October 4, 2004

Exhibit Spotlights Idanha Hotel's 'Trial of the Century'

A photo exhibit titled “Idanha’s Trial of the Century” debuts from 4-7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, in the Idanha building in downtown Boise at 10th and Main streets. The public is welcome to the free 30-minute slide show about Idaho’s labor wars and the subsequent murder of the state’s anti-union former governor Frank Steunenberg. Refreshments will be provided. In 1907 the nation’s attention turned to the turreted French château style hotel in Idaho’s capital city where newsmen anxiously followed the era’s most sensational trial. Labor boss Big Bill Haywood stood accused of hiring the assassin who had rigged dynamite to the gate outside Steunenberg’s Caldwell home, killing him. The 1907 trial exposed two decades of violence and intimidation over the rights of American workers and conditions in the Idaho mines. Sponsored by the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs at Boise State University and Parklane Management Company, “Idanha’s Trial of the Century” is one of five photographic exhibits slated for the renovated hotel. The Idaho State Historical Library and Archives, the Denver Public Library and the Chicago Historical Society provided photographs. Organizers also acknowledge J. Anthony Lukas who wrote about the 1907 trial in his book “Big Trouble” (Simon & Schuster 1997). The exhibit was put together by Todd Shallat, project director; Adele Thomsen, designer; Amber Beierle, writer/researcher; and Ken Howell and Paul Navaro, advisers. For more information about Boise State University historical exhibitions and publications contact the Center for Idaho History and Politics at (208) 426-3701 or visit the center online at www.boisestate.edu/history/Idaho. -30- Contact: Todd Shallat, Center for Idaho History and Politics, (208) 426-3701, tshalla@boisestate.edu Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, communications and marketing, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu