The Secret Anti-Chinese Boycott Society in Walla Walla
A covert organization in Walla Walla threatens local business owners for employing Chinese workers, sparking citywide tension and political alarm.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At an early hour this morning, printed circulars were scattered about the city of Walla Walla with the following message: 'To Whom This May Concern: All persons who are employing or patronizing Chinamen are hereby informed that they must stop so doing within two weeks from the date of this notice, or they will cease to receive the support of the Mutual Aid Society of Walla Walla.' This caused considerable excitement, though the public sentiment is of a condemnatory character. The fact of the existence of such a society with sufficient strength to threaten a boycott had not been suspected, and so little was known that even the leading spirits were unidentified. An investigation proved that the president of the society was Levi Elwell, while those prominent in the movement are the county school superintendent, J. H. Gehr, and R. T. Modrell, a builder and contractor. A saloon keeper, a member of the society, when interviewed, stated that the society had 600 members and intended to force the Chinese out by means of a boycott, and that they also expect to be a power in politics. The general opinion is that the effort will not be successful.
“The fact of the existence of such a society with sufficient strength to threaten a boycott had not been suspected.”
This 1892 report highlights the organized exclusionary movements that defined Washington’s late 19th-century history. Today, the names of these prominent citizens and the 'Mutual Aid Society'—a name ironically appropriated for a hate group—serve as a reminder of the historical prevalence of state-sanctioned and populist xenophobia that shaped modern Northwest demographics.
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