Oil, Wheat, & Wobblies: The Industrial Workers of the World in Oklahoma, 1905–1930 Hardcover – February 15, 1998

It's still there, Labor Omnia Vincit(Labor Conquers All), in Article 6, Section 35 of the Oklahoma Constitution. It's the official state motto and there was a time when working men and women in Oklahoma tried to convert the motto into reality. The Industrial Workers of the World(Wobblies) was formed on June 27, 1905, in Chicago. It was to be the working peoples answer to the ever-increasing tension arising out of the emerging urban industrial society in America at the turn of the century. The tension was perhaps best exemplified by the escalating confrontation between capital and labor. The Wobblies were born out of desperation, fear and self-preservation. They preached violence, revolution, sabotage and Socialism. They rejected politics as a racket and urged the organization of a new society by the oppressed. They were poor, radical, lacking in formal education working men and women who saw no commonalty of interest between employer and employee. They refused to sign labor contracts or affiliate with any political party. The movement was crushed in Oklahoma by means more violent than they had ever practiced. The perpetrators were, you guessed it, the business community, the judiciary, the police, religious groups, the news media, and a multitude of elected officials. Thanks to Sellars, an instructor of History at the University of Oklahoma, this little known history of Oklahoma is available in a well written, well researched, highly readable book. It's all here, the founding of the Wobblies and their efforts to organize migratory harvest workers and oil field hands and their relationship with the AFL and the Socialist Party, all placed in context with the political and social events of the time. The authorities efforts to suppress the Wobblies is described in a chilling scene from Tulsa which was repeated in varying degrees throughout Oklahoma. Just before midnight on November 9, 1917, a black-robed and hooded mob accosted 16 prisoners, almost all of whom were members of the Wobblies. They were being escorted by Tulsa police officers from City Hall to the county jail. The mob, called the Knights of Liberty and comprised of police officials, local businessmen, and oil company executives, took the prisioners at gunpoint to a secluded location on the outskirts of Tulsa. What followed was a vicious ritual in which the vigilantes beat, whipped, and tarred and feathered their captives. "It was a party, a real American party," one newspaper reported. The impact of World War One on the efforts of the Wobblies to organize and the reaction of the state and federal government is examined as is the decline of both the Wobblies and the labor movement after the war. This book is a must read for anyone interested in the social history of labor in Oklahoma, the Wobblies, or political events from the early 20th century. It is an important event in Oklahoma that has, until now, been neglected.