The Political Ambitions of a Progressive Society
After finding traction in a local ward race, a Scandinavian social reform group vows to expand its influence into county and state elections.
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.
The Scandinavian Social Reform Society met at the Norwegian Lutheran church, at the corner of South 1st and 14th streets, last night. Reports of the various committees were read and accepted. One of the reports was that of the municipal campaign committee. Following the acceptance of this report, one of the members of the society spoke briefly regarding the results of the campaign just closed. He said that in view of the fact that the society had received no support outside of its own membership and a few friends who supported the independent candidate in the Third ward, the society had every reason to be encouraged, for the returns showed that 500 votes had been polled by its members. Allowing six persons to every vote, this represents 3,000 people. This was the first time the society had been mentioned in politics, but from this time on it expects to take part in every reform movement, whether political or not. The members feel encouraged by the strength shown in the municipal campaign and are now going to take part in county and state elections.
“This was the first time the society had been mentioned in politics, but from this time on it expects to take part in every reform movement, whether political or not.”
This reflects the long tradition of immigrant-led civic organizing in Tacoma. Today's grassroots movements still leverage similar strategies of voter mapping and independent coalition building to push for policy changes outside of major party platforms.
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