Seattle has a long history of labor radicalism dating back into the 19th century. The 1930s saw a new burst of radical labor activism, with large scale strikes and boycotting that strengthened local labor unions representing longshoremen, woodworkers, truck drivers, and machinists. As unions grew in power, so did criticism of many union leaders who utilized heavy-handed methods of recruitment and negotiation. On October 13, 1936, Gladys A. (Mead) Selvin (1894-1984), a secretary at and wife of the owner of Seattle newspaper "The Business Chronicle," led a group of more than 500 women in a march to the state capital in Olympia. The women delivered a petition imploring Washington Governor Clarence D. Martin (1886-1955) to prosecute labor leaders guilty of racketeering and intimidating workers and businessmen. These women became known as the Women of Washington State-wide Committee, and continued to advocate for state legislation to curb the power of labor unions into 1937.

The broadside pictured here reprints comments condemning the committee and its members made in the weeks following the march by Seattle Mayor John Dore (1881-1938). The poster uses the negative remarks of Mayor Dore and Governor Martin to mobilize women across the state to unite against the racketeering and "unbridled radicalism" of Mayor Dore and his allies.

Caption information source: "Dore, John Francis (1881-1938)," by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 2720.
Caption information source: "Seattle Labor History Highlights," by James Gregory, The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, University of Washington.
Caption information sources: The Seattle Daily Times, "Delegation to Petition Martin for Prosecution," Seattle Daily Times, October 13, 1963, p. 1; and "Mayor Dore Versus Women of Washington," October 26, 1936, p. 1.