Cumberland BC: The Cumberlander Articles Section
National · 14th January 2010
Editor
Thanks to Roger Stonebanks for this resource link sourced in the greater Victoria Public Library. Roger is the author of Fighting For Dignity: The Ginger Goodwin Story, published in 2004. The book is available at the Cumberland Museum.
Tales from the Vault: Ginger Goodwin
Driving into Courtenay in the late 1990s, I would see a sign on the highway saying “Ginger Goodwin Way”. It was an unusual sight. Goodwin, I knew, had been a major labour leader in the early twentieth century and a strong socialist. During WWI he had preached pacifism. He had antagonized many in society by his labour organizing and his opposition to the war. He had been shot and killed by the police, supposedly as a WWI evader. He seemed a strange person to be commemorated by a sign.
The labour movement, though, considered him a hero. The real reason for his death, they said, was not the war at all. Rather, it was that he was such a highly effective labour organizer. To many others he was (and is) a martyr to progressive causes.
Goodwin was obviously far more controversial than the sign would indicate. But feelings seemed to have mellowed, and Goodwin finally was getting his due. Appearances, though, were deceiving. In 2001 the provincial government changed, from a pro-labour to a pro-business party. And a few months later the sign was gone.
Who was this man who still aroused such controversy?
For complete article, with links, click HERE.
Tales from the Vault: Ginger Goodwin
Driving into Courtenay in the late 1990s, I would see a sign on the highway saying “Ginger Goodwin Way”. It was an unusual sight. Goodwin, I knew, had been a major labour leader in the early twentieth century and a strong socialist. During WWI he had preached pacifism. He had antagonized many in society by his labour organizing and his opposition to the war. He had been shot and killed by the police, supposedly as a WWI evader. He seemed a strange person to be commemorated by a sign.
The labour movement, though, considered him a hero. The real reason for his death, they said, was not the war at all. Rather, it was that he was such a highly effective labour organizer. To many others he was (and is) a martyr to progressive causes.
Goodwin was obviously far more controversial than the sign would indicate. But feelings seemed to have mellowed, and Goodwin finally was getting his due. Appearances, though, were deceiving. In 2001 the provincial government changed, from a pro-labour to a pro-business party. And a few months later the sign was gone.
Who was this man who still aroused such controversy?
For complete article, with links, click HERE.