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World Trade Organization 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest collection, 1993-2011

Overview of the Collection

Title
World Trade Organization 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest collection
Dates
1993-2011 (inclusive)
Quantity
47.51 cubic feet, (34 boxes, including 27 videocassettes and 1 cd rom disk, 6 oversize objects, 3 tubes, 2 packages, and 1 vertical file)
Collection Number
5177
Summary
Protest materials from the 1999 WTO Ministerial Conference held in Seattle
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

Open to all users, but access to portions of the collection is restricted. Contact repository for details.

Request at UW

Languages
Collection materials are in English.
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Historical Note

The WTO History Project and its associated archives are largely a response to the momentous protests that took place between November 29 and December 3, 1999 in Seattle during the World Trade Organization Ministerial meetings. The project also documents the mobilization that preceded the Ministerial. The protests were mounted by a wide array of groups and individuals, especially organized labor, environmentalists, and pro-democracy activists concerned that the WTO encouraged trade practices harmful to workers and the environment and operated in a manner which they considered largely undemocratic.

The WTO History Project was a partnership based at the University of Washington that included the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement, and the University Libraries. The groups collaborated to ensure that future researchers of the WTO protests would have access to documentary evidence relating to the range of people involved in the protests, the many strategies and issues they brought to the streets and the meeting rooms, and the coalitions they formed.

During the nearly nine month mobilization in 1999, local and national non-governmental groups representing a variety of interests determined how to publicize the threat posed by the WTO and how to frame their messages to attract the attention of the public, the media and the WTO itself. The lengthy and often contentious mobilization process led to a six-week period immediately preceding the protests during which activists prepared themselves and the public with public teach-ins, training, and debates.

On November 30, 1999, first day of the ministerial meetings, thousands of largely peaceful protestors blocked delegates' entrance to the opening plenary session. According to press reports, Seattle police in riot gear responded by releasing volleys of tear gas and pepper spray at 10:00 am and continued to do so throughout the day. The police eased up when the 20,000-member labor march reached the downtown core from the Seattle Center, where a large rally had been held. WTO officials cancelled the opening ceremonies. At a time difficult to verify after the fact, Mayor Paul Schell declared a civil emergency, ordering streets to be cleared by 7:00 pm and imposing a curfew on a large area of downtown, from Yesler Way to Denny Way and from Interstate 5 to Elliott Bay. Word of the curfew reached people on the streets at about 4:00 pm. Some dispersed, but others remained and were herded out of downtown by police firing tear gas and pepper spray. At approximately 10:00 pm the State Patrol reinforced the police. Scattered vandalism and looting of several downtown businesses had occurred during the day.

Early the following day, Wednesday, December 1, Seattle police established a 'demonstration-free zone' around the WTO meeting site at the Seattle Convention and Trade Center. They severely restricted access to the area, but protests continued. The ministerial meeting was shut down for five hours that day. Governor Gary Locke sent additional State Patrol troopers and two National Guard units to relieve and assist the Seattle police. Clashes between protesters and police spilled over in the evening to Capitol Hill, east of downtown. By then the focus had shifted somewhat, away from the WTO and towards the police response to the protests. Several hundred protesters were arrested, and other protesters demonstrated outside the King County Jail.

The following day the Mayor's Office reduced the size of what it called a 'limited curfew zone' to the area bounded by Fourth Avenue, Pine Street, Boren Avenue, Seneca Street, and Interstate 5. Some protests were staged on Friday, especially inside the convention center. Protestors demonstrated outside the King County jail again on Friday evening. Eventually charges were dropped against most of the over 400 people arrested.

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Content Description

The WTO Seattle Collection is composed of one large and several smaller accessions. Accession 5177-003, the largest, primarily covers the period from mid-1999 to early 2000. Included are publicity materials, other ephemeral material distributed during various events, reports, published and unpublished writings about the many issues of concern to activists, photos, audio recordings, and communications among the activists who organized events. Oversize items include posters, signs used in teach-ins and protests, and rain ponchos and other objects worn or used in the protests. Personal accounts written after the protests describe the impact the events had on several individuals and often contrast sharply with media accounts of the same events.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Some restrictions exist on copying, quotation or publication. Contact Repository for details.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 17 accessions.

  • Accession No. 5177-003, World Trade Organization, 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest Collection, 1993-2000
  • Accession No. 5177-004, World Trade Organization, 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest Collection, 1999
  • Accession No. 5177-005, World Trade Organization, 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest Collection, 1998-2000 December
  • Accession No. 5177-006, World Trade Organization, 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest Collection, 1999 October-2000 December
  • Accession No. 5177-007, World Trade Organization, 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest Collection, 1999-1999
  • Accession No. 5177-008, World Trade Organization, 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest Collection, 2000
  • Accession No. 5177-009, WTO Seattle collection, 1999
  • Accession No. 5177-010, WTO Seattle collection, 1999
  • Accession No. 5177-011, WTO Seattle collection, 1996-2000
  • Accession No. 5177-012, WTO Seattle collection, 2000
  • Accession No. 5177-013, WTO Seattle and global justice collection, 1998-2011
  • Accession No. 5177-014, WTO Seattle collection, 1999-2003
  • Accession No. 5177-015, Ruth Yarrow WTO Seattle protests collection, 1999
  • Accession No. 5177-016, World Trade Organization 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference umbrella, bag, and media guide, 1999
  • Accession No. 5177-017, "No World Trade Without Workers Rights" WTO protest banner, 1999
  • Accession No. 5177-018, World Trade Organization 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Bus Advertisement Sign, 1999
  • Accession No. 5177-019, World Trade Organization 1999 Seattle Ministerial Conference Protest collection, 1999

Processing Note

Many items in this collection were created by organizations identified in the finding aid as subgroups. Other items were received and kept by these groups to document issues and events. Many gifts of this material were sought and received by WTO History Project staff in the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. Still other batches were collected by interested individuals and forwarded to the Libraries or to the Bridges Center. Subgroups have been established for the following records-creating organizations:

  • Subgroup I: Direct Action Network, a loosely-organized non-hierarchical umbrella organization for groups of protestors
  • Subgroup II: Earthjustice Legal Defense, a nonprofit law firm that represents public interest clients
  • Subgroup III: International Forum on Globalization, a coalition of organizations concerned about the effects of globalization
  • Subgroup IV: King County Labor Council
  • The Ralph Nader-sponsored Subgroup V: People for Fair Trade/Network Opposed to WTO and its UW student affiliate organization
  • Subgroup VI: Public Citien's Global Trade Watch, a coalition of trade and labor groups
Subgroup VII: Alan Rabinowitz includes materials contributed by Dr. Rabinowitz, a Seattle resident who helped fund educational activities in advance of the Ministerial. Included in it, besides audio cassettes of World Trade Watch are printed e-mails of preparatory reports, of writings of various friends and contacts of Rabinowitz, of correspondence about the creation of the Independent Media Center, and of news articles.

Subgroup VIII: NGO Committee for the Seattle Host Organization is very small and consists mainly of packets and other information for delegates.

During processing in 2000-2001, materials were also grouped chronologically within each subgroup. " Pre-WTO" reflects advance planning and reports about issues posed by the World Trade Organization. "During WTO" documents activities during the week of the Ministerial meetings, November 29-December 3. "Post-WTO" includes subsequent analyses as well as local materials which address the activists' counter-response to the police actions during the Ministerial week.

Major correspondents include Alan Rabinowitz; Jeremy Simer, an activist with People for Fair Trade/No to WTO; and Patti Goldman, an attorney with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund and the environmental community's representative to the Seattle Host Organization.

Related Materials

Wikidata is available for this collection

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Anti-globalization movement--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Protest movements--Washington (State)--Seattle

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Goldman, Patti (creator)
    • Rabinowitz, Alan (creator)
    • Simer, Jeremy (creator)

    Corporate Names

    • AFL-CIO. King County Labor Council of Washington (creator)
    • Direct Action Network (creator)
    • Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (creator)
    • Institute For Agriculture And Trade Policy (creator)
    • International Forum On Globalization (creator)
    • Labor Archives of Washington (University of Washington) (curator)
    • People For Fair Trade (creator)
    • Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch (creator)
    • World Trade Organization. Ministerial Conference


2007 (Last modified: 12/13/2024)

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