John F. Dore
37th Mayor of Seattle
In office
June 1, 1936 – April 13, 1938
Preceded byCharles L. Smith
Succeeded byJames Scavotto
In office
June 4, 1932 – June 4, 1934
Preceded byRobert H. Harlin
Succeeded byCharles L. Smith
Personal details
Born
John Francis Dore

(1881-12-11)December 11, 1881
Boston, Massachusetts
DiedApril 18, 1938(1938-04-18) (aged 56)
Seattle, Washington
Political partyDemocratic

John Francis Dore (December 11, 1881 – April 18, 1938) was an American politician who served as the Mayor of Seattle from 1932 to 1934 and from 1936 to 1938.[1][2]

First Term

Dore ran for his first term on a platform of relief for the unemployed and balancing the city budget through budget cuts. While his first term began with strong support from labour, he fell out of favour after his attempts to work with other Puget Sound mayors to demand help from the state and Governor Roland Hartley with relief efforts failed. He also angered labour by opposing the Unemployed Citizens' League's march on the state capital of Olympia through Seattle. [3]

Limited Role in the 1934 Waterfront Strike

The strike began on May 9, 1934, late in Mayor Dore's first term. Longshoremen in all ports of the West Coast walked out, and in Seattle, the Masters, Mates, and Pilots Union refused to handle cargoes as the shipping companies began recruiting University of Washington students as strikebreakers. On May 13th, two thousand strikers from Everett and Tacoma arrived to shore up the Seattle picket lines. This, combined with Mayor Dore's refusal to ask Governor Martin to call in the National Guard, effectively ended this strikebreaking effort. By May 15th, off-shore unions also joined the strike, and the Teamsters ceased crossing the picket lines.[4]

Second Term

Returning to office after Mayor Charles L. Smith's only term, Dore became a stronger proponent of organised labour. In contrast to Mayor Smith, he kept police away from picket lines, particularly those of the American Newspaper Guild when they struck first the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, then the Seattle Times and the Seattle Star.

During inter-labour conflict between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, Dore sided with Dave Beck and the AFL over the rival CIO.

Mayor Beck's other notable effort was defeating a proposition to refinance and rebuild Seattle's streetcar system in line with the wishes of the Transit Worker's Union.[3] Opposing a "trackless trolley" (overhead-wire electric) network, Dore favoured gasoline-powered busses as a replacement.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois on April 19, 1938 · 22". Newspapers.com. 1938-04-19. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  2. ^ "Dore, John Francis (1881-1938)". HistoryLink.org. 2000-10-07. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  3. ^ a b Wilma, David (October 7, 2000). "Dore, John Francis (1881-1938)". historylink.org. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  4. ^ Berner, Richard C. (1992). "Labor Movement Revives, Becomes A Political Force Again". Seattle 1921-1940: From Boom to Bust. Seattle, Washington: Charles Press. p. 338-339. ISBN 0-9629889-1-X.
  5. ^ Berner, Richard C. (1992). "Financial Crisis: Taking The Treet Railway Out Of It". Seattle 1921-1940: From Boom to Bust. Seattle, Washington: Charles Press. p. 429. ISBN 0-9629889-1-X.
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