Hulet Martell Wells (May 4, 1878 – February 15, 1970) was a Canadian-American

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and president of the

Seattle Central Labor Council The Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council (MLKCLC) is the central body of labor organizations in King County, Washington. The MLKCLC is affiliated with the national AFL–CIO, the central labor organization in the United States, which represe ...

, part of the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

. During the first decade of the 20th Century Wells was a leading participant in the free speech movement in Washington, running as the candidate of the

Socialist Party of Washington The Socialist Party of Washington was the Washington state section of the Socialist Party of America (SPA), an organization originally established as a federation of semi-autonomous state organizations. During the 1910s, the Socialist Party of Wa ...

for mayor of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in 1912. Following a prison term for opposition to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Wells reemerged as a labor and political activist, eventually founding the Unemployed Citizens' League of Seattle in 1931.

Biography

Early years

Hulet Martell Wells was born May 4, 1878, near the small town of

La Conner La Conner is a town in Skagit County, Washington, Skagit County, Washington (state), Washington, United States with a population of 965 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon, Washington, Mount Vernon& ...

, located about 60 miles north of

in what was then the

Washington Territory The Washington Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington. It was created from the ...

of the United States.Terry R. Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle: Hulet Wells, Seattle Labor, and the Struggle for Economic Security''. PhD dissertation. Seattle: University of Washington, 1997; pg. 3. Wells' parents, Hiram and Alfreda Wells, hailed from

Eastern Canada Eastern Canada (, also the Eastern provinces, Canadian East or the East) is generally considered to be the region of Canada south of Hudson Bay/ Hudson Strait and east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces (from east to west): Newf ...

from which they emigrated in 1877, shortly after their marriage. The couple took advantage of the

Homestead Act of 1862 The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of t ...

, establishing a land claim in rural

Skagit County, Washington Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Upper and ...

, and constructing a cabin there, where their first son was soon born. Hulet was the oldest of 10 children.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 4. The Wells family were soon joined in Skagit County by relatives from the east, who joined in the farming of grain crops like oats and barley, as well as hay for silage. Wells' mother worked as a teacher in a small community school, while his father farmed and worked to enlarge the family home. The family was poor, forced to take a

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

on the farm to pay for necessary supplies. In 1892 Wells' father sold part of his La Conner farm to buy a 200-acre parcel near

Fort Langley, British Columbia Fort Langley is a village community in Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. It has a population of approximately 3,400 people. It is the home of Fort Langley National Historic Site, a former fur trade post of the Hudson's Bay Company. ...

.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 7. Young Hulet returned to the native country of his parents, where he assisted in clearing the newly acquired land to make it ready for the raising of hay. Hulet later found his first paying employment working for a neighbor in his hayfield for a dollar a day. He was ultimately unable to receive even this pittance, with his employer pleading poverty.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 8. Wells later worked on a larger livestock and grain farm and as a section hand on the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

. Unemployment swept Canada in 1897 and that winter Hulet Wells was unable to find a job and was forced to return to the old family homestead in La Conner, Washington.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 23. The following spring he joined his father as part of the Klondike Gold Rush, heading to the

Yukon Territory Yukon () is a territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s westernmost territory and the smallest ...

with a team of horses hauling living essentials for the pair. The elder Wells returned to the family farm that fall, but Hulet would remain in the Klondike for two years, failing as a miner and taking on a series of odd jobs sufficient to buy food and subsidize his gambling debts.

Return to Washington

As 1899 drew to a close, with another frigid winter on the way and his personal finances dissipated, Hulet Wells decided to return to the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

, booking passage on a steamer for Seattle.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle,'' pg. 29. En route Wells developed a case of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

, which forced his hospitalization in a ramshackle charity hospital upon his arrival in the booming town of about 80,000 people. Wells managed to recover his health and spent the next four years of his life as an itinerant worker, traveling from job to job across the state as a "blanket stiff" as a logger and a

shingle weaver A shingle weaver (US) or shingler (UK) is an employee of a wood products mill who engages in the creation of wooden roofing shingles or the closely related product known as " shakes." In the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, histori ...

. In the winter of 1902 his economic prospects improved (if not his physical conditions) when he obtained a job driving a team of horses to help grade city streets in Seattle in the winter rain. A return to the itinerant lifestyle followed but the seed was planted about the possibility of regular work in an urban setting. In 1904 Wells took the federal

civil service examination Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruiti ...

, passing with high marks and soon gaining employment as a clerk at the Seattle post office. Wells' postal job was difficult and poorly remunerated, with a workday ranging from 9 to 14 hours, six days a week, with poor pay and no benefits.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle,'' pg. 34. Wells was dissatisfied with his job but felt compelled to remain, daunted by poor employment prospects elsewhere. In 1905 in the process of sorting newspapers on the job Wells came across a copy of the seminal socialist weekly '' Appeal to Reason.'' He found it compelling and soon began obtaining and reading various other socialist publications, thereby embarking on a lifetime path of radical political and

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

activity. From 1905 to 1907 Wells studied law through the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

, gaining admission to the

Washington State Bar Association The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) is the state bar association of the U.S. state of Washington. It operates under the delegated authority of the Washington Supreme Court to license the state's nearly 41,000 active and inactive lawyers a ...

in 1907.Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole (eds.), ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pg. 246. Although he never entered legal practice, Wells next moved to attempt to organize postal workers, establishing a local union. This was met forcefully by

Postmaster General A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

Frank Hitchcock, who expelled Wells from further work in the postal service.

Mayoral campaign and its aftermath

In 1911 Wells became more deeply involved in

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

politics, taking a position as editor of the Seattle weekly newspaper ''Socialist Voice.'' He was tapped as the party's candidate for mayor of Seattle in the 1912 campaign. Wells ran on a platform calling for government employment of the unemployed, emphasizing his own working class bona fides by declaring, "I do not pretend to represent anyone but the workingman, and have been a workingman all my life and understand their problems." Wells ultimately finished fourth in the race. Wells' Spring 1912 mayoral campaign was ignored by the conservative ''

Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...

'', owned by Colonel

Alden J. Blethen Alden Joseph Blethen (December 27, 1845 – July 12, 1915) was a teacher and attorney who was editor-in-chief of the ''The Seattle Times, Seattle Daily Times'' from August 10, 1896 until his death. He was often referred to as Colonel Blethen ...

and the largest circulation newspaper in the city of Seattle.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 90. During the campaign Wells and his fellow Socialists opposed a development project strongly favored by Blethen, contributing to the plan's controversy and helping lead it to rejection by the Seattle Port Commission. Two months after the rejection of the plan, 800 Seattle radicals from the Socialist Party and the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

(IWW) marched in honor of

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

marching in a column behind a

red flag Red flag may refer to: Signs and warnings * Red flag (idiom), a literal or metaphorical warning * Red flag (American slavery), signal of an upcoming slave sale * Red flag warning, issued by the National Weather Service in the United States * ...

and the

flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

. A group of veterans of the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

quickly rushed the parade, seizing the red flag. When the procession reached the ''Seattle Times'' building, another group of men charged from an adjoining alley and seized the American flag. Both the ''Times'' and the rival ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' printed provocative stories the next day alleging that the flag carried by the radicals in their march had been spat upon and trampled, with the ''Times'' going so far to allege that Wells had denounced Old Glory as a "dirty rag." Despite the patently false nature of its reports, ''The Times'' continued to print allegations against Wells, who as a former mayoral candidate was the public face of the socialist movement.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 91. This prompted Wells to sue ''The Times'' for

libel Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

, alleging his character had been falsely besmirched. A trial was finally held in the spring of 1913, conducted by Judge John Humphries, a personal friend of ''Times'' publisher Blethen. Wells found the trial so farcically biased that he penned a satirical play based on the proceedings entitled ''The Colonel and His Friends,'' a work published as a pamphlet. In 1913 Wells was chosen as the state chairman of the

, the state affiliate of the Socialist Party of America.

Potlach Riot of 1913

Wells was again embroiled in a riot in the summer of 1913.

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Josephus Daniels Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was a newspaper editor, Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson, and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He managed ''The News & Observer'' in R ...

was invited by the city of Seattle to be guest of honor at a banquet in honor of the city's third annual

Golden Potlatch The Golden Potlatch (or Potlatch Days) was a festival in Seattle, Washington (U.S. state), Washington, United States in 1911–1914 and 1934–1941. The idea of an annual Festival in Seattle followed the success of the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exp ...

celebration on July 16.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 94. Daniels reviewed a parade of 2,000 members of the American military and an additional 2,000 members of local fraternal orders in conjunction with his visit, which was orchestrated in hopes that Daniels would recommend additional funding for the regional Bremerton Navy Yard. Once again the ''Seattle Times'' rose to the occasion with sensationalistic headlines, declaring in a banner headline "Daniels Denounces Tolerance of Red Flag" despite the fact that Daniels' patriotic remarks at the banquet preceding the parade had been mild and banal.Willis, ''Unemployed Citizens of Seattle'', pg. 95. On the other side of town a scuffle between several passersby and a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vo ...

making a

soapbox A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment ...

speech was falsely reported as a mob attacking five innocent sailors and soldiers. Swept into a frenzy by the hysterical reporting, on the evening of July 18, 1913, a mob of about 200 men, including members of the military and drunken revelers, ransacked local headquarters of the IWW and Socialist Party, smashing doors, window office equipment, and a wagon, and throwing books, documents, and newspapers in the street, where they were burned. Wells barely escaped the clutches of the mob. The day after the so-called "Potlach Riot," Col. Bleven of ''The Times'' proudly endorsed the activities of the rioter, declaring "Anarchy, the grizzly hydra-headed serpent which Seattle has been force to nourish in its midst...was plucked from the city ad wiped out in a blaze of patriotism last night." In the aftermath of the riot, a scheduled staging of Wells' play at the

Moore Theatre Moore Theatre is an 1,800-seat performing arts venue in Seattle, Washington, United States, located two blocks away from Pike Place Market at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Virginia Street. It opened in 1907 and is Seattle's oldest active theate ...

was cancelled by the management. Wells was elected president of the

in 1915, serving in that capacity until 1916.

Sedition conviction

Wells was arrested and charged with

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

in the fall of 1917 for opposing the

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

. He was tried together with Joseph Pass, a writer from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and was sentenced to a prison term on March 18, 1918.Stephen M. Kohn, ''American Political Prisoners: Prosecutions under the Espionage and Sedition Acts''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994; pg. 138. Wells served his sentence at the

McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary The McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC) was a prison in the northwest United States, operated by the Washington State Department of Corrections. It was on McNeil Island in Puget Sound in unincorporated Pierce County, near Steilacoom, Washin ...

, located on

McNeil Island McNeil Island is an island in the Northwestern United States, in south Puget Sound southwest of Tacoma, Washington. With a land area of , it lies in an area of many inhabited small islands, including Anderson Island (Washington), Anderson Island ...

Pierce County, Washington Pierce County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous ...

. He was later transferred to

Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary The Federal Correctional Institution, Leavenworth is a medium-security federal prison for male inmates in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice. It also includes ...

. While in prison, he was tortured; street rallies erupted among the labor movement in Seattle as a response. Wells was released from prison on November 13, 1920, having received a commutation of his sentence.

Radical activities

Following his release from prison, Hulet Wells was thoroughly radicalized, turning away from the Socialist Party and towards the nascent American

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

movement. In 1921 Wells was a fraternal delegate of the Seattle Central Labor Council to the founding congress of the

Red International of Labor Unions The Red International of Labor Unions (, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern (), was an international body established by the Communist International (Comintern) with the aim of coordinating communist activities within trade unions. Formally ...

(RILU, or Profintern). He also worked as a national lecturer for the

Friends of Soviet Russia The Friends of Soviet Russia (FSR) was formally established in the United States on August 9, 1921 as an offshoot of the American Labor Alliance for Trade Relations with Soviet Russia (ALA). It was launched as a "mass organization" dedicated to ...

, a communist

mass organization A communist front (or a mass organization in communist parlance) is a political organization identified as a front organization, allied with or under the effective control of a communist party, the Communist International or other communist organi ...

established to help raise funds for famine relief in

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. In 1931, he founded the Unemployed Citizens' League of Seattle, associated with Unemployed Cooperative Distribution Association (UCDA, southern California), Unemployed Cooperative Relief Association (UCRA, southern California), Unemployed Exchange Association (UXA, Oakland). In the early 1930s, he was an administrative assistant of Marion A. Zioncheck, a congressman representing

Washington's 1st congressional district Washington's 1st congressional district encompasses parts of King County, Washington, King and Snohomish County, Washington, Snohomish counties. The district covers several cities in the north of the Seattle metropolitan area, east of Interstate ...

Death and legacy

Hulet Wells died February 15, 1970. He was 91 years old at the time of his death.

Footnotes

Works

* ''A Wrong Without a Remedy''. Seattle, WA: 1909. —Lost pamphlet.
''The Colonel and His Friends: A Suppressed Play: A Comedy in Three Acts''.
Prologue by Bruce Rogers. Seattle, WA: n.p., 1913. * ''Wilson and the Issues of To-day: A Socialist Revision of George Creel's Famous Book''. Seattle, WA: Socialist Party, 1918. * ''I Wanted to Work''. Unpublished manuscript, . Housed in the Hulet M. Wells Papers, University of Washington Special Collections, box 2.