The Battle for the Hall
When two rival labor factions attempted to book the same venue for their organizational meeting, the dispute devolved into a chaotic scramble for possession of the room.
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.
Considerable excitement was caused at the meeting held at Red Men's hall last night to organize a working women's union by an attempt of Mrs. McCracken, Mrs. Schofield, Mrs. Filburn, and Robert Bridges to capture the meeting for the Ladies' Protective Association, recently started by Mrs. F. R. Spall. The four persons mentioned secured the platform and attempted to assume control of the proceedings. They were requested by J. H. McEvoy, husband of the president of the Working Women's Union, to vacate. This request was refused at first, and Mr. McEvoy went out to call upon the police. While he was gone, affairs took another turn. James Neally, the tailor, who runs the hall, appeared and wanted to know who was going to pay for the use of it. He stated that $4 was the price, and whoever paid that sum could have undisputed possession. Both sides dug down for coin, but the Working Women's Union had a friend in the hall who raised the necessary cash and, when Mr. McEvoy returned, he found that Robert Bridges and the Ladies' Protective Association had retired, and left the Working Women's Union in sole possession of the field. Mrs. McEvoy clearly stated that the object of the union was to benefit and protect real working women, and not for the good of any special person. It appears the trouble arose over a misunderstanding: Mrs. Spalt had rented the hall for Thursdays, and the Working Women's Union had spoken for it for Sundays, but both had been called for the same time.
“Both sides dug down for coin, but the Working Women's Union had a friend in the hall who raised the necessary cash.”
Labor organizing in Seattle has always been fraught with internal friction, but the 1892 struggle at Red Men's Hall over organizational control remains a classic example of the grassroots scramble for power—a dynamic that still defines community and union politics in the city today.
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