This is William D. Haywood's own story, written during the last year
of his life. A heroic giant of the American labor movement during its
most turbulent years, "Big Bill" was a Socialist and a
founder and leader of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Born
in Salt Lake City, he went into the Nevada metal mines at the age of
15 and joined the Western Federation of Miners in 1896 at 27. At 31,
he was Secretary-Treasurer
of the WFM and led its epic struggles against the mining trusts. He
became the storm center of many other great labor struggles on the
eve of the first World War, including the strikes of textile workers
in Lawrence, Mass. and in Paterson, N.J. He also led the militant
Wobbly "Free Speech" fights, and was prosecuted for
opposing U.S. entry into World War I. His story, a swift moving
narrative as absorbing as a novel, should be known to the present
generation.
