Talk:Joseph James Ettor

IWW expulsion questioned

Bill Haywood's autobiography mentions Ettor and Flynn were expelled. It doesn't mention expelling Giovannitti. Is there support for this statement? Richard Myers 04:16, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

I have waited two years for someone to clarify this. I'm going to submit what i've got, and draw a tentative conclusion.

Bill Haywood's autobiography, page 292, says,

I then looked to Ettor, Flynn, and Tresca for an explanation. I did not expect much from Tresca, as he was not a member of the organization... Ettor and Flynn said it was the best that could be done... The three of them knew that an injustice had been done... Their part in the affair terminated their connection with the I.W.W. Ettor and Flynn had long been connected with the I.W.W. and were earnest and vigorous workers. They should not have allowed themselves to be entrapped by lawyers who would rather "fix" a case than to try it.

In The I.W.W.: Its First Seventy Years, page 103, we find that the idea for the immigrant miners to plead guilty came from Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. "Her connections with the IWW were promptly terminated."

In Roughneck, the Life and Times of Big Bill Haywood, page 237, we find:

A dispute over legal tactics led to a bitter feud between Haywood and two of the IWW's ablest agitators--Joe Ettor and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn... Ettor resigned his position as the union's "general organizer" and left the IWW. Flynn, equally angry, remained in the union, but took great pains to avoid Haywood and his supporters...

In these three sources, each of which was particularly focused upon this history, Giovannitti is not mentioned in connection with this incident.

The Arturo Giovannitti article on Wikipedia likewise does not mention expulsion from the IWW.

There remains some conflicting information from the above excerpts, such as the question of Flynn's continuing membership. However, termination to Haywood could mean termination of active participation with leadership, rather than an end to membership as an individual.

At this point, i will observe that i have encountered errors in the Spartacus accounts of history, which lead me to conclude that the report of the expulsion of Giovannitti from the IWW as a result of the Minnesota legal dispute may be unwarranted. I am removing his name as one of the expelled, unless and until someone can cite an account of his alleged expulsion from a better source.

I also note that Giovannitti has living relatives who may be familiar with additional published sources, so perhaps more accurate info can be had. I'm just concerned that his name may have been smeared unjustly, and i want to correct that until there is some degree of certainty. Richard Myers (talk) 01:19, 24 February 2009 (UTC)