Communism in Washington State 
History and Memory Project 

  Communism made a larger impact on Washington than almost any other state. "There are forty-seven states in the Union, and the Soviet of Washington," Postmaster General James Farley  joked in 1936. The remark, for all its exaggeration, had some foundation.

    The Communist movement, founded in 1919, caught on quickly in the Pacific Northwest, picking up members from the fading Industrial Workers of the World and Socialist Party. In the 1930s the CP played key roles in the strikes and campaigns that built some of the region's most powerful unions and used that base to influence other institutions. The Washington Commonwealth Federation, the Washington Pension Union and to some extent the state's  Democratic party organization responded to these popular front initiatives. Running as Democrats, Communists won some important public offices, including a seat in Congress.

    During the Cold War  the issue of Communism and the prominent role of the Party in the affairs of Washington state became a powerful weapon for conservatives.  The state's Red Scare began in 1947 and party members were soon driven out of most positions of influence. The purges took a heavy toll in jobs lost, families broken up, and organizations destroyed. Yet  the CP survived the hard years and revived slightly in the 1960s. Although faced with the problem of aging members and declining numbers, the Party remained active through the end of the 20th century, working mostly in quiet ways with various movements and projects involving labor, race, gender, and other social justice issues.

     Welcome to the Communism in Washington State-History and Memory project. This site explores the controversial history of the Communist Party in the Pacific Northwest from 1919 to the present. Directed by James Gregory and sponsored by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington, the project began as a History 498 research course. 

     The links that follow bring you to the different project components:  videotaped oral histories , an eight chapter history of the Washington State Communist Party, more than 200 illustrations   (including photographs, political cartoons, and newspaper clippings), a film excerpt about Anna Louis Strong and the Seattle General Strike, and guides and links for further research.

VIDEO ORAL HISTORIES 

Marc Brodine, Irene Hull, B.J. Mangaoang, Lonnie Nelson, and James West (all current members  of the Washington State Communist Party) share memories of their lives and party activities across more than six decades from the late 1930s to the present. Short video excerpts can be downloaded and viewed on your browser. The full interviews are available in the University of Washington Manuscripts and Special Collections library. To see the list of video clips and short biographies of the narrators click this Oral histories link.

HISTORY 

Historical accounts of the Communist Party in particular locales are rare. There is no published history of Communism in Washington State. The essays that follow, written by students in History 498,  begin the process of building that history. For a quick overview start with the timeline created by Marian Spath. Then read the rest sequentially as chronological chapters or skip around. 

Intro   Toward a History of Washington State Communism 
            by James Gregory

Ch1    Rough Beginnings: The 1920s    
           by Daeha Ko  

ILLUSTRATIONS    

We have collected more than 200 illustrations relating to the history of communism in Washington state, including photographs, cartoons, and other graphics, many of them taken from   radical newspapers  published in Seattle over the course of the 20th century. Each of the historical essays above is accompanied by a photo essay that can be quickly scrolled. In addition we have compiled a remarkable collection of woodcut illustrations from the Voice of Action and Sunday News, two of the Communist-influenced newspapers published during the 1930s. Some of these were crafted by Richard V. Correll whose art is now much prized. Between 1933 and 1939, Correll's woodcuts enlivened the pages of Seattle's radical press. Correll also illustrated the 1936 Northwest Labor Calendar published by the Voice of Action and available here in pdf format.

WHO'S WHO    

Thousands of Washington State residents cycled through the Communist Party over the course of the 20th Century.  We've compiled a list of party leaders and some of the notable members and ex-members, providing biographical information where available.  We include some individuals who may not have been official members, but whose relationship to the party is very clear, like Anna Louise Strong (above).

TIMELINE HISTORY  

Here is a timeline of important events in the history of Communism in Washington state, from 1917 to 2002. 

This project began when members of the Washington State Communist Party closed their Seattle headquarters and offered to donate collections of newspapers and other materials to the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies.  Discussions about an oral history project followed and became part of the plan for History 498, a research course offered by Professor James Gregory during Winter Quarter, 2002.

Gordon Black, Stephanie Curwick, Brian Grijalva, Daeha Ko, Paul Landis, Jennifer Phipps, Shelley Pinckney, and Marian Spath are responsible for most of what you see here.  Each contributed an essay and helped conduct oral history interviews. In addition, Brian Grijalva designed this website. Stephanie Curwick and Marian Spath located and shot most of the photographs and helped with text editing.  Daeha Ko handled the video editing.

The Communism in Washington State--History and Memory Project is one of several historical projects directed by James Gregory and sponsored by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies.  It joins the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project , Seattle General Strike Project, and Labor Press Project  in developing resources relating to the history of labor and civil rights in the Pacific Northwest.