This is a chronological database of campaigns, strikes, and IWW related events as recorded in the pages of New Solidarity, the weekly IWW newspaper.
Solidarity, one of two English language newspapers representing the IWW, had been suspended in 1917 as federal authorities moved against the organization. The General Executive Board then issued Defense News Bulletin in an attempt to meet government postal delivery criteria. With the war ending in late 1918, the IWW closed the Bulletin and launched New Solidarity, later reclaiming the old name Solidarity.
The database below covers only the final two months of 1918 when arrests and trials of Wobblies for sedition or criminal syndicalism continued to dominate the news.
Dates are either the reported date of the incident or the date the article appeared in the newspaper.
Date
Article title
Place
State
Description
11/16/1918
True to His Class
Urbana
IL
IWW member jailed in the raids of the Butler county oil fields died of influenza and pneumonia while incarcerated.
11/16/1918
Construction Workers' Bulletin
Sioux City
IA
All IWW members arrested two weeks prior released.
11/16/1918
Lumber Workers' Bulletin
Wallace
ID
IWW member convicted of criminal syndicalism and sentenced to one year in prison and a $500 fine.
11/16/1918
Lumber Workers' Bulletin
Moscow
ID
IWW member convicted of criminal syndicalism and sentenced to between six months and ten years in prison. His appeal for pardon was denied.
10/25/1918
Lumber Workers' Bulletin
Spokane
WA
IWW members charged with conspiracy pled not guilty.
11/16/1918
Lumber Workers' Bulletin
Boise
ID
20 IWW members in L.W.I.U. No. 500 held in jail.
11/16/1918
Defense Situation
Omaha
NE
24 IWW members put on trial in cruel conditions, a number without shoes, socks, or underwear.
11/16/1918
Defense Situation
Wichita
KS
7 IWW members held in jail in poor conditions.
11/16/1918
Defense Situation
Sacramento
CA
4 of the 54 IWW members on trial died of influenza.
11/16/1918
Defense Situation
Leadville
CO
2 IWW members arrested upon entering town.
11/24/1918
None
Chicago
IL
Memorial for Joe Hill scheduled for 11/24.
11/23/1918
Lumber Workers' Bulletin
Sault Ste. Marie
Ontario
L.W.I.U. No. 500 delegate J.J. Wilson convicted of owning literature in Finnish, an enemy language, and being in the IWW. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
11/08/1918
Fellow Worker Equi on Trial
Portland
OR
Defended by E. E. Heckbert and George Vanderveer, female IWW member suffering from the Spanish influenza went on trial for violation of the Espionage Act.
11/23/1918
Seattle I.W.W.s Are Released
Seattle
WA
The 50 IWW members held in violation of the Espionage Act released after the United States Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a Seattle grand jury conviction and declared the unconstitutionality of the prosecution.
11/23/1918
None
San Francisco
CA
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of Tom Mooney, the IWW member sentenced to death for his role in a bomb plot.
11/23/1918
The Leadville Colorado Cases
Leadville
CO
4 IWW members arrested. 1 dismissed, 3 charged with "advocating, teaching, and aiming at destruction of property."
11/30/1918
None
San Francisco
CA
Governor Stephens commuted Mooney's death sentence to life in prison.
11/30/1918
Law in Tulsa
Tulsa
OK
M.M.W.I.U. No. 800 delegate jailed for ten months without charge.
11/17/1918
Springfield Mass Meeting
Springfield
MA
Four hundred attended a mass meeting with speeches under the auspices of the local Jewish and Russian branches.
12/08/1918
None
Chicago
IL
Mass meeting announced for the release of Tom Mooney.
Construction Workers' Industrial Union
Omaha
NE
20 workers charged in the "Omaha indictments."
12/09/1918
None
Omaha
NE
3 Wobblies released from jail.
12/09/1918
None
Sacramento
CA
The cases of 3 Wobblies dismissed.
12/14/1918
Omaha Are Released
Omaha
NE
All but 2 of the Wobblies arrested over a year prior released on bonds.
12/14/1918
Sacramento Men Are on Trial
Sacramento
CA
24 Wobblies on trial for unspecified charges.
12/21/1918
Difference in Court Actions
AZ
The 25 indicted officials for deporting over 1000 workers from Bisbee in 1917 released without trial.
12/21/1918
Difference in Court Actions
Chicago
IL
93 IWW members sentenced to, collectively, 807 years in the Leavenworth penitentiary.
12/21/1918
None
Seattle
WA
5 IWW members released from immigration detention after being held for over a year.
12/21/1918
Partial History of Cases to Date
Various
Various
This article lists hundreds of IWW members arrested. The charges were largely of criminal syndicalism, espionage, or related crimes. The sentences ranged from ten days to ten years.
12/14/1918
Deportation and Tar
McMurray
WA
IWW member tarred and feathered by a mob of twenty vigilantes. Additionally, 10 were deported.
12/20/1918
Newsboys in Seattle Jail
Seattle
WA
Newsboy arrested for selling the Seattle Defense Bulletin, prompting others to begin selling the paper and leading to the arrest of 9 others.
11/21/1918
Keep You in Jail
Chicago
IL
IWW member arrested, released, and rearrested for carrying radical literature. Case investigator told the defendant, "…we will keep you in jail till you get over [foreign ideas]."
12/28/1918
Silent Defense
Various
CA
This article lists numerous raids leading to the arrest of over 20 California Wobblies.
12/28/1918
Other Victims
Various
KS
The article lists 34 IWW members held in Kansas jails at the time of publication.