June 22, 1923: Wobbly William Flanagan Triggers San Quentin Strike

June 22 1923, William Flanagan, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World incarcerated at San Quentin, refused to work in the prison’s jute mill. Flanagan was put in solitary confinement, triggering a prison strike of 25 IWW-affiliated prisoners.

Flanagan and the other striking Wobblies were serving sentences for violating California’s Criminal Syndicalism Law, which outlawed the expression of communist and anarchist views. The following day, ten more prisoners joined the IWW and went on strike.

By late July, 55 prisoners were on strike, so many that San Quentin’s notorious dungeon was filled to capacity. In August, Wobbly Abraham Shocker committed suicide while confined to the dungeon. IWW labor agitation continued at San Quentin until at least October.

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