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Category Archives: labor
Panic on the Farm- Part One
Summer 1894: During the two years following his ride into Everett, picked up by an accommodating farm couple, Jimmy had run into the farm wife on a train–finally learning her and husband’s names. In spring of 1894, the nation … Continue reading
Posted in farming, history, labor, railroading, writing
Tagged American Federation of Labor, American Railway Union, Eugene V. Debs, Everett WA, Great Northern Railway, hay loaders, hay rakes, I.W.W., James J. Hill, John D. Rockefeller, mowing machines, Northern Pacific Railroad, Panic of 1894, Populists, Pullman Strike, Samuel Gompers, Seattle Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad, Snohomish WA, Tulalip Indians
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A Return to “Boomtown” Fairhaven, Washington
Summer of 1892. Two years have passed since Jimmy Scanlon’s July 4th beach-side idyll with Susie Taylor (see “Along Chuckanut’s Shore,” posted April 5, 2014). Sharing in the optimistic spirit of the time, Jimmy purchased three building lots in Fairhaven, the … Continue reading
Easter Rising, 1916- Days 2, 3, and 4
Mike Scanlon’s journal entries continue, written in faraway Seattle, Washington, as he followed the events of that long-ago but not-forgotten week. Tuesday, April 25, 1916 Outside the General Post Office (G.P.O.) looms Nelson’s Pillar—obstructing Sackville Street, as it has for … Continue reading
Posted in Easter Rebellion, history, Ireland, labor, writing
Tagged Augustine Birell, Capt. Bowen-Colthurst, Cathal Brugha, Citizens' Army, Cuchulain, Dublin General Post Office, Eamon de Valera, Easter Rising, General Sir John Maxwell, Irish Home Rule, James Connolly, John Redmond, Michael Collins, Patrick Pearse, Sean McDermott, Skeffy Skeffington, Transport Workers' Union
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Along Chuckanut’s Shore
July 4th, 1890 Following a winter of separation, Susie Taylor teaching school in Seattle and Jimmy Scanlon working railroad construction up in Fairhaven, the couple are reunited for the holiday. Excerpt from Beyond The Divide: Leaving behind the throngs on … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, love, railroading, writing
Tagged Chuckanut Bay, Fairhaven, handcars, John Keats, Lummi Indians
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Mike, growing up back East
As Seattle begins recovery from a June fire that leveled nearly its entire commercial district, Jimmy Scanlon continues working railroad construction in the booming, more-northerly Puget Sound city of Fairhaven. Learning his girlfriend Susie Taylor came through the Seattle … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, writing
Tagged Catholic sacraments, Fairhaven boom, growing up Catholic, Irish-American life, Rahway N.J., Seattle Fire
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Joe Hill–Not Forgotten
On January 10th, 1914, A Salt Lake City grocer (a former policeman) named John G. Morrison and his son were murdered. A Swedish-born itinerant laborer went on trial for the crime, and was convicted and sentenced to death. The young … Continue reading
Posted in history, labor, social protest
Tagged class warfare, I.W.W., protest movements, song writing, Utah, Woodrow Wilson, World War One
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J.P. Kenna 