Archives West Finding Aid

James P. Thompson (1873-1949) was a founding member and organizer of the Industrial Workers of the World. He was involved in an early free speech fight in 1909 when he was arrested in Spokane, Washington for violating an ordinance against speaking on the street that may have been imposed specifically to curb the influence of the IWW. After his arrest hundreds of people from across the country came to Spokane to be arrested for the same violation. After just three weeks there were four hundred people jailed for speaking on the street and Spokane was full of IWW members. The city government was forced to revoke the ordinance.

Thompson did a similar thing in Everett, Washington on August 22, 1916, where he defied a public assembly ban and was arrested after speaking to a crowd of shingle weavers for 20 minutes. After he was arrested and removed, James Rowan took his place and was also arrested as were a series of other speakers including Letelsia Fye of Everett whose speech consisted of reading the Declaration of Independence.

In 1917, during World War I, Thompson and the IWW took a stand against the American participation in the war. Because of that many IWW members were jailed and convicted under the Espionage Act for conspiring against the draft and encouraging desertion. Both James Thompson and James Rowan served time in the federal prison at Leavenworth, Kansas.