Description:

Wilson War-Dated TLS Re: Pacific Northwest Lumber Strike, Summer 1917

A 1p typed letter boldly signed by 28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924), as "Woodrow Wilson" near center right. [Washington, D.C.], August 21, 1917. Typed in blue ink on watermarked stationery with "The White House / Washington" letterhead embossed on the first page. Expected wear including flattened folds, isolated paper clip impressions and clerical holes at top, and pagination in pencil at bottom. Else near fine. 7" x 8.875."

President Wilson wrote this letter to Edward Nash Hurley (1864-1933), Chairman of the U.S. Shipping Board, regarding the labor stalemate in the Pacific Northwest currently threatening America's primary wartime lumber supply.

Wilson wrote in part:

"Is not this a matter in which the Shipping Board is vitally interested? If it is and any practical suggestions occur to you, I would be very much obliged if you would personally confer with the members of the War Industries Board to see what if anything will be effective to meet the situation which Governor Lister here anxiously outlines…"

Wilson's original August 21, 1917 letter addressed to Edward Nash Hurley contained an enclosure from Governor Ernest Lister (1870-1919), Governor of Washington, written in Columbia and dated several days earlier, on August 18, 1917. [Transcripts of Wilson's letter to Hurley as well as its enclosure can be accessed through "The Papers of Woodrow Wilson Digital Edition" (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, Rotunda, 2017); see scans attached for reference.]

Governor Lister's letter described the latest frustrating developments in an ongoing lumber labor strike that had begun six weeks earlier, on July 1, 1917, in which between 40,000 to 50,000 lumber workers participated. On August 15, 1917, Governor Lister had passed state legislation establishing the 8-hour-work day in the hopes of ending the strike, but the lumber workers were still unsatisfied. Governor Lister reached out to Wilson for help, writing, "Every plan thus far suggested to bring about an adjustment of the differences has failed and I am writing to suggest the appointment of a commission by you to make a complete investigation covering the lumber industry of the States of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon…"

The stakes were high since the regional wartime economy was booming and the productivity potential was unmatched. Lumber from the Pacific Northwest was needed to build ships, planes, and Army installations, such as barracks. An interruption in the supply chain would cause catastrophic shortages and paralyze the American war effort. It was thus of paramount importance that Nash's U.S.S.B. work with the War Industries Board, then headed by Colonel Frank A. Scott (1873-1949), the founder of its predecessor organization, the General Munitions Board. The War Industries Board was established on July 28, 1917. It was tasked with procuring industrial goods, raw materials, and human resources for the Departments of the Army and Navy.

The Pacific Northwest lumber strike of 1917 did not break until October of that year, when U.S. soldiers were dispatched to fill in for striking workers. Not long after, the Loyal Legion of Loggers and Lumbermen became an official union.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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