Biographical Note Historical Background Scope and Content Restrictions on Access Acquisition Info Processing Info Other Finding Aids Subject Terms |
ca. 1945-1952 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| PH Collection No.: | 601 |
| Creator: | Ekroth, Nels S., creator |
| Title: | Nels and Fair Taylor Ekroth Photograph Collection |
| Date Span: | ca. 1945-1952 |
| Quantity: | 13 photographic prints (1 box, 1 oversize folder) |
| Location: | K0184 |
| M270 (oversize folder) | |
| Languages: | Collection materials are in English. |
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| Office and Professional Workers Protest, CIO, Seattle, 1946. Photo: Fred Carter. Special Collections, UW Libraries, UW23824z |
| Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. |
Nels Ekroth and his wife, Fair Taylor Ekroth (1910-1990), were civil rights activists and supported various labor movements, political rallies, and protests during the 1940s and 1950s. Fair Taylor Ekroth was an officer of the Progressive Party in 1948 and the two met in Seattle in 1949, when both were working for the Progressive Party. Nels was investigated by the Committee for Un-American Activities and lost his job on Seattle's waterfront as a result.
Following World War II, U.S. relations with the Soviets had deteriorated and by 1949 the Chinese Communist revolution was underway. In response, the Truman presidency developed an international policy of "containment" towards Communism. Part of this policy involved the Marshall Plan, implemented to spur the economic recovery of Europe following the war. This policy, as well as domestic labor policy, was not popular with the newly formed leftist Progressive Party, endorsed by both the Communist Party and American Labor Party of New York. Henry Wallace was a prominent member of the Progressive Party. He served as vice president of the United States under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1940 to 1944, but in 1946, while serving as secretary of commerce, he was dismissed by President Truman for his empathetic position towards Russia. In 1948 he was the presidential candidate for the Progressive Party, campaigning against the Marshall Plan. Scant voter support led Wallace to leave the party in 1950. In 1952, Vincent Hallinan was the Progressive Party candidate for president of the United States; his vice-presidential running-mate was Charlotta Bass. After a weak voter response, the party disappeared. Hallinan also gained notoriety for time spent in McNeil Island prison in 1952 for tax evasion.
A political ally of the Progressive Party, Hewlett Johnson was the dean of Canterbury from 1931-1963 and was known as the "Red Dean" because of his outspoken liberal and radical views. Famed writer W.E.B. Dubois shared views with Johnson and with the Progressive Party. In his essay, The Nation, he argues that the strong bipartisan support in the United States makes it impossible for a third political party to rise.
This collection contains photographs of political figures, as well as social and labor union protests. Included are portraits of the Progressive Party's 1952 presidential candidate, Vincent Hallinan, and his vice-presidential running mate, Charlotta Bass. The collection also includes images of the Progressive Party's 1948 presidential candidate, Henry Wallace, and Hewlett Johnson, who was the dean of Canterbury from 1931-1963.
Collection is open to the public.
Source: Nels and Fair Taylor Ekroth, Seattle, Wash., 1967, 1973, 1979, 1990.
Processed by Julie Stranton and Jocelyn Spicer, 2003. Revised by Sarah Nelson, 2004.
The oversized photograph was relocated from the Nels S. Ekroth Papers (Accession no. 689-1), Aug., 1989. The rest of the collection was probably relocated from the Ekroth Papers near that time (Accession nos. 689-1 through 689-5), but the record is unclear.
These materials form part of the Nels S. Ekroth Papers; a finding aid is available in the repository. .
