The Cold Millions: Historical Fact and Fiction and the Spokane Free Speech Fight

Holly Claypool, Eastern Washington University
Jaeden Ives-Crow, Eastern Washington University
Benjamin Gallon, Eastern Washington University

Abstract

The Cold Millions is a historical novel set against the background of Spokane's Free Speech Fight of 1909. Author Jess Walter paints vivid portraits of laborers and capitalists, saloons and brothels. The characters in the Cold Millions are a mix of historical figures such as Chief of Police John Sullivan and labor activist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and fictional characters including laborers Gig and Rye Dolan. Walters' deeply researched portrayal of Spokane is a character in itself. This exhibit created by Eastern Washington Students explores the local history tied to this book, with a focus on the Free Speech Fight of 1909. It dives into the City of Spokane in this time frame and all the different groups of people (police, capitalists, the labor class, and more) who lived here.

 
Apr 14th, 2:00 PM Apr 14th, 4:00 PM

The Cold Millions: Historical Fact and Fiction and the Spokane Free Speech Fight

PUB NCR

The Cold Millions is a historical novel set against the background of Spokane's Free Speech Fight of 1909. Author Jess Walter paints vivid portraits of laborers and capitalists, saloons and brothels. The characters in the Cold Millions are a mix of historical figures such as Chief of Police John Sullivan and labor activist Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and fictional characters including laborers Gig and Rye Dolan. Walters' deeply researched portrayal of Spokane is a character in itself. This exhibit created by Eastern Washington Students explores the local history tied to this book, with a focus on the Free Speech Fight of 1909. It dives into the City of Spokane in this time frame and all the different groups of people (police, capitalists, the labor class, and more) who lived here.