American Historical Ephemera & Photography

11 x 14 1/4 in. ledger with leather-trimmed spine and corners (board missing from spine, front cover nearly detached, heavy wear). 296 pages of which approx. 59 pages are utilized. Mix of manuscript entries and laid-in documents. Most pages and enclosed correspondence in generally good condition with expected toning, light soil, and creases to paper. Verso front cover with laid-in map of portion of Seattle, presumably District 265 which was patrolled by the Minute Men represented in the ledger.  

Page 1 features identification "Minute Men / Precinct / 265 / Record Book" and continues with an index to the contents of the ledger. Details include lists of officers, membership roll, contributing members with indication of dues paid, minutes of meetings, a block-by-block "muster roll," and constitution and by-laws. One document on letterhead of The Minute Man State Headquarters in Seattle, "The Minute Men / The Men Behind the Government," describes ongoing internal issues: "It has been brought to our attention that a great many of The Minute Men have been seeking opportunities to conduct business direct with the federal authorities rather than through the proper channels of our organization. / We thought we made this clear: That one feature of the strength of our organization lies in the fact that the only point of contact between our organization and the Federal Government must necessarily be through the State headquarters." A small but fascinating group of documents relates to the collaboration of The Minute Men with government entities, including the War Department, Intelligence Office, U.S. Army. A copy of a document from 3 June 1918 from the Office of Military Intelligence Seattle states:  "The Minute Men are in a position to give valuable aid to this office in its effort to prevent and detect acts tending to obstruct the successful prosecution of the war." 

The Seattle Minute Men was a volunteer organization created by private citizens to assist in the war effort, often by reporting the supposed "un-American" conduct of friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Members gathered and reported information regarding activity that could present as a violation of war and espionage acts. Members were also typically concerned with not just the war in Europe, but also the growth of socialist and labor movements in Seattle. The group enacted an organizational structure similar to the US military and experienced a growth in membership after its founding. In May 1918 the Seattle Minute Men became a division of the American Protective League.