Joseph James "Smiling Joe" Ettor (1885–1948) was an

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, w ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

organizer who, in the middle-1910s, was one of the leading public faces of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

. Ettor is best remembered as a defendant in a controversial trial related to a killing in the seminal

Lawrence Textile Strike The Lawrence Textile Strike, also known as the Bread and Roses Strike, was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Prompted by a two-hour pay cut corresponding to a ne ...

of 1912, in which he was acquitted of charges of having been an accessory.

Biography

Early years

Joseph James Ettor, known to his friends as "Joe" or "Smiling Joe," was born on October 6, 1885 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the son of a laborer who had

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to America from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

.Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 67. Ettor went to work at the age of 12 selling newspapers. He later worked as a waterboy on a railroad, as a saw-filer in a lumber mill, as a barrel-maker, as a shipyard worker, and in a cigar factory.

Union career

Joe Ettor went to work for the

(IWW) in 1906 as an organizer, continuing in that capacity for the next decade. An outstanding and inspirational public speaker who was fluent in Italian and English, Ettor's earliest organizing work on behalf of the IWW took place in the Western United States, where he had worked unionizing miners and migrant laborers.Philip S. Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement of the United States: Volume 4: The Industrial Workers of the World, 1905-1917.'' New York: International Publishers, 1965; pg. 317. He also had cut his teeth organizing foreign-born workers in the steel mills and shoe factories of the East. Ettor was active in the 1907 lumber strike in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, the

1909 McKees Rocks Strike The Pressed Steel Car strike of 1909, also known as the 1909 McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, McKees Rocks strike, was an American labour (economics), labor strike action, strike which lasted from July 13 through September 8. The walkout drew national ...

and another lesser-known steel strike later that year in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

, a strike of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

coal miners in 1909-10, and a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

shoe factory strike in 1910-11. Iww in ohio american employer

In 1908, Ettor was named to the governing General Executive Board of the IWW, remaining in that capacity until 1914. On January 1, 1912, in accordance with a new state law, the

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

s of

Lawrence, Massachusetts Lawrence is a city located in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, on the Merrimack River. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 89,143. Surrounding communities include Methuen to the north, Andover to the southwest, and Nort ...

posted new rules limiting the hours of workers to 54 a week, down from a standard of 56 previously in effect.Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement of the United States: Volume 4,'' pg. 315. It soon became clear that the employers had no intention of adjusting wage rates upwards to compensate for the lost work time, and a strike ensued. Ettor-JJ-barbersstrike-nyc-130517

On January 12, 1912, the Italian language branch of IWW Local 20 decided to send to New York City for Joe Ettor, the organization's top Italian language leader, to come to Lawrence and lead the strike. Ettor arrived with

Arturo Giovannitti Arturo M. Giovannitti (; 1884–1959) was an Italian-American union leader, socialist political activist, and poet. He is best remembered as one of the principal organizers of the 1912 Lawrence textile strike and as a defendant in a celebrated tri ...

, secretary of the Italian Socialist Federation, a

language federation Language federations were formed in the late 19th and early 20th century by immigrants to the United States, primarily from Eastern and Southern Europe, who shared a commitment to some form of socialist politics. Some of these groups joined the So ...

of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...

and editor of the socialist newspaper ''Il Proletario'' he Proletarian who was not himself at the time a member of the IWW. Ettor instantly called on all his skills, including his ability to speak five languages, to rally the strikers. On his first afternoon in Lawrence, he addressed thousands of strikers, fostering solidarity and discouraging violence. "All the blood that is spilled in a strike is your blood," he told strikers.Watson, Bruce, ''Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and The Struggle for the American Dream,'' pg. 59. Denouncing the mill owners, sympathizing with the toil of textile workers, Ettor called for an even larger walkout. "Monday morning you have got to close the mills that you have caused to shut down, tighter than you have them now." Ettor then set up fourteen strike committees based on nationality, and began meeting daily with everyone from the mayor of Lawrence to the various strikers in committee. Mill owners instantly recognized Ettor's power and tried to discredit him by planting dynamite in a store where he picked up his mail. But the plot was quickly detected and Ettor continued organizing the strike. During the walkout, which came to be known as the

Bread and Roses Strike The Lawrence Textile Strike, also known as the Bread and Roses Strike, was a strike of immigrant workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, in 1912 led by the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Prompted by a two-hour pay cut corresponding to a new ...

, IWW striker

Anna LoPizzo Anna LoPizzo was an Italian immigrant striker killed during the Lawrence Textile Strike (also known as the Bread and Roses Strike), considered one of the most significant struggles in U.S. labor history. Eugene Debs said of the strike, "The Victory ...

was shot and killed.

Joseph Caruso Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

was charged with the murder and Ettor and Giovannitti, both of whom were giving speeches several miles away from the crime scene, were arrested as accomplices. The three were eventually acquitted in a trial before Salem judge Joseph F. Quinn. Ettor was one of the leaders of the

Waiters strike of 1912 The 1912 New York City waiters’ strike began on May 7, 1912 at the Belmont Hotel and was the first general strike for waiters and hotel workers in New York City history. That day over 150 hotel workers walked out as a sign of protest against th ...

, and the

barbers strike of 1913. The question of violence was a perennial matter of discussion and debate within the IWW. Some, like Giovannitti,

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964) was a labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Flynn was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union ...

, and

Vincent St. John Vincent Saint John (1876–1929) was an American labor leader and prominent Wobbly, among the most influential radical labor leaders of the 20th century. Biography Vincent St. John was born in Newport, Kentucky and was the only son of New York ...

, took the position that while the union did not favor violence, it would not shy away from its use if necessary to accomplish the social revolution.Foner, ''History of the Labor Movement of the United States: Volume 4,'' pg. 164. Ettor, on the other hand, shared the orientation of

"Big Bill" Haywood William Dudley "Big Bill" Haywood (February 4, 1869 – May 18, 1928) was an American labor organizer and founding member and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Party of A ...

that the only kind of force to which the organization could lend its name was the use of the

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

for the overthrow of

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

. Ettor became a member of the executive council of the IWW. In 1916, he left the IWW along with Flynn after a dispute over the

Mesabi range The Mesabi Iron Range is a mining district in northeastern Minnesota following an elongate trend containing large deposits of iron ore. It is the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota. ...

strike.

Death and legacy

In later years, Ettor ran a fruit orchard in

San Clemente, California San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway betwee ...

, where he died in 1948.

Footnotes

Works

* ''.'' Debate with Arturo Caroti. Chicago: Industrial Workers of the World, n.d.

912 Year 912 ( CMXII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. __NOTOC__ Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 11 – Emperor Leo VI (the Wise) dies after a 26-year reign in wh ...

* ''Industrial Unionism: The Road to Freedom.'' Chicago : Industrial Workers of the World Pub. Bureau, 1913. —''also translated into Swedish.'' * Watson, Bruce, ''Bread and Roses: Mills, Migrants, and The Struggle for the American Dream,'' Viking, New York, 2005—The only full-length narrative of the 1912 textile strike in Lawrence.

External links

Spartacus Bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ettor, Joseph 1880s births 1948 deaths American anti-capitalists American trade unionists of Italian descent Industrial Workers of the World leaders Trade unionists from New York (state)