Bogalusa Labor Conflict of 1919

This entire passage has been taken directly from The Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History---Vol. 2 of a 3 Vol. Series. This particular part was written by the brilliant Professor of History Stephen H. Norwood and is based upon his groundbreaking work "Bogalusa Burning: The War against Bi-racial unions in the Deep South, 1919." It should be required reading for all Bogalusa school children and should result in the building of a labor statue in the Goodyear Park. We will work on it. ---

The Bogalusa, Louisiana, labor conflict of 1919 produced the most dramatic display of interracial labor solidarity in the Deep South in the first half of the twentieth century. The Great Southern Lumber Company (GSL) systematic use of violence to disrupt the organization of loggers and mill workers caused the Louisiana Federal of Labor at the time to denounce its anti-union campaign as among the most brutal in American history. The United Brothers of Carpenters and Joiners(UBCJ) and the International Brotherhood of Timber Workers(IBTW), both American Federation of Labor(AFL) affiliates, welcomed Blacks into their ranks early in the organizing drive because they feared the company could mobilize them as strikebreakers. Blacks represented a significant proportion of the lumber industry's labor force.

Bogalusa's white and black workers drew much closer together as the organizing campaign proceeded, in part because company gunmen and pro-employer vigilantes violently assaulted unionist of both races. In addition, several factors peculiar to the lumber industry made white loggers and saw mill workers more receptive to including blacks in their unions. The dangerous and physically demanding nature of work in the forests and sawmills caused whites and blacks to respect each others courage, strength and endurance, qualities they considered essential in defining masculinity. In the lumber industry, where tasks were relatively homogeneous, whites ad blacks worked closely together. Blacks were therefor less likely to be stigmatized by less desirable jobs.

GSL's violent campaign of intimidation against the union effort revealed the limits of company paternalism. Entrepreneurs from Buffalo established Bogalusa as a model town in 1906, intended as an alternative to dilapidated shack settlements surrounding most southern lumber mills. GSL touted Bogalusa as a "New South City of Destiny" centered around the world's largest lumber mill. The company deliberately dispersed housing to present congestion and boasted that it provided modern recreational and school facilities for each race. But it also tightly controlled town government and maintained its own heavily armed police force. While fiercely anti-union, GSL denounced the organizing of blacks in particularly venomous terms, charging that the unions threatened the racial hierarchy on which social order depended.

PART 2 coming next.

The Achilles Heel of the Great Southern Lumber Company

Frank Goodyear created what was on paper an unstoppable force in the South. Its size, technology, rail line system, backing by the business elite etc all helped the company do one thing well---be the lowest cost producer of lumber in the Nation. This production cost advantage was key to the operation. Having the lowest cost of production ensured profits and survivability across economic conditions. Without it the Company was vulnerable to being taken over during an economic downturn. Frank well understood how his Jekyll Island "friends" used constriction of the monetary supply to force economic downturns during which they "took over" other less capitalized business entities such as oil, coal, railroads, etc companies. Being the lowest cost producer of lumber in the Nation gave the Goodyear family economic power and status in the business elite of our Nation. The fact bogalusa timber was also the best in the world was icing on the cake Frank created.

But what you might ask was the Achilles heel of such a brilliant operation? Labor. Labor. Oh did I mention labor. Or should I say the concentration of labor in one "factory" which controlled the production of the entire volume of the business output. Frank had all his economic eggs in one basket. In Penn and New York Frank had as many as 15 saw mills going at one time. Labor problems at one site did not disrupt the other sites. He could play workers in one location against those of another location and avert problems in this manner. His Great Southern Lumber Company did not have this luxury. These workers were by the nature of the plant more specialized and highly trained or skilled. The very fact that a relatively few workers could shut down the entire production of the Great Southern Lumber Company, and due to their skill set not be so easily replaced, created a risk which blew up in 1919. Unions.

To put it in terms any Walmart customer can understand. Why does the meat at Walmart taste so bad? It would seem Walmart could have some mighty fine meat given their technology in supply chain, labor cost and procurement skills. The reason their meat is so awful has to do with Unions. Unions? Yes. A few, maybe 4 or 5 butchers, can shut down the grocery business of any one Walmart location if they go on strike. Multiply this on a National level and you have a very small percentage of workers being able to destroy the company. Meat cutting is a highly skilled labor function which requires a skilled person to engage in it. Not just any teenager off the street can do it. The positions in the store require no such skill set and thus are harder to Unionize.

This is why Walmart doesn't have butchers in their stores and the meat sucks because of this. Same problem with the Great Southern Lumber Company. A few well placed Union members could shut down the plant overnight and keep it shut down for a long time. This is also why the Company went to such extremes to control the community and workers. They feared Unions because their very structure of production made them more vulnerable to Unions. Unions would assure the Company would no longer have the lowest cost of production and make the entire enterprise vulnerable to predatory business men like JP Morgan, etc. During economic hard times the JP Morgans of the world bought companies on the cheap, destroyed family/investor equity, and consolidate the industry to ensure HIS ability to profit off the industry. Frank knew the game well and his Great Southern Lumber Company could survive any economic climate IF it didn't become Unionized.

Jekyll Island Club a hotbed of fascism?

Does fascist really describe the Jekyll Island Club core members who helped Frank Goodyear design the structure of Bogalusa? Yes and no. Yes if you define fascism as below. No if you use one of its other variations which have been used by those who consider themselves fascist but merely use a fascist social structure to form a dictatorship. The Jekyll Island Club members were fascist in the sense of business elitist who desired to control the government/business functions of society and make this combined entity the core of society. It differs from Communism in that it places business leaders as the ruling class of society and subjects political leaders to the business community. Facism is based on the survival of the fittest rule.

Keep in mind the business class we are discussing are not ordinary workers,factory managers, etc. These are the leaders who control the money and major industries which are consolidated under their model to operate as a unified force against all those who compete for control over society.

The essential question is who runs the society? Is a society dominated by big business which dictate the functioning of all other social institutions or should there be a more equal play between the competing forces of social functioning? For the Jekyll Island crowd it is business which rules the world plain and simple. Everything functions at the bequest of consolidated business leaders such as those who vacationed on the island. Convenient philosophy which would ensure their families as rulers through out the generations. Oddly enough Bogalusa functioned under the direction of the Great Southern Lumber Company as the embodiment of the fascist model.


(First and most important is the glorification of the state and the total subordination of the individual to it. The state is defined as an organic whole into which individuals must be absorbed for their own and the state's benefit. This "total state" is absolute in its methods and unlimited by law in its control and direction of its citizens.

A second ruling concept of fascism is embodied in the theory of social Darwinism. The doctrine of survival of the fittest and the necessity of struggle for life is applied by fascists to the life of a nation-state. Peaceful, complacent nations are seen as doomed to fall before more dynamic ones, making struggle and aggressive militarism a leading characteristic of the fascist state. Imperialism is the logical outcome of this dogma.

Another element of fascism is its elitism. Salvation from rule by the mob and the destruction of the existing social order can be effected only by an authoritarian leader who embodies the highest ideals of the nation. This concept of the leader as hero or superman, borrowed in part from the romanticism of Friedrich Nietzsche , Thomas Carlyle , and Richard Wagner , is closely linked with fascism's rejection of reason and intelligence and its emphasis on vision, creativeness, and "the will." ) From this link.


Clearly when unions attempted to gain control in Bogalusa it was tantamount to an attack on the ruling elite of the Nation. Bogalusa was their model city. Their magic city which demonstrated just how well corporate fascism worked to produce good in society. The idea of the federal government under Woodrow Wilson going into Bogalusa to aid unions is misguided. After WW1 Conger Goodyear was in Europe conducting an examination for the United States of the condictions of coal mines in Europe. The Goodyears were helping map out the post war division of assets which is called the plunder of war for the government. The most important legislative victory for Wilson was the creation of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve was born on what island? Well they don't call it the Creature from Jekyll Island for nothing...But that is another Jekyll Island creation which will have to wait for another day to discuss.

For now it is good to know that the powers of the state/business/media/church/racial membership/government were all manipulated in a planned manner by the Jekyll Island Club to create a well functioning community which was lead by a strong leader who controlled it all. The Goodyears were not subject to the government they used the government to their advantage. They knew Presidents on a first name basis and Presidents knew the power their group of business partners held in the Nation. So a group of workers from the rural south didn't stand a chance for getting help from the White House with the Goodyear family in the picture.

Frank and the boys created a unique developement in Bogalusa.

The goals of the Jekyll Island Club were paramount in Frank Goodyears design of what would be called Bogalusa. His goal was to secure the backing and full support of the business leaders of his day. He was keen on having Bogalusa be more than a lumber/rail operation. No his vision was to create something which would attract the interest and full support of the Jekyll Island Club which of course helped ensure the success of the venture and the entrance of the Goodyear family into the Nations' business ruling elite. Having it tied to the interest of the social and political goals of the Jekyll Island crowd afforded Frank the assurance of the ventures support and success. It worked. It was his Magnum opus.

What do we know about the actual structure of the venture which Frank Goodyear created? Plenty. We know he designed the lumber mill to be a centrally located operation which would be equipped with the most technologically practical equipment of its day. By concentration of the sawmill operation Frank hoped to fully utilize the equipment and thus reduce the cost per lumber foot of production. Additionally it would afford the ability to manage the labor of the mill by one leader who would be a Goodyear loyalist. This afforded the family the ability to more easily manage the operation from afar which was another goal. It eliminated some of the inefficiencies which had plagued Frank in his multi-mill operations in the North.

By concentration of the workers who processed the lumber Frank was able to spread the cost of developing a world class city in the economically deprived deep south. This was an important goal of the Jekyll Island drinking club which meet after dinner to discuss world and nation politics/business. Frank aligned his economic development with the desire of the club to have a demonstration of the advantages of a combined business/governmental/worker society lead by of course the business community. This made his Great Southern Lumber Company a proponent of the political/economic model the drinking club desired to have the United States adopt. Again by aligning the goals of the Great Southern Lumber Company to the goals of the Jekyll Island Club core membership he assured their full support and continued support through out the ventures life. This reduced the risk of failure to the Goodyear family.

The use of rail services were designed to lower the cost of transportation of the very heavy bogalusa pine which Frank was harvesting in a large geographical area. His rail line would afford the community access to outside markets and lower the cost of developing the world class city Frank's demostration product demanded. It also afforded Frank the opportunity to use Jewish merchants who could be very easily controlled by the Great Southern Lumber Company due to religious intollence of the day and their dependance upon the rial system to transport the products they sold in Bogalusa. The railroad provided Frank with the opportunity to secure profits and control from the Jewish merchants trade in a manner that was not obvious to the working class. The rail system and its various lines were crucial to the development of the worlds largest sawmill in Bogalusa because it afforded ready tranportation to the plant from the various remote lands which the limber was harvested from.

In keeping with the JP Morgan style Frank sought to consolidate the rail service in the area to lesson the competition and consolidate power. Frank bought out the Northshore rail system which serviced the lower Pearl River Basin timber community and thus assured his dominance of the rail system and those who used the system. It is not known what role the alligator skin bags noted by Charles Goodyear placed in the procurement of the local railsystem which had been paid for by tax payers and sold by politicans played if any?

The actual site of Bogalusa was choosen based upon the desire to have the community and lumbermill totally dependant upon the rail system for its existance. It was politically desided to establish the City in Louisiana for what the family describes as political and legal reasons. More research would be needed to confirm the exact legal issues which faced the company.

The issues of race and religion were considered in the location of the City. The racial compisition of the city was set by the Goodyears to be 40 percent black and 60 percent white. The Goodyear family were experts in the psychology of the southern white male, the southern black male and racial dynamics. The history of Bogalusa written by the Goodyear family notes a strong religious intollence of protestant faiths in the area during the Spanish rule. This is accurate. The Goodyear family established a community which welcomed protestant faiths which is good. However, the history of Bogalusa as told by the family demonstrates not only a good understanding of the past oppresions of protestant faiths but a willingness on the part of the Goodyears to cast aspersions at those of the Catholic faith who lived in the area. This leads one to suspect not only race but religius issues were used to control the community which developed in Bogalusa.

Schools, hospitals etc were planned by Frank to ensure their availability and for their use in controlling a population. Frank also made sure the local media would be loyal to the Great Southern Lumber Company by domination of the rest of the community. The city itself was planned professionally by leading city planners of the day. This assured a world class city would result. It also assured a rapid time line for the development which was used by the Goodyears to draw attention to the advantages of the private sectors efforts. One important function which the Company instituted was a police force which was provided by the Company but patrolled the local community. This was the ultimate in corporate government alignment and one which should not be overlooked.

Lastly, the use of community pride was crucial to the development. Those who rule by government/business/labor consolidation rely upon development of strong civic pride among the workers to keep the community focus on pro social activities which lead to business success. It also keeps the focus off money which is of course the focus of the business leaders who run the operation. Better for labor to focus on the glorious things being done in their community on their behalf by the paternalistic business/government union which is more efficient. The goal of the operation was to make the Great Southern Lumber Company the focus of the community to the exclusion of government, workers and religion. IE all competition to the company for focus of the community were either bought off, eliminated or controlled directly by the company.

Jekyll Island Club: Birthplace of Bogalusa.

The Jekyll Island Club was an exclusive club which afforded members the opportunity to meet in private to discuss business activities. Frank Goodyear joined the Club at the twilight of his career. Frank used his membership in the club to develop the Great Southern Lumber Company's very structure and role in society. His membership in the Jekyll Island Club afforded him easy access to the very business leaders who ran this Nation during the time Bogalusa was developed. In our opinion they viewed Bogalusa as a model to exhibit the economic and social advantages which could be developed when all powers of industry, government and labor were conbined into one unified entity controlled by business leaders.

Their Gilded Cage: The Jekyll Island Club Members
From the introduction---

When one reads the careers of the Jekyll Island Club members, male and female, outlined in this book, one can imagine the extraordinary conversations that took place and the ideas and plans that were born in the clubhouse parlors or on its wide veranda. In fact, Dr. Walter Belknap James, who was club president during the 1920's, once commented that the "the real core of Jekyll Island's great days was to be found in the men's after dinner talks. It was always of great things, of visions, and of developing. If they didn't have a map of the United States before them, they had a map of industry or financial empires in their minds. Even today, there is scarcely an aspect of modern business or economics that they did not impact in some important way.

My brother, Frank, writes from his winter home on Jekyll Island, where he is making his annual visit to get away from the wretched weather which we have up here at this time of the year, that he was fortunate in meeting James J. Hill, who with George F. Baker, J. P. Morgan and other
financiers were wont to gather in the clubhouse in the late afternoons for their customary drinks of Scotch and soda. Apparently Mr. Hill was very much interested in our plans for building a railroad from Lake Pontchartrain to Jackson, Mississippi. Advice from an empire builder like James J. Hill, who has achieved such outstanding success in developing the Northwest, did not go unheeded, with the result that we have decided to construct our railroad with long tangents straight up the Pearl River Valley through the heart of our timberlands.

Their names are the names of legend: Morgan, Pulitzer, Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, and the lives they lived were the envy of the masses. Richard J. Hutto tells the story of the men and women of the Jekyll Island Club and the effect they had on the U.S. economy, on politics, arts, education, and culture not only in their lifetimes, but in the many years since. The decisions they made over drinks in the evening while vacationing far away from the city lights affected all Americans. This fascinating account of who they were and what they did is delightful reading, entertaining while informing about a unique chapter in American history and the exclusive group of men who made it.

The Jekyll Island Club Hotel represents the height of the Club era. The Victorian-style clubhouse was completed in 1888, and the Annex – a complex of eight privately owned apartments -- was completed in 1901. The Club operated from January through April each winter from 1888 to 1942. At one point, it is estimated that the members of the Jekyll Island Club controlled 1/6 of the country’s wealth. As such, some events that shaped our nation occurred at this very site. The first transcontinental telephone call was placed from Jekyll by AT&T president Theodore Vail, a Club member, to President Woodrow Wilson and Alexander Graham Bell. In 1907, the hotel served as the location of a secret meeting that led to the development of the Federal Reserve System. Historic District Cottages. From 1888- 1928 members also constructed fourteen cottages in the location we now know as the Historic District.

Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hide: A tale of two brothers.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the fascinating Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to examine the theory that man has a dual nature. In the book Dr. Jekyll was successful in separating the good and evil sides of himself via the use of a drug he created. The good doctor had created a drug which turned him into the evil Mr. Hyde. As Hyde, Dr. Jekyll lived the free and fleshly life of his evil side. However, the effects of the drug became unpredictable. Discovering that he cannot get hold of a crucial type of salt, Dr. Jekyll realized that he could no longer continue in this double life. In the laboratory, unsuccessful at recreating the drug, Dr. Jekyll killed himself before two of his concerned friends could break in. Dr. Jekyll wrote a confession to his strange experiment, with the knowledge that if the Hyde character won over his nature, there would be no turning back from his evil nature.

If the Goodyear Family were to be described by the Jekyll and Hyde characters: Frank Goodyear would definitely be a great Mr. Hyde and Charles would be a great personification of Doctor Jekyll. Frank being the dark side of the family traits and Charles possessing almost ever good trait of the family. Charles was charming and charismatic to say the least. Frank was overbearing, demanding, manipulative and abusive to those he felt he could abuse. Frank sucked up to the powerful and rich. Charles helped those who had little in life as well as those who were rich. You could almost say they were complete opposites which might explain their many conflicts.

Charles held great social skills which resulted in his achieving unparalleled political power in his rise to the top of the American elite of his day. Frank had great business and marrying skills which resulted in his rising to the top of the American elite of his day. However, the two operated as a conflicted pair in their life's work. Each benefited from the others skills and as a pair they were a very powerful team. Sadly Charles must accept responsibility for using Frank's twisted business plans and skills to amass a huge fortune for his own family. More than the money Frank was able to provide Charles and his children with a lifestyle that approached that of a modern day lord or prince at least in the Bogalusa community. Frank did suffer greatly in his life and probably had what is known as bi-polar disorder in this authors opinion. Couple this bipolar disorder with anti-social personality traits and you have a formula for a person who brings much misery into the lives of everyone he meets.

Charles side of the family were in fact benevolent lords who ruled with a velvet hand. Sadly many of the supervisors of the Great Southern Lumber Company were picked by Frank and held his hard nosed view of the world. So the face of the company was one of hard nosed capitalism couple with a very paternalistic polished social heart. One cannot help but like Charles Goodyear when reading about him or when reading congressional testimony he gave during his life. I can only conclude that the family operated much like the novel by Stevenson. They personified good and evil all in one package. The same could be said for their creation the Great Southern Lumber Company. Much good was achieved by the company but so was much evil.

Last, it must be understood that the very social, economic, racial, religious etc structure of Bogalusa was planned out by Frank Goodyear and his "friends" such as JP Morgan on Jekyll Isand. Charles had important management duties but the actual structure of the company and thus the community was Franks mindchild. One can only thank God for taking Frank when he did before he could have created even more damage to South Louisiana and Mississippi. We were fortunate to have Charles and his children remain to lesson the harm which was created.

Don't get me wrong Charles believed himself to be a Good Sheppard who was benefiting the community while making a huge fortune himself. But the facts are Frank's brainchild was implemented by Franks key employees who were themselves brutal men just like Frank. Had they been more like Charles they would have been viewed as weak by Frank and abused to the point of being fired. I believe there was a good amount of denial by Charles Goodyear about what was going on in Bogalusa and this is evident in the History written by his son. I can only hope the family re-examines their role in the creation of many social problems which exist in Bogalusa to this day. This is more a plea for help than an indictment of the Goodyear Family.

Some of what I post is hard on the Goodyear Family. I do hope these harsh words can be softened by corrections of any mistakes or inaccuracies I may have made. Better would be assistance in helping correct the current problems in Bogalusa by those living members of the family and living corporate charities birthed from the profits of the Great Southern Lumber Company. It is hardly fair for anyone to benefit from murder, race baiting, and other evil practises, while those who are negatively impacted by such behavior are left to suffer in obscurity.

This in large part is why I write about these matters. So that those who suffer can know exactly why they have the issues which lesson their spiritual and economic growth. What is needed is healing and help for those suffering from this terrible past. This is why I believe those who are still benefiting from the transgressions should come forward to help. I will continue to write about these matters but I felt compelled to give my opinion at this point out of respect for the readers right to know my own biases in the matter.

THE GOODYEAR LABOR MASSACRE OF 1919.

The City of Bogalusa was the brainchild of the Jekyll Island Club that helped Frank Goodyear conceptualized every last detail of the formation of Bogalusa as a community. It is apparent that the group hoped Bogalusa would become a shining example of the benefits of what they believed was their ability to create a better society for America. Frank Goodyear combined the roles of industrial leader, labor leader and government leader into one job. Any attempts to assert leadership roles over these functions were perceived by the Great Southern Lumber Company(Company) as a challenge to their authority to be the center of society.

It is important to know that several "independent" social functions such as the media and merchant class of Bogalusa was dominated and controlled by the Company. The company made it a point to assert that such entities as local merchants were free to operate without constrant from the Company and that local housing was being converted to individual ownership in newspaper accounts of the mid 1920's. The real question is why would the Company feel compelled to point this out in a Newspaper they controlled? Attracting labor was the reason. The Company had developed a reputation as being a heavy handed employer who controlled all aspects of their employee's lives. This account of the Goodyear Massacre indicates the reputation was earned by the behavior of the Company and not jealous rumors started by competing employers in the lumber industry.

The following is an account of the Goodyear Massacre, which is vastly different than the one Charles Goodyear, tells in his history of Bogalusa---

((In 1917 they put in a very large pulp and paper mill at the Bogalusa plant, and about that time the workmen at Bogalusa began to try to organize. They asked for organizers, and several attempts were made to help the people there. About this tune a young man named Rodgers, an organizer for the carpenters and joiners, went to Bogalusa and while there was arrested as a suspicious character. He was released after getting the news to some of his friends in New Orleans; however, they claimed that he was a dangerous character and filed charges against him in the federal court and while he was in jail at Bogalusa, the Bogalusa officers had put dynamite caps and fusein his grip. This grip was produced in the federal court as evidence, but their case was so flimsy and so crude that the federal authorities dismissed it without trial.

Later James Leonard, at that time vice-president of the State Federation of Labor and an organizer of the A. F. of L., went to Bogalusa and was told by the authorities there that they would not permit any organizer to come there and organize the men. Mr. Leonard left Bogalusa and returned to New Orleans; however, this did not stop the desire of the workers at Bogalusa, who were in touch with the state federation; and later on W. M. Donnells was sent there as an organizer for the carpenters, and organized the carpenters of the place. Then, in rapid succession, the organization of all lines followed until we had seventeen local unions at the place with a splendid central union.

Seeing that the men had organized in spite of their efforts to thwart it, the company became furious and tried to intimidate the members of the locals; finding that this would not work they then started systematic system of discharging all white union men and putting non-union Negroes to work in their places and at the same time making a great deal of noise and trying to work up a spirit of antagonism to the organization of Negroes, even telling the farmers and planters that we were trying to organize the Negro farm laborers. This forced the hand of labor and a campaign of organization was then begun to organize the Negroes in the employ of the Great Southern Lumber Company. This brought on quite a little feeling. The company called a mass-meeting of the citizens, where several public men, among them a Congressman, made speeches opposing the organization of Negroes. Donnells spoke at that meeting and defended the right of labor to organize. Seeing that the defended the right of labor to organize.

Seeing that the men were determined the company then entered into an agreement to the effect that they would stop discharging the union men if they would cease organizing Negroes. This arrangement was made with the understanding that no union man should be discriminated against or prejudiced in any way because of his membership in a union. This arrangement had not been made thirty days when the company immediately started discharging both white and colored union men, and issued an ultimatum from Mr. W. S. Sullivan, the vice-president and general manager of the plant, that he would not recognize any union man and that he would not meet nor confer with any one representing union labor and instructed his office to so inform Donnells and others.

This agreement was made in April of 1919, and from that time on things happened fast at Bogalusa. Mr. Sullivan, who was vice-president of the Great Southern Lumber Company, was also mayor of the town of Bogalusa. He then placed about thirteen of his henchmen that had not joined labor on the police force of the town. They were augmented by a number of deputies appointed by the sheriff of the parish, and then began a reign of terror in the town.

They tried to get rid of all the leaders by terrorizing them and by offering them bribes to leave the place. Finding this would not work, they sent their employment man to Chicago and other cities to secure three thousand Negroes, with the intent of placing nonunion Negroes in the industries there and forcing the union men to leave. They failed to get any men in Chicago; they did not offer sufficient wages and the men were informed that no labor trouble existed. However, the men knew that they were wanted as strike-breakers and would not go. On failing to get men, they immediately began arresting men, both black and white, on all kinds of trumped-up charges and taking them to the county seat about twelve miles away.

The automobiles furnished the police and deputy sheriffs were used for the purpose of taking the men to the county seat, but the men when discharged for lack of evidence had to get back to Bogalusa any way they could. In addition to this, several men were beaten by these same gunmen; others were ordered to leave, while some of them were offered bribes to leave.

They were continually arresting Negroes for vagrancy and placing them in the city jail. It seemed that a raid is made each night in the section of the town where the Negroes live and all that can be found are rounded up and placed in jail charged with vagrancy. In the morning the employment manager of the Great Southern Lumber Company goes to the jail and takes them before the city court where they are fined as vagrants and turned over to the lumber company under the guard of the gunmen where they were made to work out this fine. ))Link to source.

Here is a fresh perspective on the actual murder of several union organizers which occured during this dark period of our history---

“This episode of ‘Chronicles’ brings to life an exciting era of north shore history where the creation of Bogalusa as a mill town with a close-knit, family atmosphere and its sudden, dramatic growth to a bustling city of 16,000 made it one of the most attractive places to work in the South,” Settoon said.

“On the flip side, it shows how even rural Louisiana wasn’t immune to the union labor disputes that ripped cities in the North at that time,” he said. “And of course, the violent labor event which brought whites and blacks together in this region was unprecedented.”

The critical event was the Nov. 22, 1919 murder of four white laborers who gave their lives to protect Sol Dacus, a black member of Timber Workers Local who organized the African-American labor force.

“This episode reveals that race relations in the Deep South were not always as dire as typically depicted,” said the show’s host, Southeastern history professor Sam Hyde, Ford Chair for Regional Studies and director of the Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies. “It is a story of four white men giving up their lives to protect one black man. Even more, it is a story of Louisianians coming together in a unity of purpose seldom seen in other regions with dramatic and devastating consequences.”)) Link to source.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/bogalusa.htm