Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964) was one of the most influential American labor organizers of the 20th century. From stirring up successful workers’ strikes to advocating for women in the workforce, her commanding voice inspired countless activists.
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964) was one of the most influential American labor organizers of the 20th century. From stirring up successful workers’ strikes to advocating for women in the workforce, her commanding voice inspired countless activists.
This month, we’re highlighting Women of Resistance. Whether fighting tyranny, oppression, sexism, racism, reproductive control, or any number of other ills, these women created paths for change.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at pod@wondermedianetwork.com.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
This month on Womanica, we’re highlighting women who led extraordinary lives of resistance.
Today, we’re talking about one of the most influential American labor organizers of the 20th century. From stirring up successful workers’ strikes to advocating for women in the workforce, her commanding voice inspired countless activists.
We’re talking about Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was born on August 7, 1890 in Concord, New Hampshire. As a child, her family lived in a few different industrial towns in New England before finally settling in the South Bronx.
Elizabeth’s parents encouraged her leftist political views from a young age. Her mother Annie was an Irish immigrant who had belonged to the democratic socialist party Sinn Fein. Her father Thomas was also a socialist and organized a chapter of the Knights of Labor.
When she was only 15, Elizabeth gave her first ever public speech at the Harlem Socialist Club. At the time, political speeches were a popular form of entertainment, and Elizabeth turned out to be great at putting on a show. A newspaper reporter once wrote that her audience was “frowning when she frowned, laughing when she laughed, growing earnest when she merely grew moderately so.”
Elizabeth was 16 the first time she got arrested while giving a speech. She was literally standing on a soapbox in a busy New York square and got in trouble for drawing a crowd that blocked traffic.
Elizabeth’s radical politics reportedly also got her expelled from high school. After that, she devoted all of her time to advocating for workers’ rights. She traveled west and joined the Industrial Workers of the World, an international labor union. During this period, she met fellow organizer J.A. Jones, who was almost twice her age. They got married in 1908 and had two children, but the couple ultimately stayed together for only two years. Elizabeth later had a 12 year romance with an Italian anarchist named Carlo Tresca and possibly another affair with Marie Equi, a lesbian doctor.
During the 1910s, Elizabeth helped organize strikes for textile workers and ore-miners around the country. She traveled from town to town, using her forceful voice to spark resistance in communities of low-wage workers. She was arrested 10 times but evaded serving prison time.. Fellow labor activist Joe Hill even wrote a song about her called “Rebel Girl” — which became a popular nickname for Elizabeth.
In 1912, she worked with Margaret Sanger — the birth control activist — to organize a textile workers’ strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The strike lasted two months and brough national attention to the poor conditions inside textile mills. The owners eventually agreed to raise workers’ pay by 20 percent.
After World War I, the country entered a “Red Scare” period and became more hostile to labor organizers. In response to this tide of suspicion, Elizabeth became a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU.
During the 1920s, Elizabeth and other members of the ACLU advocated on behalf of two Italian immigrants — Sacco and Vanzetti — who many believed were falsely accused of murder because of their radical politics. The two men were eventually found guilty and executed in 1927, and their deaths sparked international protests.
Elizabeth entered a new phase of her activist life when she joined the Communist Party USA in 1937. This new affiliation didn’t go over well with her colleagues at the ACLU, and in 1940, she got kicked off the organization’s executive board.
During World War II, Elizabeth championed the rights of women workers, including pushing for day care centers for working mothers. She also kept up a weekly column in the communist publication “The Daily Worker.” In 1942, she ran for Congress in New York and received 50 thousand votes — thought she ultimately lost.
When the war ended, America entered a new “Red Scare” period. In 1951, Elizabeth and 12 other Communist party leaders were arrested for allegedly calling for the overthrow of the U.S. government by force and violence. During the long trial, Elizabeth chose to represent herself. She was found guilty and spent several years at a federal prison camp near Alderson, West Virginia.
In 1955, Elizabeth published her first book “I Speak My Own Piece: Autobiography of ‘The Rebel Girl” about her younger activism years. A few years later, she published a second book about her time in prison. It provided a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a women’s prison and also featured Elizabeth’s hostile attitude towards lesbian inmates.
After she was released from prison, Elizabeth continued her work with the Communist Party USA. When she was 71, she was elected chairman of the national committee, the first woman to ever fill that position. Around that time, she made her inaugural trip to the Soviet Union.
In 1964, she was on another visit to the country when she became ill and was hospitalized. She died in Moscow on September 5, 1964. She was 74 years old. The Soviet Union gave her a state funeral. Roughly 25,000 people gathered to remember her life’s work.
All month we’re highlighting women who led lives of resistance. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
As always, we’ll be taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you Monday!