Guide to the Harry E.B. Ault Papers
1899-1956

Biographical Note

Harry Erwin Bratton Ault, journalist, editor, publisher, and political activist, was born October 30, 1883, in Newport, Kentucky. He proudly claimed to be “the first American-born Socialist born to an American-born socialist.” At age 14, he moved with his family to the northern Puget Sound area to join a socialist colony called Equality. This utopian settlement attempted to be entirely self-sufficient, and its cooperative and humanitarian vision had a deep and lasting influence on Ault. As a young man, he became involved with various socialist newspapers and was co-founder of the Socialist Amateur Press Association. His activity with reformist and revolutionary newspapers of various types led him around the country and included stops in Spokane, Washington; Lewiston, Idaho; and Toledo, Ohio. He eventually settled in Seattle, where he continued his journalistic and political activities. In 1912, he achieved his life-long ambition of running a labor-owned newspaper when the Central Labor Council elected him to edit its weekly organ, the Seattle Union Record.

Under Ault’s leadership, the Seattle Union Record expanded from a weekly to a daily in 1918. By his own description, his duties as manager-editor primarily consisted of mediating among individual members of the unions, various competing unions, and unions and employers. Ault faced the continual challenge of balancing various competing interests and ideologies between the multifaceted labor movement and the demands of objective journalism and political advocacy. For most of its ten-year existence as a daily, the Seattle Union Record teetered at the brink of bankruptcy. Its pro-labor policy cost it the advertising income which normally supports a daily newspaper. Worsening the problem, the labor movement in Seattle was in decline throughout the 1920s. The financial problems finally became acute enough to force the Seattle Union Record to cease publication. The final issue appeared on February 18, 1928.

After the Seattle Union Record dissolved, Ault went into the commercial printing business and continued to write and publish political pamphlets throughout the 1930s. In 1936 he entered the Democratic primary for Washington’s First Congressional District. In a nine-candidate field, Ault received only 3,427 votes; the primary’s winner was Warren G. Magnuson, who polled 37,557. In 1938 Ault secured an appointment as deputy United States marshal for Tacoma, Washington, and he remained a U.S. marshal until his retirement in 1953. His wife noted that this was the only time in their married life that they could count on a dependable source of income. Harry E.B. Ault died in Seattle on January 5, 1961.

Scope and Content

The Ault papers relate mainly to the management of the Seattle Union Recordand Washington State labor politics. They include business records, legal documents, correspondence, speeches, questionnaires, lists, minutes, and political pamphlets. The collection contains some interesting autobiographical fragments dealing with the Equality colony and information on Ault’s congressional campaign in 1936. Correspondents include the American Federation of Labor, the Federated Press, William Z. Foster, Saul Haas, James B. McNamara, Harvey O’Connor, Terence V. Powderly, William M. Short, Anna Louise Strong, and the United Mine Workers.

Arrangement

Arranged in two accessions:

• Accession No. 0213-001, Harry E.B. Ault papers, 1899-1956
• Accession No. 0562-001, Harry E.B. Ault papers, 1899-1953

Restrictions on Use

The creator's literary rights have not been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Restrictions on Access

The papers are open to all users.

Related Material

The Seattle Union Record is available on microfilm from the Microform and Newspaper Collections of the University of Washington Libraries.

The Seattle Union Record records, 1903-1927, Accession No. 4312-001, housed in the Special Collections division, University of Washington Libraries, consist of the newspaper’s financial and subscription records.

Preferred Citation

Harry E.B. Ault Papers. Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle, Washington.

Acquisition Info

Minnie Ault, Harry’s widow, donated these papers in February 1962 and August 1965.

Processing Info

Numerous pamphlets were relocated from Accession No. 0562-001 to the Pamphlet Collection of the Special Collections division, University of Washington Libraries.

Other Finding Aids

An index to correspondents is available at the reference desk in the Special Collections division, University of Washington Libraries.

Inventory