Verona: The story of the Everett Massacre is a documentary film which premiered in 2017.
The topic of this film is a violent confrontation, which occurred in 1916 - more than 100 years ago - between ca. 150 members of a radical union (the I.W.W.) and ca. 200 citizen deputies who had been hired and armed by the local sheriff.
THE PLOT
Here is some basic information about the case:
In 1916, Everett is a small town in Washington state. This part of the US is known as the Pacific Northwest. The economic foundation of this town is the lumber industry.
The Everett massacre takes place on Sunday 5 November 1916. It is a dark chapter of American history. Outside Everett and the Pacific Northwest, it is not well-known.
Verona is the name of a steamer which carries ca. 150 members of the I.W.W. from Seattle to Everett on that fateful day.
Since the beginning of 1916, a serious conflict has developed between two groups in Everett:
** On one side, the owners of the saw mills, local politicians, and local law enforcement.
** On the other side, the workers in the saw mills, their friends and families.
The workers are paid low salaries and the work is very dangerous. The workers demand better wages and more safety in the workplace.
Some workers are members of the radical union the Industrial Workers of the World (the I.W.W.) whose members are known as Wobblies.
In September and October 1916, local law enforcement and vigilante groups chased all members of the I.W.W. out of town, because they supported a local strike against big business.
When members of the I.W.W. in nearby Seattle hear about this, they decide that they have to do something to help and support the workers in Everett.
On Sunday 5 November 1916, about 300 Wobblies meet in Seattle. They walk to the harbour where they board two steamers – the Verona and the Calista - which have been booked for the occasion. The first 150 board the Verona, while the other 150 board the Calista.
In Everett, the local sheriff Donald McRae knows the Wobblies are on the way. He has hired and armed around 200 citizen deputies for the occasion.
Most of them are waiting on the pier where the Verona and the Calista are expected to dock when they reach the harbour.
A few deputies are placed on a tug boat called the Edison, inside the harbour, not far from the pier where the steamers are expected to dock.
The sheriff wants to stop the Wobblies from entering his town. His has placed his men, so they can attack the Wobblies from two sides at once: from the pier where he himself is standing and from the waterside, using the deputies on the Edison.
The Verona leaves Seattle first. The Calista follows five or ten minutes later. This is why the Verona reaches Everett before the Calista.
When the Verona docks at the pier, the sheriff walks towards the steamer and calls out:
“Who’s your leader?”
The Wobblies have a standard answer to this question:
“We are all leaders!”
The sheriff tells them:
“You can’t land here!”
One of the Wobblies replies:
“The Hell we can’t!”
Suddenly, a shot is fired. It is never determined who fired the first shot. Is it from the pier or from the boat?
What is certain is that this shot is followed by ca. ten minutes of intense gunfire. From both sides.
The deputies are armed. Some of the Wobblies are armed as well, because they are expecting trouble.
The Wobblies on the Verona are under attack from two sides: from the pier and from the waterside, just as the sheriff has planned.
When the gunfight is over, several people are dead or dying. On both sides. And many more are injured. On both sides.
Now the captain of the Verona starts the engine, and the boat begins to move away from the pier. The Verona leaves the harbour as fast as possible.
At that moment, the Calista is approaching the harbour. When the captain of the Calista sees the Verona leaving the harbour, he turns his boat around and both head back to Seattle.
Here is the list of casualties:
The IWW reports the following
** Dead = 5
** Injured = 27
** Perhaps the real number of dead is 12
The local sheriff reports the following
** Dead = 2
** Injured = 16
** Perhaps the real number of injured is 20
** An investigation showed that the two deputies who died were shot in the back. Apparently, they were shot by their own side during the commotion and confusion of the intense gunfight.
** Who shot the deputies who were injured? It is not obvious that they were hit by Wobblies on the Verona. It is very likely that the deputies were hit by bullets fired by deputies on the tug boat Edison.
** A shot fired from the Edison could pass through the Verona and hit a deputy who was on the pier on the other side of the steamer.
What happened when the two steamers reached Seattle? 74 Wobblies were arrested. The charge was murder.
No deputy was arrested for taking part in the armed attack on the Verona and its passengers.
In this film, the Everett massacre is placed in a historical, political and economic context. This film explains what happened before, during, and after the massacre.
The film is based on contemporary sources, as far as this is possible. More details are presented by local experts who are familiar with the case and by people whose relatives were involved in the case.
CAST AND CREW
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer, producer and director: Denise Ohio
** Distribution: Virgil Films
** Available on Tubi tv
** Available via Amazon Prime Video
** Language: English
** Subtitles: English
** Run time: 95 minutes
Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants:
** Norman H. Clark – historian – Everett Community College – he is the author of a book published in 1970 (see below)
** David Dilgard – historian – Northwest Room, Everett Public Library
** Jean C. Findley – historian – Vashon-Maury Island Heritage Association
** Margaret Riddle – historian – Northwest Room, Everett Public Library – she is the author of an essay published in 2011 (see below)
** Daniel L. Robinson – nephew of Abraham Rabinowitz
** Shirley Suttles – daughter of Walker C. Smith
** Celia Melder and Charlotte Sthol – daughters of Charles O. Curtiss
Three questions and answers:
(1) Who is Abraham Rabinowitz?
He is one of the five Wobblies who were killed in the massacre. He was born in 1886. Apparently, his name is often misspelled. The correct spelling is Rebinovitz.
(2) Who is Walker C. Smith?
He is one of the Wobblies who survived the massacre. He is the author of an account which was published in 1918. He was born in 1885. He died in 1927.
(3) Who is Charles O. Curtiss?
He is one of the two deputies who were killed in the massacre. It is not known when he was born.
AFTER THE MASSACRE
As stated above, 74 Wobblies were arrested and charged with murder. They were transported to Everett and held in a local prison.
In March 1917, one of the Wobblies (Thomas Tracy) was tried in a court of law. The trial, which took place in Seattle, lasted two months. At the end of the trial, he was acquitted.
Shortly after this verdict, the charge against the remaining 73 Wobblies was dropped and they were released from prison.
RATINGS AND REVIEWS
What do reviewers say about this film? On IMDb there is no rating because the film is not listed.
On Amazon there are at the moment 7 global ratings and 6 global reviews of this product. The average rating is four stars. Most reviews are positive. They offer five stars. Only one review is negative. This review offers only one star.
Here are the details:
5 stars = 75 percent
4 stars = 0 percent
3 stars = 0 percent
2 stars = 0 percent
1 star = 25 percent
The negative review has the headline “Boring!” The text is short. Very short. Actually, there are only five words:
“Slow moving progressive liberal rant.”
One positive review includes the following passage:
“An incredibly well-researched and honest look at a violent confrontation between the Industrial Workers of the World and citizen deputies led by a corrupt sheriff.”
Another positive review includes the following passage:
“Had the opportunity to watch the film and meet Denise Ohio today… Well documented and exceptionally informative. Loved it.”
CONCLUSION
The Everett massacre is a dark chapter of American history. Outside Everett and the Pacific Northwest, it is not well-known. But the story deserves to be told. And in this film, it is done very well.
I understand the positive reviews on Amazon and I agree with them.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
PS. Most American trade unions were for men, not women. Most were for skilled workers, not for unskilled workers. Most were for white men, not for persons of colour.
The I.W.W. (which was founded in 1905) was different:
** It was open for all workers, men and women.
** It was open for all workers, whether they were skilled or not.
** It was open for all workers, whether they were white or people of colour.
The purpose of the I.W.W. was to establish one big union for all workers. According to the I.W.W., this was the only way to offer a strong and effective opposition to big business.
The influence of the I.W.W. was growing steadily until April 1917 when the US entered World War One.
When this happened, any kind of protest against a company was regarded as unpatriotic and it was punished by the American government.
The I.W.W. was against American participation in the war, but from April 1917 it was illegal to say so in public. Ca. 100 Wobblies were arrested for speaking out against the war.
REFERENCES
Books
** The Everett Massacre: A History of the Class Struggle in the Lumber Industry by Walker C. Smith (1918) (reprinted 1965 and 2016) (this volume is available online: Project Gutenberg)
** Milltown: A Social History of Everett by Norman H. Clark (1970) (the author appears in the film)
** The I.W.W.: Its First Seventy Years, 1905-1975 by Fred Thompson (1976)
Articles available online
** Walt Crowley, “Five I.W.W. members and two deputies die in a gunbattle dubbed the Everett Massacre on November 5, 1916,” HistoryLink.org - Essay 5326, 1 March 2003
** Margaret Riddle, “Everett Massacre (1916),” HistoryLink.org - Essay 9981, 18 December 2011 (the author appears in the film)
** Dennis Sanders, “1916 Everett Massacre: deadly attack on Wobblies in the Pacific Northwest,” Freedom Socialist Party (FSP), October 2016
** "Animating the Unknowable - Verona: The Story of the Everett Massacre," Production Hub, 4 January 2018 (director Denise Ohio explains how the film about the 1916 massacre was made)
A website
I.W.W. History Project
Industrial Workers of the World 1905-1935
University of Washington
Everett Massacre - Bloody Sunday, November 5, 1916
The section about Everett includes:
** A chapter about the aftermath
** A chapter about the men who were arrested
** Links to digital collections of contemporary photographs
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The Seattle Star reports
on the Everett massacre
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This picture shows members of the I.W.W.
at the funeral for victims of the massacre
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A poster to mark and remember
the centennial of the massacre
Everett Public Library
2016
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