Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.
-Mother Jones
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The IWW Martyrs of the Sacramento County Jail
Between October 22nd and November 2nd, 1918, five Fellow Workers, members of the Industrial Workers of the World, died of influenza while awaiting trial on Federal Espionage charges.
FW Ed Burns-died October 22nd
FW James Nolan-died October 28th
FW R. J. Blaine-died October 28th
FW H. C. Evans-died October 31st
FW Frank Travis-November 2nd
“The Silent Defense,” IWW Pamphlet, describes jail condition:
Fifty-three were arrested in and around the Sacramento hall [December 1917]. These men were thrown into a [county] jail cell, 21×21 feet. All of them could not lie down at once. It was winter. One cotton blanket was given each. Their food was about two ounces of mush in the morning, less than two ounces of bread. and at night three fetid little smelts and less than two ounces of potatoes, with “coffee” twice a day. In the cold they shivered. Day by day they starved. By relays they slept at night; the bedlam of a city drunk tank soothed their slumbers wooed in frost and starvation. Everyone of these men had money when arrested. They sent out and bought food for themselves. This is a general privilege in the Sacramento jails. This food was placed before their cells just outside the prisoner’s reach. It rotted there. They slaved and starved. Once or twice some of the “harness bulls” of Sacramento slipped their lunches to the ravenous wretches.
The Jail Ravaged by Influenza:
[During the months of October and November, 1918,] the “flu” raged…In three tanks these men lay…Often only one could stagger around. These men sent out and hired a doctor, a nurse, and bought their own medicines. It’s one more blot on Sacramento. The matron of the jail gave the men some soup and milk toast daily during the worst. That one kind act is remembered. “We never forget.” These men laid there and stewed in their own effluvia. Five died. Ten or twelve are sick today [about March 1919].
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From “With Drops of Blood” by Big Bill Haywood:
We charge that members of the Industrial Workers of the World have died in prison while waiting for trial; and mention the names of R. J. Blaine, Ed Burns, H. C. Evans, James Nolan and Frank Travis, all of whom died of the dreadful disease influenza while imprisoned in the terrible county jail at Sacramento, California. These young men were confined in cramped quarters and left to die without the aid of physicians or nurses……
The Death of Ed Burns:
The October 24th edition of the Sacramento Bee reported:
Edward Burns, another I. W. W., died Tuesday [October 22nd]….There are between thirty-five and forty cases of influenza at the jail, and the place is under strict quarantine.
The Death of James Nolan:
FW Nolan’s death was reported by Sacramento Bee of October 28th:
James Nolan…died today at the County Hospital. Nolan had been residing here since his arrest and release on bail…
The Death of R. J. Blaine:
On October 24th the Sacramento Bee reported that all hope for Blaine’s recovery had been given up by the doctors at County Hospital.
On October 28th the Bee reported:
James Nolan and Robert Blaine, two members of the I. W. W. indicted some time ago here by the Federal Grand Jury for violating the Espionage Act, died to-day at the County Hospital…Blaine was sent to the hospital from the County Jail.
The Death of H. C. Evans:
The Sacramento Bee of October 31st reported:
Henry Evans, one of the indicted I. W. W. prisoners, to-day died in the County Jail. Evans is the fourth I. W. W. member to die of influenza, but the first to die in the County Jail. He refused to be removed from the jail to the County Hospital.
According to FindaGrave, Henry Evans died on Oct. 30th:
-Henry Evans, born 1873, in Mississippi, and died Oct. 30, 1918.
“Henry lived to be 45 years old. Resident of county jail. He died of double pneumonia.”
The Death of Frank Travis:
The November 2nd edition of the Sacramento Bee reported:
Two Prisoners Die-Two more County Jail inmates died to-day of the influenza. Frank Travis died in the County Jail, while Peter Ramiez died after he was removed to the County Hospital. Travis is the second county prisoner to die in the jail, while Ramiez is the fourth county prisoner to die at the hospital.
“He Sang the Songs of Labor”
Frank Travis was a big burly fellow with a fine voice. In October [1917] he came into Sacramento. He was a migratory worker, young and fear less. He had a nickel in his clothes. He wanted a flop. Some one said to come down to the I. W. W. hall. He followed. There the boys jollied him. He slept there and the next day went out to a job the secretary tipped him to. He worked a few days and came in and took out a card. Thirty days after he was in again with a little bigger stake. He was captured in the raid. On Oct. 22, 1918 [Travis died Nov 2nd], the anniversary of his initiation, he died in agony in the jail. [Federal Special Agent] Kelley was asked why he was indicted. “He was a delegate,” answered the special agent. “Delegate? Why he wasn’t thirty days in the organization.” “Oh, then he was a singer; yes, he was a singer.” And so a man was condemned to death by an official so dense that he thinks singing is a crime. Travis used to sing as he starved in the city jail [County Jail], and none could scare him. He died because he sang the songs of labor!
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SOURCES
Hellraisers Journal – Sunday November 3, 1918
Sacramento, California – Five Fellow Workers Dead of Influenza
Five IWWs Under Federal Indictment in Sacramento County Jail Have Died from Spanish Influenza
The Silent Defense
A story of the remarkable trial of members of the Industrial Workers of the World held at Sacramento, California.
by Industrial Workers of the World
Chicago, 1920?
-Jail conditions-pages 4-5
-Jailed with Influenza-page 10
-Frank Travis-pages 10-11
https://www.sos.wa.gov/legacy/images/publications/sl_silentdefense/sl_silentdefense.pdf
“With Drops of Blood” by BBH
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/unions/iww/1920/drops.htm
FindaGave
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/138159521/henry-evans
IMAGE
WWIR, In Here For You, Ralph Chaplin, Sol Aug 4, Sept 1, 1917
https://libcom.org/files/rebel-voices-2_0.pdf
See also:
Tag: IWW Federal Trial Sacramento 1918-1919
https://weneverforget.org/tag/iww-federal-trial-sacramento-1918-1919/
American Political Prisoners:
Prosecutions Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts
-by Stephen Martin Kohn
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994
(search: sacramento)
https://books.google.com/books/about/American_Political_Prisoners.html?id=-_xHbn9dtaAC
Rebel Voices
-ed by Joyce L. Kornbluh
PM Press, Sep 1, 2011
(search: sacramento)
https://books.google.com/books?id=n2ATBwAAQBAJ
https://libcom.org/history/rebel-voices-iww-anthology
The Liberator
(New York, New York)
-Feb 1919
“The Silent Defense in Sacramento”
-by Jean Sterling
https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/culture/pubs/liberator/1919/02/v2n02-feb-1919-liberator.pdf
History of the Labor Movement in the United States, Vol 8
-Postwar Struggles, 1918-1920
Philip S. Foner
International Publishers Co, 1988
(search: sacramento)
https://books.google.com/books?id=UMBWNCXcR8wC
Bill Haywood’s Book
The Autobiography of William D. Haywood
-by Big Bill Haywood
International Publishers, 1929
https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000859708
Chapter 22: With Drops of Blood
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015050276461;view=2up;seq=342
Re Sacramento Martyrs
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015050276461;view=2up;seq=346
Appendix I: IWWs Convicted in Sacramento Case
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015050276461;view=2up;seq=370
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