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The Politics of San Pedro

ACLU So. Cal Chapter Birthplace
This is the old Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Union Hall at the southeast corner of 12th Street and Centre Street. It was in this building that the Southern California Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) began in May 1923 when it formed to defend striking dockworkers in San Pedro. The IWW began a branch in San Pedro in 1905. The IWW or "Wobblies" led a longshoremen strike, in which Socialist author Upton Sinclair addressed a crowd of striking dockworkers at Liberty Hill in San Pedro on May 15, 1923 (see Liberty Hill Monument). He was arrested under the Criminal Syndicalism Act when he addressed the crowd and read from the Constitution of the United States. He was represented by the ACLU who began in New York in 1920. Sinclair was a member of the national civil liberties organization. On May 23, 1923, a meeting was held in this building under auspices of the ACLU and Sinclair was the keynote speaker. Sinclair was instrumental in forming the Southern California Chapter of the ACLU, which had become the defense branch of the IWW. The IWW was believed to have Communist leanings and became the target of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Several KKK raids, some with the aid of local police, took place at the IWW union hall. On March 1, 1924, 3000 community members and KKK members surrounded the building and warned the Wobblies to leave town. On June 14, 1924, carloads of KKK member converged on the building and raided it when 300 Wobblies attended a benefit for two of their workers who were killed in a railway accident. Men were kidnapped by the KKK and driven out of town, where they were tarred and feathered. The contents of the building were destroyed and two children were badly scalded when a pot of hot coffee spilled on them during the melee. The IWW was again warned to leave. The Wobblies held there ground and the ACLU protested the Klan influenced raids. In the long run, the IWW prevailed and is one of the strongest labor unions in the world. The building now houses the Maritime Social Club, which was established in 1962. The two story building predates W.W.I. John R. Kielbasa

12th Street and Centre Street, San Pedro, CA Map

Ku Klux Klan Headquarters 1926
This brick building was built and used as a meeting place by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in 1926. The KKK was active in the Harbor Area from 1918 up to the 1930s (as it was in most parts of the country at the time). They fought any attempt to organize labor in the area. The Klan staged and instigated raids (sometimes with the aid of police) against the IWW Union Hall at 12th and Centre Streets in 1923-1924. By 1930 the Klan ceased to use the property and it became a dance hall. During W.W.II the building was used to house military personnel. It was abandoned after the war. In 1956 the building became the Harbor Calvary Church. It still serves as a church today. John R. Kielbasa

867 W 10th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731 Map

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