacked any formal shelter for the maritime labor force.
- The Price of Resistance: Seattle Unions Take On 'Dark' Boarding House Practices
While Seattle’s 1887 press was full of land speculation and railroad hype, a quiet labor dispute reveals how maritime workers fought back against predatory rooming house keepers who swindled sailors out of their hard-earned pay.
- Riot in Port Townsend: Citizens vs. Sailors on the Verge of Violence
A tense standoff erupts as local citizens arm themselves to prevent Coast Seamen's Union members from boarding the steamer Sumatra, leading to arrests and imminent bloodshed.
- Shipping Magnates Prepare for War Against Sailors' Union
The Ship Owners' Association of the Pacific Coast is moving to break the power of the sailors' union on Puget Sound by opening branch offices for non-union hiring.
- The Waterfront War of 1891
A two-hour standoff between striking sailors and city officials paralyzes Port Townsend, leading to arrests and a near-riot.
- A Call for a Waterfront Mission
Chaplain Stubbs makes a plea to the First Presbyterian Church to move the Seamen's Friend Society closer to the busy Eleventh Street bridge.
- Fire Threatens to Move the Marine Hospital
A devastating fire at the marine hospital in Port Townsend sparks fears that the facility for disabled seamen will be permanently moved to Seattle.
- Seattle Sailors Defy Shipowners in 1887 Union Standoff
When the Coast Seamen's Union descended on the barkentine George Perkins to pull sailors from their posts, it sparked a tense confrontation that threatened to shut down local shipping.
- The Sea-Law Rebellion: How Seattle Sailors Won Their Freedom
Ten seamen who fled the ship Alex Gibson were ordered held by a commissioner, but a sharp legal maneuver centered on maritime labor law secured their release.
- The Waterfront Cold War: Seattle's 1888 Seamen's Strike
Tensions boil over on the Puget Sound as sailors fight a planned wage reduction, leading to a massive standoff in Port Townsend.
- The Husking Bee at Learned's Opera House
Port Townsend society gathers for a successful amateur performance to benefit the Seamen's Bethel.
- The Fight Over the 'Injunction' Weapon
Andrew Furuseth, leader of the International Seamen’s Union, argues that courts are misusing injunctions to break strikes and dismantle the rights of workers.
- Eight Sailors Accuse a Chilean Captain of Flogging and Iron-Pin Beatings
At Port Townsend, seamen from the Chilean bark Marguerite told the consulate they were strung up by the wrists and beaten; the captain says passengers caused the trouble.
- Three Sailors Drown in Squall Near Dungeness Mill
A sudden winter gale capsizes a supply boat, claiming the lives of three men just off the coast of Dungeness.
- A New Sanctuary for Seattle's Waterfront
Civic leaders mobilize to establish a dedicated Seamen's Home and library, seeking to instill 'frugal, industrious, and temperate' habits among the men of the sea.
- A Plea for the Mariners of Seattle
Chaplain Thomas Reies appeals to the city for a waterfront sanctuary for the thousands of sailors who make the 'Queen City' their port of call.
- The Shipping Union’s Legal Ambush
Sailors' union activists attempt to use state court writs to challenge the legality of non-union, foreign-recruited crews aboard a ship in Port Townsend.
- Four Sailors, a Filthy Jail, and a Test of the Law at Port Townsend
A British crew refused duty after the ship changed course for Puget Sound. Their answer was a jail cell — and a writ of habeas corpus to see whether the territory could legally hold them.
- The Brutality Aboard the Challenger
A captain escapes conviction, but his mates are sentenced for systematic cruelty against seamen.
- Union and Non-Union Seamen Clash at Port Townsend
A saloon becomes a battleground as a labor dispute over shipping jobs descends into a violent, armed confrontation.
- Union Seamen Defeated at Port Townsend
A bitter strike of sailors on the Puget Sound ends in failure after boarding house tactics and non-union labor break the blockade.
- A Sick Hospital for Seamen
Senator Squire intervenes as reports surface about the wretched, dilapidated state of the Port Townsend Marine Hospital.
Also about this, in other words
- The Unsinkable Seaman
After losing his leg in a shipboard accident, an American sailor invents a wooden limb that keeps him working the high seas.
- The Sailors' Union Fights Back Against the Waterfront Crimps
Seattle's Sailors' Union answers charges from two boarding-house men, calling them crimps and accusing them of drugging and shanghaiing sailors onto ships.
- Sold to the Highest Captain: Seattle’s Sailor Boarding-House Scandal
An editorial demands an investigation into Seattle’s sailor boarding houses, where men were allegedly lured into debt, beaten, and effectively sold to ship captains—and warns union organizers against using the same coercion.
- A Fatal Misstep on the Waterfront
A seaman tragically dies after a fall between the ship and the coal bunkers at the Oregon Improvement docks.
- The Forgotten Sailors: A Call for Reform in the U.S. Navy
A seasoned veteran of the U.S. Navy writes from Port Townsend in 1886 to lament the decline of practical seamanship and the lack of decent pensions for sailors who have served their country for decades.
- Shanghaied in Tacoma: How a Sailor-Crimping Ring Hijacked a Ship's Crew
Affidavits from the Coast Seamen's Union describe a brazen scheme to force a captain to hire a crew through boarding-house bosses—then leave the sailors to pay.
- They Promised Clean Bunks and Good Food. The Sailors Knew Better.
At a longshoremen's meeting in Tacoma, a delegate described how ship's officers lured landsmen aboard with false promises — and told of a sailor who drowned swimming for shore rather than sail on the Henry Failing.
- The Coastal Sailors’ Strike
Vessel crews refuse to work at low rates, sparking a confrontation on the Seattle waterfront.