1916 Preparedness Day Bombing Anarchy and Terrorism in Progressive Era America

The 1916 Preparedness Day Bombing Anarchy and Terrorism in Progressive Era America Jeffrey A. Johnson 2018 Contents Preface 4 Acknowledgments 5 Timeline 6 Introduction 7 CHAPTER 1. “Perpetuated Hatred and Suspicion”: Labor and Capital at Odds 9 Edward Bellamy ....................................... 15 Marx and Engels ....................................... 18 CHAPTER 2. “The Wrath of Man”: Anarchism Comes to the United States 23 Shusui Kotuku ........................................ 28 CHAPTER 3. “Assassins, Murderers, Conspirators”: The March of Progressive Era Radicalism and Violence 34 Caldwell, Idaho, in 1905 ................................... 37 CHAPTER 4. “The Road to Universal Slaughter” and “This Dastardly Act”:The Preparedness Debate and Bombing 48 Arsenic as a Weapon ..................................... 51 CHAPTER 5. “The Fanatic Demon”: The Manhunt 62 Anarchism and Socialism .................................. 71 CHAPTER 6. “The Act of One Is the Act of All”: The Trials 73 Mysterious Suitcases ..................................... 76 The Mooney Case Abroad .................................. 85 CHAPTER 7. “Fighting Anarchists of America”: The Attacks of 1919 and 1920, and the Mooney Defense Onward 93 The Dreyfus Affair ...................................... 112 Famous Supporters ..................................... 114 Epilogue 115 Documents 119 DOCUMENT 1. The “Pittsburgh Proclamation” . 119 DOCUMENT 2. Preparedness Parades . 122 2 DOCUMENT 3. “Preparedness, the Road to Universal Slaughter,” by Emma Goldman . 123 DOCUMENT 4. Tom Mooney, a Miner’s Son . 128 DOCUMENT 5. U.S. Espionage Act, 15 June 1917 and The U.S. Sedition Act, 16 May, 1918 133 Section 1 ........................................ 133 Section 2 ........................................ 134 Section 3 ........................................ 134 Section 4 ........................................ 134 Section 5 ........................................ 135 Section 6 ........................................ 135 Section 7 ........................................ 135 Section 8 ........................................ 135 Section 9 ........................................ 135 Bibliography 137 ARCHIVAL MATERIALS .................................. 137 ABBREVIATIONS ...................................... 137 SELECTED PAMPHLETS .................................. 137 LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ................................... 138 NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS ............................ 138 BOOKS, ESSAYS, AND JOURNAL ARTICLES . 139 3 Preface This book places the 1916 San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing within the broader contextof American radicalism and isolationism during the Progressive Era. A concise narrative and key primary documents offer readers an introduction to this episode of domestic violence andthe subsequent, sensationalized trial that followed. The dubious conviction of a local labor organizer raised serious questions about political extremism, pluralistic ideals, and liberty in the United States that continue to resonate in the twenty-first century. Jeffrey A. Johnson is Professor of History and Director of the American Studies Program at Providence College in Rhode Island, USA. Welcome to the Routledge Critical Moments in American History series. The purpose of this new series is to give students a window into the historian’s craft through concise, readable books by leading scholars, who bring together the best scholarship and engaging primary sources to explore a critical moment in the American past. In discovering the principal points of the story in these books, gaining a sense of historiography, following a fresh trail of primary documents, and exploring suggested readings, students can then set out on their own journey, to debate the ideas presented, interpret primary sources, and reach their own conclusions—just like the historian. A critical moment in history can be a range of things—a pivotal year, the pinnacle of a move- ment or trend—or important events such as the passage of a piece of legislation, an election, a court decision, or a battle. It can be social, cultural, political, or economic. It can beheroic or tragic. Whatever they are, such moments are, by definition, “game changers,” momentous changes in the pattern of the American fabric and paradigm shifts in the American experience. Many of the critical moments explored in this series are familiar; some are less so. There is no ultimate list of critical moments in American history—any group of students, historians, or other scholars may come up with a different catalog of topics. These differences of view, however, are what make history itself and the study of history so important and so fascinating. Therein can be found the utility of historical inquiry—to explore, to challenge, to understand, and to realize the legacy of the past through its influence of the present. It is the hope of this series to help students realize this intrinsic value of our past and of studying our past. William Thomas Allison Georgia Southern University, USA 4 Acknowledgments Research and writing can be a lonely pursuit, but many colleagues, family members, and friends were instrumental in this happening. My only fear here is mistakenly forgetting anyone who was helpful along the way. In early 2015, I was invited to share early and brief parts of this work at the Newberry Library’s Seminar in labor history. The chair of the session Liesl Orenic, the attendees, and certainly the two commentators, Peter Cole and Kevin Boyle, all offered friendly and useful observations. That feedback and conversation were simply invaluable to the way I thought about the project. I had the great fortune of being able, in part due to financial support, to visit a number of archives to explore this story. Thanks to the gracious support of a James and Sylvia Thayer Fellowship at UCLA, I worked closely with materials at the Charles Young Research Library. The collections and the staff there as well as at the University of California’s Bancroft Library, the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam, and the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan all provided critical materials. Providence College was very supportive of my research, financially and otherwise. I received funding from its Committee on Aid to Faculty Research to travel to the three aforementioned archives and the Faculty Conference Fund to support the project. My Dean Sheila Adamus Li- otta and Provost Hugh Lena both kindly supported this research and project. Thanks alsoto my Providence history colleagues Steve Smith for looking at the early book proposal and Jen Illuzzi for her translation assistance. Finally, during this project, two department chairs, Mar- garet Manchester and Ray Sickinger, have afforded me teaching schedules that allowed time for writing, and I am grateful. I shared early versions of this work on a number of panels at various conferences over the past few years, and I am thankful for the feedback I received from the academic community at meetings like the American Studies Association, Organization of American Historians (OAH), the Center for Western Studies’ Dakota Conference, Southwest Popular/American Culture As- sociation (SWPACA), Western History Association, Historians of the Twentieth Century United States (HOTCUS), and American Historical Association (AHA), Pacific Coast Branch. The wonderful folks at Routledge who have supported this book along the way with profes- sionalism and encouragement have included Genevieve Aoki, Margo Irvin, Daniel Finaldi, Re- becca Dunn, and Eve Mayer. I am especially indebted, though, to the series editor Bill Allison and editorial assistant Ted Meyer, who have both been a tremendous help and I am incredibly grateful. Finally, and most significantly, I want to thank my wife Dena. She patiently listened to stories of word counts and chapter editing, over many months reassuring me and providing unflappable love and encouragement. 5 Timeline 1886 Haymarket Affair 1892 Homestead Strike 1892 Frick assassination attempt 1894 Pullman Strike 1895 Bliss arsenic poisoning 1901 William McKinley assassination 1901 Socialist Party of America established 1905 Steunenberg murder in Idaho 1905 Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) founded 1910 L.A. Times bombing 1913 Pacific Gas & Electric Strike 1914 World War I erupts 1914 Stockton, California, MM&E Strike 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition 1916 (July 22) Preparedness Day bombing in San Francisco 1916 Chicago soup plot 1916 (Dec.) Billings conviction 1917 (Feb.) Mooney conviction 1917 United States declaration of war 1917 Espionage Act 1917 Red Scare begins 1918 Sedition Act 1918 Wilson Commission report released 1932 Wickersham Commission report released 1939 Tom Mooney released 6 Introduction On the morning of July 22, 1916, Mrs. Cecil Wymore, a young mother in Oakland, California, made her way to downtown San Francisco. She took the journey with her husband Lloyd and two young children, Virginia, age four, and Billy, age two. They left their 53rd Avenue home in Oakland across the Bay for a trip that was really for the young children, so that they could marvel in the spectacle of the city’s much anticipated Preparedness Day Parade. By this point, war in Europe had raged for two years and in the United States, with involvement a real possi- bility, parades like this hoped to generate patriotism and enthusiasm for the cause. Newspaper reports estimated that 50,000 parade-goers would be in attendance, and on the surface, the parade seemed to symbolize

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