[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (Mrs. J.A. Jones), 1890-1964, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in public speaking posture].
[Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (Mrs. J.A. Jones), 1890-1964, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in public speaking posture], 1910s. Library of Congress.
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was born on August 7, 1890 in Concord, New Hampshire. Her mother, Annie Gurley Flynn, was an Irish immigrant. Her father, Thomas Gurley, was the son of Irish immigrants. Elizabeth was the eldest of their four children. Both of Elizabeth’s parents were workers who had to move a lot to find work. For the first ten years of her life Elizabeth moved frequently. Her family finally settled in the Bronx, New York in 1900.
Thomas and Annie were both activists. Thomas was a socialist and Annie was a feminist, so social and economic equality were important causes in the Gurley Flynn household. They made sure all their children received a good education and encouraged them to read political and philosophical texts.
Elizabeth became politically active at a young age. Thomas and Annie allowed her to attend socialist meetings, where she saw the power of public speaking firsthand. But Elizabeth did not remain in the audience for long. She gave her first speech in Times Square at the age of sixteen. Not long after, she was arrested for blocking traffic while giving a speech. Her high school expelled her in 1907 because they thought her political activities were too extreme.
Elizabeth became an organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The IWW was a new labor union with ties to socialism. Unlike other major unions of the time, the IWW did not limit membership to white American-born men. The union took a special interest in immigrant and migrant workers. Elizabeth was the youngest IWW organizer and one of only a few women. She traveled around the United States, working with miners in Minnesota, textile workers in Massachusetts, silk workers in New Jersey, and hotel workers in New York. Elizabeth gave speeches, held meetings, and organized strikes. Sometimes she faced down angry crowds or was met with violence. She was arrested twice during her travels and declared that she would risk everything to improve the lives of working people.
In 1908 Elizabeth married fellow IWW organizer Jack Jones. Their first son died within days of his birth. They divorced before their second son, Fred, was born in 1910. Elizabeth returned to the Bronx before giving birth so that her family could help care for her baby. Elizabeth’s mother and sister took on most of the responsibility of raising Fred so that Elizabeth could continue her work with the IWW.
Elizabeth’s reputation as a passionate and dedicated organizer grew. She was arrested over a dozen times, but she never went to prison. The police hoped that the many arrests would discourage Elizabeth, but instead her story inspired others to join the cause. In 1912 an admirer wrote a song about Elizabeth called “The Rebel Girl.” The nickname stuck, and her notoriety grew.
The outbreak of World War I in 1914 led to a shift in Elizabeth’s priorities. While she continued to support the labor movement, she also participated in suffrage campaigns and anti-war protests. Elizabeth was once again arrested, but this time she was charged with violating the Espionage Act. The government likely brought the charge against her because they suspected Elizabeth was a socialist, and socialism was widely considered a threat to American democracy. Elizabeth argued that the government was violating her First Amendment right to free speech, and the charges were eventually dropped.
“Elizabeth was the youngest IWW organizer and one of only a few women.”
This experience led Elizabeth to become a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization founded in 1920 largely in response to the Red Scare. The ACLU protects the right to free speech in the US. Elizabeth expanded the scope of her work by joining the International Labor Defense (ILD) in 1927. With the ILD, Elizabeth took on the task of defending civil rights on a global scale.
Between 1926 and 1936 Elizabeth lived in Spokane, Washington with Dr. Marie Equi, a fellow labor and women’s rights activist. The true nature of Elizabeth’s relationship with Marie is unclear, although some historians suspect that it was romantic. Elizabeth had no other known romantic partnerships for the rest of her life.
The onset of the Great Depression further radicalized Elizabeth, and she joined the Communist Party in 1937. The US government and the politicians in power, along with powerful business owners, saw communism, like socialism, as a threat to American democracy, both politically and economically.
When WWII broke out in 1939, Elizabeth supported the war effort because she wanted to see an end to fascism in Europe. During the war, she became a columnist for the Communist Party’s publication The Daily Worker. Elizabeth used the platform to campaign for women’s rights. She encouraged women to take advantage of the new job opportunities the war created and supported the creation of childcare centers to make it easier for women to go to work.
In 1940 the ACLU demanded that all Communists resign from the organization. Elizabeth protested but was eventually removed from the board against her wishes. That same year, her son Fred died from surgery complications at the age of twenty-nine.
Elizabeth’s long history of radicalism finally caught up with her in 1951. Anti-Communist sentiment reached a fever pitch after WWII, and Senator Joe McCarthy led an effort to purge the country of Communists during this second Red Scare. Elizabeth was arrested for violating the Smith Act and in 1953 she was sentenced to two years in prison after refusing a deal to avoid jail time by being deported to the Soviet Union.
Elizabeth published a book about her experiences in prison called The Alderson Story: My Life as a Political Prisoner in 1955. The same year she also published an autobiography entitled I Speak My Own Piece. In 1961 Elizabeth was elected as the first woman to head the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). For the remainder of her life, she stayed committed to progressive causes. She traveled to Europe in the 1960s and was in Moscow when she died on September 5, 1964. The Soviet Union held a state funeral for her in Red Square. Over 25,000 people attended.
Vocabulary
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU): Founded in 1920, the ACLU fights to protect the civil rights of all Americans.
- Communist Party: The political party that seeks to establish an economic system in which all goods and items of value are collectively owned and distributed to citizens equally.
- Espionage Act: Passed in 1917, the Espionage Act made it illegal to obtain and/or share information that might lead to injury of the United States. Sharing any information that would affect military recruiting was banned.
- feminism: The belief that men and women are equal.
- First Amendment: The first amendment to the United States Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of speech and of the press.
- Industrial Workers of the World (IWW): A union founded in 1905 to fight for the rights of workers.
- International Labor Defense: A legal defense society founded in 1925.
- Red Scare: A widespread social and political hysteria over the alleged threat that communism posed to the United States.
- Smith Act: A law passed in 1940 that makes it illegal to advocate for the violent overthrow of the US government.
- socialism: An economic system in which major industries are owned collectively instead of privately.
Discussion Questions
- What influences shaped Elizabeth Gurley Flynn’s career as an activist?
- Why was Elizabeth Gurley Flynn arrested so many times? Why was she ultimately imprisoned for two years? What does this reveal about how the government and society viewed her?
- Why do you think the Soviet Union held a state funeral for Elizabeth Gurley Flynn when she died? What does this reveal about her international reputation?
Suggested Activities
- Teach this life story in lessons that talk about the Red Scares in the early 1900s, and consider the following questions: Why were activists like Elizabeth Gurley Flynn drawn to communism and socialism? Why were Americans afraid of these political systems? What lessons can be learned by interrogating the facts behind Red Scares in US history?
- Use this resource along with Mink Brigade, Life Story: Emma Goldman, and Life Story: Clara Lemlich Shavelson for a more complete understanding of labor activism in this period.
- Use this resource with any of the following to consider the history of labor activism in the United States:
Themes
POLITICS AND SOCIETY; ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL CHANGE
