Centralia Massacre (1919)

Tue Nov 11, 1919

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Image: The burial of Wesley Everest, with armed National Guard unit. The casket is supposedly being lowered into the grave by the IWW prisoners from the jail, with “Jim Lynch” moving vans in the background. Emil Remmen is in back, far right, facing the camera. From Wikipedia Commons.

The Centralia Massacre, also known as the Armistice Day Riot, was a violent incident that occurred in Centralia, Washington on this day in 1919, during a parade celebrating the first anniversary of Armistice Day. The conflict was an armed shootout between members of the local American Legion and Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) members.

On Armistice Day, celebrating the end of World War I, American Legion members went on parade throughout the city. When they stopped in front of the IWW hall, gunfire broke out, killing two American Legion members immediately. The Legion members stormed the IWW hall, and several more people shot in the ensuing mayhem.

Many IWW members were arrested following the incident. Wesley Everest, an IWW member who had shot multiple Legion members while fleeing the IWW hall, was taken from the jail and lynched by an angry mob. Seven IWW members were convicted on murder charges. In all, five people were killed and three people were injured.