Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was never afraid to speak up about her beliefs even when it meant risking jail time. Her work was instrumental in cementing free speech laws that are still in effect in America today. For those of you tuning in for the first time, welcome! Here’s the deal: Every weekday, we highlight the stories of iconic women in history you may not know about, but definitely should. We’re talking about women from around the world and throughout history. Each month is themed. This month we’re talking about troublemakers–from women who made “good trouble” to women who thrived in illicit industries to villains in the truest sense of the word.
This month, we're talking about troublemakers–from women who made “good trouble” to women who thrived in illicit industries to villains in the truest sense of the word.
History classes can get a bad wrap, 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, Encyclopedia Womannica. 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. Encyclopedia Womannica 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.
Encyclopedia Womannica 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, Sundus Hassan, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, and Ale Tejada. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan. This is Womanica.
If you’re tuning in for the first time, here’s the deal. Every weekday, we’re telling the stories of women from around the world and throughout history who you may not know about, but should. Each month is themed.
This month, we’re talking about Troublemakers. We’re covering stories from across the spectrum, from women who made “good trouble” to women who thrived in illicit industries to villains in the truest sense of the word. All of the women we’re covering had a major impact on the societies in which they lived.
Today we’re talking about a woman who was never afraid to speak up about her beliefs even when it meant risking jail time. Her work was instrumental in cementing free speech laws that are still in effect in America today.
Let’s talk about Emma Goldman.
Emma Goldman was born in 1869 into a Russian-Jewish family. She grew up in Kovno, an imperial Russian city rife with violence, corruption, and anti-Semitism.
When she was eleven, Emma moved with her family to St. Petersburg, just months after the assassination of Czar Alexander the Second. There, Emma was introduced to the burgeoning Russian revolutionary movement. She quickly embraced their ideas about equality and freedom for the common man.
When Emma was sixteen, she immigrated to the US with her older half-sister. They arrived in the New York harbor, and she saw the Statue of Liberty, towering over the water. Emma saw this as a beacon of hope, of freedom from oppression. She thought “We too [...] would find a place in the generous heart of America.”
Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last long. It was January -- cold and bleak. And just getting processed through Castle Garden was a chaotic scene, full of weary travelers and harsh officials.
Eventually, Emma and her sister settled with family outside the city in Rochester, New York.
She worked at a clothing factory, working ten and a half hours a day. The work was hard, and she only got a half-hour break for lunch. The foreman would watch the workers constantly, and the sounds from the sewing machines were cacophonous. With each day, Emma was worn down further by the monotony.
One day, the woman working next to her fainted. The foreman claimed she was faking it, and forced the workers to resume their toiling.The conditions were worse than any she’d experienced in Russia. .
Emma would fume about the injustice of it. But her real political awakening came in 1887, with the wrongful execution of labor activists falsely accused of bombing Haymarket Square in Chicago. Emma was outraged, and threw herself fully into the anarchist movement.
In 1889, Emma moved to New York City, and quickly became involved in the anarchist community. There, she met Alexander Berkman, a fellow Russian immigrant and anarchist.
Borrowing from the ideology of Russian revolutionaries, Emma and Alexander came to believe that political assassination was a way to spark widespread revolution. And so in 1892, Alexander shot steel magnate Henry Clay Frick, who had mistreated striking steel workers. Frick survived, and Alexander was arrested and sent to prison.
Emma had helped Alexander with the assassination attempt, but she avoided being sent to jail. Instead, she embarked on a cross-country speaking tour.
Emma quickly garnered national attention for her charm, wit, and incisive critiques of American politics. She rejected bourgeois culture and embraced the labor movement, equality and independence for women, freedom of speech, and radical revolution.
She was opposed to violence in theory, but not in practice. She once said: “If people want to do away with assassins, they must do away with the conditions which produce murderers.”
Because of her inflammatory views, Emma was frequently harassed and arrested by the police. It got so bad that during one lecture she gave, she chained herself to the podium to make it physically impossible for the police to remove her.
Emma’s commitment to freedom of speech was inspirational to many. In fact, the founder of the American Civil Liberties Union, Roger Baldwin, credits Emma for motivating him to dedicate his life to the principle of freedom.
As America drifted closer toward entering World War One, Emma became outspoken in her opposition to the war. In 1917, she was sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring against the draft. After her sentence was up, the U.S. government deported her to Soviet Russia.
For years, Emma had held up Russia as the template for revolution. But when she arrived, she was dismayed to find it wasn’t the utopia she thought it would be. So she started writing essays about the failures of the Russian revolution and the tyranny of the Bolshevik regime. But, her writing alienated many of her former allies.
After two years, Emma left Russia and moved to France. There, she wrote a one-thousand page autobiography called ‘Living My Life’, which revealed the breadth of her political interests.
In 1936, at age sixty-seven, Emma was reinvigorated by the rumblings of a new anarchist revolution - this time in Spain. She dove back into political action, helping Spanish anarchists fight against facism in the Spanish Civil War.
Four years later in May 1940, Emma died of a stroke.
It was only after her death that she was allowed back into the U.S. Her body was buried in Chicago, near the graves of the labor activists who had inspired her to join the anarchist cause so many years ago.
Until the end of her life, Emma Goldman fought tirelessly to build a world that she believed in -- without any regard to the risks.
All month, we’re talking about troublemakers and villanessess.
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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 on Monday.