Memorial Day Protest Stirs Veterans' Ire
A clash over memory and patriotism erupts in Seattle when labor activists equate the 'martyrs' of the Haymarket and Ludlow riots with war veterans.
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.
Meetings of the G.A.R., Sons of Veterans, and Spanish-American War veterans have had their ire very much aroused by labor leaders in control of local organizations, the result of an incident which happened in this city on Memorial Day. At a meeting of the Central Labor Council, it was declared by speakers that the real heroes of this country were not the men who perished in the Civil or Spanish wars, but those who gave up their lives in the cause of labor during the Chicago Haymarket riots, and the Ludlow and Colorado riots. It was decided to march on Decoration Day in honor of the memories of these martyrs. The laboring men paraded and American flags which they carried had a little dash of the red about them in order to give the appearance of the red flag. The action of the labor leaders in trying to inject their troubles into the observances of the time-honored Memorial Day has created a big sensation among the real veterans of the Northwest.
“It was declared by speakers that the real heroes of this country were not the men who perished in the Civil or Spanish wars, but those who gave up their lives in the cause of labor.”
This 1914 dispute highlights the deep polarization between the labor movement and established patriotic organizations—a tension that defined Pacific Northwest politics throughout the early 20th century.
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