Shelvy Daffron Memorial
Shelvy Daffron gave his life in the cause for better living conditions. For the end of the shape-up and the creation of a rank & file union. The ILWU.
From the book, "History of the Seattle Waterfront"
At the June 30 Joint Northwest Strike Committee meeting, Seattle delegate Shelvy Daffron reported, "There was Hell to pay out at Pier 41." Action had to be taken before hot-blooded pickets got themselves slaughtered attacking police positions. The meeting temporarily adjourned while delegates hustled to Smith Cove That same evening Daffron accompanied striking sailors and longshoremen to Point Wells to check on a rumor that nonunion crews were about to sail two oil tankers. Thirty strikers rushed the main gate. On the other side guards waited with axe handles. One of the guards yelled, "Let’s give it to them." As the two groups clashed, shots rang out from bushes behind the longshoremen. Striker Shelvy Daffron cried out, "They got me boys! They got me!" Daffron died several hours later in a Seattle hospital of gunshot wounds in his back. On July 6, 1,320 longshoremen and marine workers attended Daffron’s funeral in Eagles’ Hall. Forming a line four abreast, thousands marched behind the hearse and union banners to Lakeview Cemetery.
For fifty-five years, Seattle longshoremen have placed a wreath on Daffron’s grave on July 5.
The Longshoremen who Lost their Lives on the Seattle Waterfront
| William Kade Henry Jackson Pat Priestly George Water Angus Johnson Hans Hanson Milton McAuley John C. Smith Gus Wishman Orlando J. Pittman John Ryan Peter Kavenaugh Steven Peseta J. Milmoe Harry Ragan Joe Goldsby A. G. Bryant Samuel Grover Charles Hallier T. Thompson Gust Nelson Fred Jackson Harry Krise Gilbert Halverson Stockton Rumsey James G. Carlson Edward C. Grampie Martin Burns John Miller Anatone Olson Alfred C. Jack S. C. Sullivan Fred W. Wilford |
1886 1886 1886 1886 1886 1886 1887 1890 1908 1908 1910 1911 1913 1915 1916 1916 1917 1918 1918 1918 1918 1918 1918 1918 1918 1919 1919 1919 1920 1921 1921 1921 1921
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Erling Johnson Magnus Ulxickson E. J. Sorenson H. W. Curtis Thomas McCarthy James Henry Robert A. Pelky Peter V. Larson Arthur Saboc Hans Hanson John Tangye Shelvy Daffron Olaf Holland Mel B. Anderson Oscar D. Slow Gustaf A. Dahlin John M. Reilly Percey F. Norris Wales C. Fenton Tom Rawson Otto L. Blosi Dallas Schachere John Josvold Donald Scribner Dagfin Petterson Ralph Sharar LeRoy Parr Olimpio Leonardo John W. Miskey Elmer Knutson Douglas Farnan James R. Kennedy Joseph Aliseo Dan Miller |
1922 1922 1922 1922 1923 1925 1925 1926 1927 1927 1928 1934 1934 1936 1937 1937 1938 1939 1943 1959 1960 1962 1962 1963 1964 1965 1969 1972 1972 1972 1976 1984 2007 2007 |
Passed ILWU members