The Nativists Break Ranks: A.P.A. Refuses to March With the Hibernians
Tacoma's Fourth of July celebration splits in two as the American Protective Association, objecting to Irish Catholic marchers, stages its own morning parade — and the city council votes to march in both.
Tacoma, June 29 — Special. The A. P. A. are not satisfied with the arrangements of the big Fourth of July celebration, and propose to have one by themselves. They will have the parade in the morning, while the big parade takes place in the afternoon. The real objection is supposed to be that the Hibernians, taking a deep interest in the big celebration, have notified the committee that they will carry none but American flags and will turn out full force in the parade.
The city council today had an invitation to march in the A. P. A. parade. Some members tried to straddle the proposition, but the A. P. A. won and the invitation was accepted. A resolution was passed to march in the afternoon parade also.
The A. P. A. leaders say they will have 400 men in line. Each member will carry a badge with a little red schoolhouse printed thereon, and from a float representing a little red schoolhouse the Declaration of Independence will be read. It is intimated that among other reasons for their separate parade the A. P. A. wants all the members of the order to show their colors by marching together.
“Some members tried to straddle the proposition, but the A. P. A. won and the invitation was accepted.”
The American Protective Association was the era's largest anti-Catholic nativist order, and here it turned a civic birthday into a sectarian split — with the city council voting to march in both parades rather than choose. The 'little red schoolhouse' badge was a coded demand about who counted as American. The same argument over who belongs in the national celebration still surfaces in every generation's parade disputes.
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