Monday marked the 110th anniversary of a Nov. 1, 1911, flash fire in the Imperial Powder Company building on Coal Creek Road that killed eight young girls who worked there rolling dynamite.
As was done on the 100th anniversary, the Pioneer-Greenwood Cemetery in Chehalis hosted a ceremony honoring the lives lost in the tragedy — which has come to be called “The Girls” by many locals — at their shared gravesite. Eight young living girls were recruited by Peter Lahmann of the Lewis County Historical Museum to act as living representations of the workers, whose deaths caused an uproar statewide leading to shifts in labor rights.
Washington State Labor Council President Larry Brown and Secretary April Sims spoke at the event along with Elizabeth Smith, deputy director of Labor and Industries (L&I).
“They talked about the balance between management and labor, and this event tipped the scale so that labor had more protections that they didn’t have before,” said John Panesko, Greenwood Cemetery owner. “(Smith) has come to this cemetery even on her own just for inspiration that L&I is doing the right thing by making a more protected workplace.”
The fire caused the deaths of Bertha Crown, 14; Sadie Westfall, 16; Eva Gilmore, 16; Tillie Rosbach, 18; Vera Mulford, 14; Ethel Tharp, 20; Bertha Hagle, 16; and Ethel Henry, 18. All were from Chehalis.
The girls who represented them Monday dressed in 1910s clothing and laid out a white rose on the grave for each name called.
“They were eager and willing even though it was raining because they recognized how important these characters were to our history,” Panesko said.
The event took place in an age when children started working as soon as they could without proper regulations and protections. Panesko claims that the “town fathers” at the time, basically city council members and the mayor, only listened to a hearing on the fire for 30 minutes before deciding to essentially side with the Imperial Powder Company by saying they could not determine the cause of death. He said the rest of the town reacted with vitriol and that statewide, the public sided with the families of the girls. Previous Chronicle reporting on the incident supports his claim about the trial’s outcome.
“It went very well,” Panesko said of the ceremony overall. “It’s just important to keep a memory alive and it’s surprising how wide an impact these girls had on the state of Washington.”
Unclaimed Remains
Every year, the Greenwood Cemetery buries Lewis County’s unclaimed cremated remains. This year’s burial was held during the anniversary ceremony for the girls.
Last year, the ceremony was canceled due to COVID-19, so between 2020 and 2021, the county accumulated 17 unclaimed remains. Two of those were children.
State law says the coroner has to hold on to unclaimed remains for a total of 90 days after acquiring them, but does not declare what should be done with them after that period, so Greenwood Cemetery allows their burial for free each year.
Unclaimed remains are different from unidentified remains. They have been identified, but typically either have no family associated with them or the family doesn’t want anything to do with them.
Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said the remains “basically had been abandoned by their families.” The service each year is one way to honor those lives by laying them to rest.
