Michael Withey papers, approximately 1974-2010

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Withey, Michael (Lawyer)
Title
Michael Withey papers
Dates
approximately 1974-2010 (inclusive)
Quantity
54.13 cubic feet (43 boxes)
Collection Number
6376 (Accession No. 6376-001)
Summary
Materials related to the murders of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes and subsequent trial against Ferdinand Marcos
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Access restricted: For terms of access, contact Special Collections.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Michael Withey is a Seattle-based lawyer who served as a representing attorney in the Domingo v Marcos court case. He is a public interest lawyer who has made a career representing the “little guy” against powerful interests to protect constitutional rights, civil rights, and human rights for the past 42 years. He is the former president of the Public Justice Foundation and received numerous prestigious awards.

Gene Viernes was born in Yakima on August 16, 1951, the eldest of nine children born to Felix and Betty Viernes. Felix had emigrated from the Philippines in the 1920s. He was a fruit picker and also worked in canneries. His son Gene grew up picking fruit before going to school. Gene joined Local 37, ILWU in 1966 at the age of 14, after lying about his age and paying a $50 bribe to a cannery foreman. He spent many summers as an "Alaskero," working in the Alaskan salmon canneries along with his father and brothers. In the 1970s, he met Silme Domingo and they became close friends. Together they formed the Alaska Cannery Workers' Association, a workers' legal advocacy group. Within Local 37, Gene Viernes played a crucial role in the formation of the Rank and File Committee, the group that spearheaded the reform movement in 1977.

Silme Domingo was born in Killeen, Texas, on January 25, 1952. His father had emigrated from the Philippines in the 1920s, and had joined the Army and fought in the Pacific during World War II. Silme was the third of five children born to Nemesio and Adelina Domingo. He grew up in Texas and Germany in accordance with his father's military career, and the family moved to Seattle in 1960. Silme attended Ballard High School and graduated with honors from the University of Washington. Silme, following his parents' social activism, participated in the effort during the 1970s to save Seattle's International District, and joined the work to establish social services for people in the district. In 1974 Silme joined the Union of Democratic Filipino (KDP) and established the Seattle KDP chapter, which organized the first protest in Seattle against the Marcos dictatorship. He was best known for his work in the Alaska Cannery Workers Union. He was survived by two children, Ligaya and Kalayaan.

[Source: https://michaelwithey.com/about/; https://www.historylink.org/File/412]

Historical BackgroundReturn to Top

On June 1, 1981, Seattle-based Filipino American labor activists Gene Viernes (1951-1981) and Silme Domingo (1952-1981) of Local 37 of the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union(ILWU) are murdered near Pioneer Square in downtown Seattle. They were attempting to reform the union, which they thought was corrupt, and were calling for better working conditions in the canneries.

The murders were originally thought to be an isolated act of violence, but friends and family organized a Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes (CJDV) eventually found links between the murders to Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda, who had ordered the murders in retaliation for the victims’ anti-Marcos organizing. In 1989, and a federal jury agreed with the CJDV, finding Marcos guilty of the murders.

[Source: https://www.historylink.org/File/412; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silme_Domingo]

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Documents, including depositions, court documents, drafts, notes, exhibits, and other material, tapes, video, and photographs relating to Michael Withey's role as a representing attorney in the Doming v. Marcos court case. The case came as a result of the 1981 assassination Seattle labor leaders Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes in a plot involving Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos and a Seattle union leader Tony Baruso. Domingo and Viernes, in addition to serving as cannery union officers, had been organizing as part of a Filipinx diaspora organization to oppose the Marcos Regime. After the murders, a Committee for Justice for Domingo and Viernes was formed and a legal case against Marcos made its way through the US judicial system.

Other Descriptive InformationReturn to Top

Forms part of the Labor Archives of Washington.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Creator's copyrights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Container(s) Description Dates
Box
1 Transcripts approximately 1981-1988
2 Freedom of Information Request Documents
Original box labeled "Box 2- FOIA, KDP". Includes materials labeled "Box 19".
approximately 1970s-1989
43 "The Domingo Viernes Story" DVDs
19 copies of the DVD. Originally included in "Box 2-FOIA, KDP"
undated
3 Witness Files
Original box labeled "Box 3". Includes film and audio tape.
approximately 1980s
4 Witness Files
Original box labeled "Box 4". Includes materials labeled "Box 3".
approximately 1980s
5 Witness Files (Marcos)
Original box labeled "Box 6"
approximately 1980s
6 Witness Files
Original box labeled "Box 8"
approximately 1980s
7 Depositions
Original box labeled "Box 9". Also includes materials related to "Summary Execution", Committee for Justice, and Faith Ireland v Building Industry Association of Washington.
approximately 1980s-2010s
8 Research and Articles
Original box labeled "Box 17"
approximately 1975-1982
9 Freedom of Information Request Documents
Original box labeled "Box 19"
approximately 1970s-1989
10 Federal Trial, Transcripts
Includes materials labeled "Box 19"
approximately 1980s
11 Depositions, clippings, Committee for Justice materials, and Exhibits
Original box labeled "Box 24". Includes materials labeled "Box 5", "Box 9", "Box 16", "Box 40", "Box 51", "Box 57", "Box 61", and "Box 64".
approximately 1980s-1991
12 Documents: Mabuhay Corporation, Forsythe Deposition
Original box labeled "Box 35"
approximately 1980s-1990s
13 Documents: Original U.S. Documents, Psinkisi FBI Documents
Original box labeled "Box 40"
approximately 1980s
14 Exhibits
Original box labeled "Box 42"
approximately 1980s
15 Documents from the Philippines
Original box labeled "Box 44"
approximately 1980s
16 Documents from the Philippines
Original box labeled "Box 45"
approximately 1980s
17 Experts, Witness Files
Original box labeled "Box 46"
approximately 1980s
18 Committee for Justice materials, Depositions, Documents from the Philippines, Falk, and other materials
Includes materials labeled "Box 45", "Box 46", and "Box 59". Includes photographs and Committee for Justice audio tape.
approximately 1980s
19 Depositions (Marcos) and Freedom of Information Request Documents
Original box labeled "Box 49". Includes 2 VHS tapes of KGO-TV Domingo/Viernes report.
approximately 1980s
20 Government Documents
Original box labeled "Box 50"
approximately 1980s
21 Exhibits
Original box labeled "Box 51". Includes materials labeled "Box 58".
approximately 1980s
22 Exhibits
Original box labeled "Box 52"
approximately 1980s
23 Freedom of Information Request Documents and Depositions
Original box labeled "Box 53"
approximately 1970s-1980s
24 Documents from the Philippines
Original box labeled "Box 56"
approximately 1980s
25 Deposition, Economic Expert, Clippings, and other materials
Original box labeled "Box 57". Includes 3 VHS tapes and 1 CD.
approximately 1980s
26 Articles, Committee for Justice, Fee Dispute Documents, Murder Conspiracy, and other materials
Original box labeled "Box 58"
approximately 1980s
27 Documents related to Baruso, Press Releases, Financial Records, and other materials
Original box labeled "Box 59"
approximately 1980s
28 Malabed Depositions and other materials
Original box labeled "Box 60"
approximately 1974-1990
29 Malabed Depositions, photographs, and other materials
Original box labeled "Box 61". Includes VHS tape.
approximately 1980s
30 Police Records, Closing Statements, Expert Witnesses, Notice of Appeal, and Miscellaneous documents
Original box labeled "Box 64"
approximately 1970s-1980s
31 State v Dictado
Includes materials labeled "Box 1"
approximately 1981-1982
32 Freedom of Information Request Documents, and other materials
Original box labeled "Green Covers & FBI Discovery"
approximately 1970s-1980s
33 Freedom of Information Request Documents, and other materials
Original box labeled "Green Covers & FBI Discovery"
approximately 1970s-1980s
34 Domingo v Marcos Correspondence and Court Documents and Materials Related to Malabed approximately 1980s
35 Complaints and Motions to Dismiss, Philippines Summary Judgement approximately 1980s
36 Financial Records, Fundraising, and Freedom of Information Request Documents approximately 1980s
37 FBI Discovery, Pleadings
Includes audio tape and 3 CDs/DVDs
approximately 1980s
38 Motions to Dismiss, Drafts, Proposals, Notes, and other materials approximately 1980s
39 Materials Related to Appeal, Malabed Deposition, and other materials
Includes audio tape
approximately 1980s
40 Federal Trial Appeal approximately 1986-1990
41 Documents from the Philippines (Discovery) approximately 1980s
42 Documents related to the NSA, Forsythe, Correspondence, Exhibits, and other materials approximately 1980s

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names
    • Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (host institution)