TexasEscapes.com Texas Escapes Online Magazine: Travel and History
Columns: History, Humor, Topical and Opinion
Over 1600 Texas Towns & Ghost Towns
NEW : : TEXAS TOWNS : : GHOST TOWNS : : FEATURES : : COLUMNS : : ARCHITECTURE : : IMAGES : : SITE MAP
HOME
SEARCH SITE
ARCHIVES
RESERVATIONS
Texas Hotels
Hotels
Cars
Air
Cruises
 
  Texas : Features : Columns : All Things Historical :

East Texas Labor Union

Archie McDonald Ph.D.

Brotherhood of Timber Workers

by Archie P. McDonald
Those engaged in a common activity often refer to themselves as “brothers” or “sisters,” but the Brotherhood of Timber Workers refers to something rare in East Texas — a labor union.

Actually, the Brotherhood was organized in Louisiana, but it also attempted to enroll timber workers in East Texas and one of its fiercest foes, John Henry Kirby, operated in both states and lived in East Texas.

The Brotherhood’s membership came from the sawmills of both regions, plus poor farmers who did extra work in the mills to supplement their incomes. As the first cuttings began to thin the virgin forests, work became scarce and paydays sporadic, yet rents and other prices in company towns remained steady or increased.

Hoping to insure employment and improve working conditions through collective bargaining, Arther Lee Emerson and Jay Smith organized the Brotherhood of Timber Workers in 1910. Mill owners had organized the Southern Lumber Operators Association in 1906, mostly to combat any attempt at collective bargaining.

Delegates from BTW locals met in Alexandria, Louisiana, agreed to accept black members if only to prevent them being used as “scabs,” and announced their intention to work only under union contracts. The Operator’s Association called the BTW a socialist organization, insisted on their workers signing “yellow-dog” contracts renouncing unions on pain of dismissal, and vowed closure of any mills “infected” by unionism.

C.B. Sweet, of the Long-Bell mills, decided against honoring the Operator’s Association and signed a contract with the BTW, but John Henry Kirby and other operators were true to their word. They closed mills, or fired employees who joined the union and replaced them with non-union laborers, and hired security personnel — really strong-arm agents to knock heads while protecting the mills.

In 1912, Emerson led the BTW into the International Workers of the World, which seemed to confirm the Operator’s accusation that the union was socialistic, perhaps communistic.

This produced more rallies and confrontations between union members and security guards, and one in Graybow, Louisiana, resulted in the death of eight people and the wounding of forty more. Emerson and other union officials were arrested and tried. Though they were acquitted, their defense cost the BTW most of its funds and the union ceased to exist.
© Archie P. McDonald
All Things Historical

January 16, 2006 column
A syndicated column in over 40 East Texas newspapers
This column is provided as a public service by the East Texas Historical Association. Archie P. McDonald is director of the Association and author of more than 20 books on Texas.
 
TEXAS TOWN LIST | TEXAS GHOST TOWNS | TEXAS COUNTIES
Texas Hill Country | East Texas | Central Texas North | Central Texas South |
West Texas | Texas Panhandle | South Texas | Texas Gulf Coast
TRIPS | STATES PARKS | RIVERS | LAKES | DRIVES | MAPS

TEXAS FEATURES
Ghosts | People | Historic Trees | Cemeteries | Small Town Sagas | WWII |
History | Black History | Rooms with a Past | Music | Animals | Books | MEXICO
COLUMNS : History, Humor, Topical and Opinion

TEXAS ARCHITECTURE | IMAGES
Courthouses | Jails | Churches | Gas Stations | Schoolhouses | Bridges | Theaters |
Monuments/Statues | Depots | Water Towers | Post Offices | Grain Elevators |
Lodges | Museums | Stores | Banks | Gargoyles | Corner Stones | Pitted Dates |
Drive-by Architecture | Old Neon | Murals | Signs | Ghost Signs | Then and Now
Vintage Photos

TRAVEL RESERVATIONS | USA

Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Recommend Us
Contributors | Staff | Contact TE
TEXAS ESCAPES ONLINE MAGAZINE
Website Content Copyright ©1998-2007. Texas Escapes - Blueprints For Travel, LLC. All Rights Reserved
This page last modified: January 16, 2007