Race and Class in the Pacific Northwest: A Historical Overview

Introduction: Race and Class in Pacific Northwest History

Race and class have been important influences throughout the Pacific Northwest's long history. In fact, some of the most racist laws in America were in effect in the Pacific Northwest at the beginning of the twentieth century. The lives of Mary Arkwright Hutton, Annie Pike Greenwood, and Teiko Tomita are representative of the racial and class tensions that defined the region during that era. Race and class created dissent in the population, but ultimately forged a stronger sense of belonging among the diverse cultural minorities that make up the area today.

Mary Arkwright Hutton and the Labor Movement

Mary Arkwright Hutton was a union supporter and organizer in the early history of the region. She worked in the mining towns of Idaho and became an avid advocate for the men who labored in the mines. Many politicians and mine owners found her abrasive and difficult, but the miners loved her and listened to her impassioned words about fairness and justice for workers. After the small mine she and her husband owned — The Hercules — made them wealthy, the couple moved to a mansion in Spokane, where she continued to work for social causes such as women's suffrage, orphanages, and day-care centers (Schwantes 324).

Her social status may have changed from boarding house matron to society matron, but her work continued to champion the disadvantaged and poor. More importantly, her efforts crossed political boundaries. Historian Schwantes notes, "In 1912 she became the first woman ever elected to the Democratic National Convention" (Schwantes 324). Mary Arkwright Hutton worked for the betterment of all the lower classes, from women to workers, and her life reflects the class tensions between worker and owner that plagued the mines and caused labor unions to grow and prosper at a time when most owners subjugated their employees and took advantage of them whenever they could. The miners retaliated with hatred and violence, and people like Hutton hoped to bridge the gap between the two groups by instituting laws that would protect workers while ensuring the mines remained profitable.

Annie Pike Greenwood and the Farming Struggle

If Mary Arkwright Hutton was a champion for women and miners, Annie Pike Greenwood was a champion for the farmers of the Pacific Northwest. She wrote about the hardships farmers faced as they attempted to cultivate the arid valleys of the region, and she was particularly concerned with the burdens placed on women who worked non-stop on small family farms. She wrote in her book We Sagebrush Folk: "We do not talk, we two women. We must rush, rush, RUSH! There is no such pressure on the men out-of-doors as there is on the women in the kitchen" (Schwantes 208).

The farmers worked tirelessly, but the Great Depression and other economic forces combined to make farming far less profitable than many other professions. As the population left rural farming communities and moved to the cities of the Pacific Northwest, an entire rural class was lost. It blended into urban society but left its rural roots behind. Even more politically significant to the farming community was water — and the scarcity of this precious resource. Conflicts could erupt between farmers who felt their neighbors had overstepped water boundaries, because water was the lifeblood of the farming community. Even with the massive irrigation projects built throughout the region, the water situation remained precarious. Historian Schwantes writes, "The social and economic well-being of dwellers on reclaimed lands depended to a large degree on federal money, power, bureaucracy, the technological expertise of the few, and occasionally the caprice of nature. Such was irrigation's dark underside" (Schwantes 298–300). Politically, farmers were quite powerful in their local communities, which sometimes translated to influence at the state level. However, as time passed, many of these farmers were Japanese immigrants, and this fact created tension between the races — especially after the outbreak of World War II.

Conclusion

Race and class have presented unique problems for the Pacific Northwest. Initially, the area was unwilling to accept ethnic and cultural minorities, and when it did, differences created tension and political unrest. From the miners to the Japanese Americans, each segment of the working class faced strife in the region. Today, the urban areas of the Pacific Northwest have become vast melting pots, and some of the cultural and class divisions have diminished. However, whenever large numbers of diverse people live together, there will always be differences, discussion, and sometimes discord.

References

Amott, Teresa L., and Julie A. Matthaei. A Multicultural Economic History of Women in the United States. Boston, MA: South End Press, 1991.

Schwantes, Carlos Arnaldo. The Pacific Northwest: An Interpretive History. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989.

Taylor, Quintard. "The Civil Rights Movement in the American West: Black Protest in Seattle, 1960–1970." The Journal of Negro History 80.1 (1995): 1+.