Class and Gender Politics in Progressive-Era Seattle

Epilogue: Patriotism, War, and the Red Scare

The growing class divide in Seattle exemplified by Anna Louise Strong’s recall from the Seattle School Board continued to widen during and after World War I. The cross-class and cross-gender political alliance born out of the suffrage campaign a decade earlier virtually collapsed under the weight of the class conflict generated by such momentous events as the Potlatch Riots, the Everett Massacre, the hyperpatriotism of the Great War, and the infamous 1919 General Strike. The future of both organized labor and middle-class clubwomen, however, was more complex than one might imagine. The war years offered unexpected benefits to each, yet neither exited the war unchanged. The experiences of labor and middle-class women continued to diverge as they chose, or were compelled, to take very different paths in the postwar years. These paths thus continued to shape the politics of class and gender in Seattle for decades to come. Despite the political tension and social unrest that the war produced, women discovered new and unique opportunities to exert their collective voice in Seattle. Yet like members of organized labor, not all Seattle Epilogue: Patriotism, War, and the Red Scare 197 198 c l a s s a n d g e n d e r p o l i t i c s women experienced or reacted to the war and subsequent Red Scare in the same manner. For middle-class women these events shaped how they viewed politics and the larger public sphere, often leading them to redefine and reevaluate their progressive sensibilities. Moreover, the profound class consciousness the war generated deeply polarized Seattle residents, testing the progressive impulses that had connected middle-class and workingclass women for more than a decade. In many ways the strength of these connections was largely determined by the level of personal ties and social networks women had forged in the previous few years. In the wake of the nation’s declaration of war, Seattle women patriotically offered their services to the nation and their community. Scores of clubwomen jumped at the chance to participate in the numerous new government agencies the war created, like the State Council of Defense and the National League for Women’s Service. Inspired by patriotic appeals, thousands of others served as officers and contributed time and money to the Red Cross, soldier aid societies, and war bond campaigns. For example , Bertha Knight Landes, president of the Woman’s Century Club, organized five Red Cross auxiliaries and helped found the Washington Minute Women. The latter group raised money for families of needy soldiers and provided lunches, reading material, and moral support to young draftees. The war years, then, only helped improve women’s image as citizens and political equals.1 While significantly expanding the level of women’s public activity during the war, Landes and other more conservative clubwomen narrowly focused their attention on issues associated with the home and children . The Seattle Federation of Women’s Clubs, of which Landes would become president in 1920, two years earlier had decided to drop out of politics and focus on raising the cultural level of the city. The direction the Washington State Federation of Women’s Clubs took during the war similarly reflected this shift in its largest local branch. In an article titled “What Can Women Do to Win the War,” the wsfwc listed three primary duties for women: maintain the home and children, practice conservation in the home, and provide moral support for soldiers. The federation’s president also urged women to keep an eye on labor laws and see that the government did not use the war to justify abandoning laws protecting female workers.2 e p i l o g u e 199 Conservation of foodstuffs and other materials needed for the war effort received much attention from clubwomen. The wsfwc president, for example, urged members to take a pledge that they would control wastes produced by their families and try to “live simply.” Others encouraged women to purchase goods from Washington firms rather than eastern suppliers because long-distance trade wasted energy and resources. Most importantly, club leaders reminded women that their role as the primary consumer in the family meant that they could significantly impact the war economy. Working girls also were not forgotten. A brochure for the United War Work Campaign titled “How Much Good Can a Girl Do With $5” detailed how they could aid...