Don’t worry, Fellow Worker,
all we’re going to need
from now on is guts.
-Frank Little
Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday April 9, 1918
Chicago, Illinois – “Red Sweetheart,” Now Bride, Observes Trial
Miss Genevieve Semashko, formerly known as the “Red Sweetheart,” is now married to FW George Andreytchine, according to The Chicago Tribune. She has recently been found in attendance at the great I. W. W. trial as the process of jury selection continues.
From The Chicago Daily Tribune of April 4, 1918:
TWO JURYMEN ARE ACCEPTED
FOR I.W.W. TRIAL
—–
Ten Veniremen Locked Up for
Examination Today.
—–
Two jurymen tentatively accepted yesterday afternoon to sit in the trial of 112 members of the I. W. W. were ordered locked up last night along with ten others selected for examination today. They were ordered by Judge Landis to avoid discussing the case and not to read anything bearing upon it.
The men chosen, who may still be challenged by either the government or the defense, are:
A. J. McKEE, druggist, Morrison, Ill.
WILLIAM MALLOW, plumber, 4343 Lincoln avenue.
Two Challenges Used.
Two of the six peremptory challenges allowed the government were used yesterday by Charles F. Clyne, United States district attorney, who personally questioned the veniremen.
One of the two challenges used up by the government eliminated Thomas W. Allinson, father of Brent Dow Allinson, the pacifist, of Swiss embassy fame, ordered classed as a deserter yesterday for failure to respond to orders to report at Camp Grant.
Sixty brand new metal spittoons made their appearance yesterday on order from Judge Landis in the name of comfort for those being tried. Simultaneously a variety of plug and fine cut appeared from hip pockets.
Judge Landis also made his way to the “chuck house,” alias Judge Evans’ court, where the men are fed at noon. He wanted to see if the feeding was up to standard. He tasted about a bit and tried the coffee.
“The coffee will have to be stronger,” was his verdict.
Walter T. Neff, whose illness of Tuesday delayed the opening of the trial, was on hand, his throat wrapped warmly. “The Girl in Red,” Miss Genevieve Semashko, who figured some time back in an alleged attempt at jail delivery, appeared yesterday.
Her presence revealed that she is now Mrs. George Andreytchine, wife of the former editor of the Bulgarian I.W.W. paper, a defendant.
Proof of Democracy.
A little later Andreytchine, sitting beside Ben Fletcher, put his arm lovingly about the neck of the Negro.
“That shows that we know no creed or color or race,” was the comment of Jack Law, one of the men on trial.
The prisoners were visibly touched when Sam Perry, 4 years old, son of Grover H. Perry of Arizona, saw his daddy for the first time in more than five months. The boy rushed to his father’s arms and snuggled close.
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[Photographs added.]
From Pennsylvania’s Altoona Times of April 8, 1918:
SOURCES
The Chicago Daily Tribune
(Chicago, Illinois)
-Apr 4, 1918
https://www.newspapers.com/image/354992288/
The Altoona Times
(Altoona, Pennsylvania)
-Apr 8, 1918
https://www.newspapers.com/image/270343473/
IMAGES
WWIR, IWW, Andreytchine Red Sweetheart, Chg Tb Nov 11, 1917
https://www.newspapers.com/image/355259254/
Chg IWW Trial, Ben Fletcher, Altoona TX PA, Apr 8, 1918
https://www.newspapers.com/image/270343473/
IWWC 1916, Neff, ISR 1917
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=SVRIAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&pg=GBS.PA406
IWW GDC Jack Law, ISR Feb 1918
https://archive.org/stream/ISR-volume18#page/n210/mode/1up
Frank Little, Grover Perry, Lbr Def Aug 1926
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/1926/v01n08-aug-1926-LD.pdf
Ben Fletcher by Carlos Cortez, wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Fletcher
& for larger view-
https://libcom.org/history/ben-fletcher-iww-organizer
See also:
Hellraisers Journal, Tuesday November 13, 1917
Cook County Jail, Illinois – “Girl in Red” Detained
“Red Sweetheart” Taken into Custody While Visiting With FW Andreytchine at Cook County Jail
AN ODYSSEY ACROSS TWO WORLDS, George the Bulgarian
-by Jordan Baev and Kostadin Grozev
https://www.scribd.com/document/203480518/Andreytchine-Eng2014
Ben Fletcher: The Life and Times of a Black Wobbly Including Fellow Worker Fletcher’s Writings & Speeches
-by Peter Cole
Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, 2007
https://books.google.com/books?id=40xuAAAACAAJ
Fellow Worker Ben Fletcher – A Legacy of Solidarity
https://www.iww.org/history/biography/BenFletcher/1
Ben Fletcher
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Fletcher
Ben Fletcher, IWW organizer
Posted By Juan Conatz
https://libcom.org/history/ben-fletcher-iww-organizer
ONE OF THE GREATEST HEROES of the American working class movement! The great African American Wobbly organizer, Benjamin Fletcher (1890-1949), was noted for his brilliant organizing ability and imaginative on-the-job strategies, as well as for his courage, humor, and excellence as a soapbox orator. Not surprisingly, he was one of the IWW’s most admired and best loved figures. Along with a biographical sketch of Fletcher, reminiscences of him by fellow workers who knew him well, and an impressive selection of Fletcher’s own writings and speeches, Peter Cole’s impressive introductory biographical essay also chronicles the ups and downs of the Philadelphia waterfront union in which Fletcher played such a leading role: Local 8 of the IWW’s Marine Transport Workers Industrial Union 510.
[Unclear who wrote this review of Peter Cole’s book, most likely Juan Conatz.]
Praise for FW Ben Fletcher:
Ben Fletcher’s all-out revolutionary industrial unionism exemplifies Wobbly-style working class solidarity at its creative best. – Franklin Rosemont
One of the leading organizers of the industrial Workers of the World. He has a vision far beyond that of almost any Negro leader we know. – A. Phillip Randolph
Courageous and dedicated to the emancipation of the working class. – Matilda Rabinowitz Robbins
In a union noted for great organizers, Fletcher was one of the greatest. Local 8’s achievements are still a model for us all. – Carlos Cortez
An essay on Ben Fletcher’s efforts as an IWW organizer
-Link found at posting by Juan Conatz:
-Originally appeared in Pennsylvania History, Vol. 46, No. 3 (July, 1979):
BEN FLETCHER, I.W.W. ORGANIZER
-by William Seraile of City University of New York
https://libcom.org/files/BEN_FLETCHER.pdf