Brings to life Grays Harbor's fiery legacy of class conflict In the early decades of the twentieth century, Grays Harbor was the Lumber Capital of the World. While thousands of lumber and maritime workers fought for higher wages and decent conditions, employers unified to protect their interests, often through violent and corrupt means. They spied on unionists, expelled them from their own towns, vilified them in the press, and physically assaulted labor activists. But with deep roots in their communities, radical workers continued to meet in their halls and immigrant neighborhoods―and to influence the wider labor movement well into the 1930s. In Red Harbor , Aaron Goings resurrects the forgotten history of lumber workers in a bastion of labor radicalism, examining the conflict as workers faced down an alliance of employers, police, and violent anti-radicals, including the Ku Klux Klan. But he goes beyond these clashes to illuminate the vital roles of families, immigrants, and working-class women in the labor movement, revealing how people fought not only for labor rights but also for the good of their communities. The Industrial Workers of the World (or Wobblies) in particular adopted views and tactics from socialist Finnish immigrants while authoring programs responsive to local needs and supported by the people―radical and otherwise. Vivid and revealing, Red Harbor shines a light on lumber workers and the pursuit of justice in the Pacific Northwest. " Red Harbor is yet another essential work of labor history from an author who has dedicated his writing career to excavating and uplifting lesser-known worker struggles in the Northwest. This time, Goings takes us back to what was once known as the Lumber Capital of the World and gives us an illuminating glimpse into the worker organizing, radical politics, immigrant solidarity, and deep community care that animated Grays Harbor―with (and usually without) the bosses' blessing."―Kim Kelly, author of Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor "Aaron Goings critically analyzes Grays Harbor, his hometown, the world’s leading lumber port in the early twentieth century. He doesn’t shy away from the town’s long history of violence perpetrated against labor unionists, ethnic minorities, and political radicals. With Red Harbor added to his already impressive bookshelf, Goings establishes himself as the Pacific Northwest’s foremost labor historian."―Peter Cole, author of Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area "Exhuming the ghosts of Washington’s timber coast, Red Harbor is a first-rate study of class conflict in the early twentieth century. Goings has written a thrilling account of unions, vigilantes, and the makings of the working class. This story of immigrant communities banding together against nativism and repression in a region bosses love to exploit but hate to support could not be more relevant for these perilous times."―Dan Berger, author of Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power through One Family's Journey "A rich telling of an important place of working-class struggle. Grays Harbor was a mighty red site, indeed, carved out in sweat and blood. Using multi-lingual sources, Red Harbor resoundingly refutes the idea that community studies are overdone. Instead, it yields rich insights that inform our understanding of how radicalism was sustained across decades."―Rosemary Feurer, Coeditor of Against Labor: How U.S Employers Organized to Defeat Union Activism "[O]ne of the most important sociological studies in Northwest history. Goings discovered, and fastidiously fact-checked, new information on the timber workers' struggle for decent pay and safer working conditions during the first four decades of the 20th century when Grays Harbor truly was the 'Lumber Capital of the World' . . . . Particularly revealing is Goings' research on the role the Harbor's large, activist Finnish population played in the workers' rights movement. . . . Red Harbor is masterful history."― The Daily World Aaron Goings is professor of history at South Puget Sound Community College. His books include The Port of Missing Men: Billy Gohl, Labor, and Brutal Times in the Pacific Northwest , winner of the 2021 Sally and Ken Owens Book Award.