Lucy Parsons

Lucy Parsons (1853-March 7, 1942) was an American radical labor organizer, anarchist and is remembered as a powerful orator. She was born in Texas (likely as a slave) to parents of Native American, Black American and Mexican ancestry. She often went by Lucy Gonzales, denying her African American roots, while claiming her Mexican heritage as the cause of her dark skin tone. Image File history File links Lucy_Parsons. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (67th in Leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... The term Radical, from the latin radix meaning root. ... Anarchism is a generic term describing various political philosophies and social movements that advocate the elimination of hierarchy and imposed authority. ... Official language(s) None. ... An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and their descendants in... African Americans, also known as Afro-Americans or black Americans, are an ethnic group in the United States of America whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Sub-Saharan and West Africa. ...

In 1871 she married Albert Parsons, a former Confederate soldier, and both were forced to flee from Texas north to Chicago because of the intolerance caused by their interracial marriage. 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Albert Parsons, ca. ... For other meanings of confederate and confederacy, see confederacy (disambiguation) National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Largest... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ...

Described by the Chicago Police Department as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters" in the 1920s, Lucy Parsons and her husband had become highly effective anarchist organizers primarily involved in the labor movement in the late 19th Century, but also participating in revolutionary activism on behalf of political prisoners, people of color, the homeless and women. She began writing for The Socialist and The Alarm, the journal of the International Working People's Association (IWPA) which she and Parsons were among the founders of in 1883. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Revolution. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ...

In 1886, her husband Albert, who had been heavily involved in the labor movement for the eight hour day, was arrested and executed by the state of Illinois on charges that he had conspired in the Haymarket Riot—an event which was widely regarded as a political frame-up, and which marked the beginning of May Day labor rallies in protest. For ten years until that point, she had been a member of the Knights of Labor, which condemned the Haymarket defendants. 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ... Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 25th 149,998 km² 340 km 629 km 4. ... The Haymarket Riot on 4 May 1886 in Chicago, Illinois is the origin of international May Day observances and in popular literature inspired the caricature of a bomb-throwing anarchist. ... May Day is a name for various holidays celebrated on May 1 (or in the beginning of May), the most famous one being Labour Day. ... Knights of Labor seal The Knights of Labor was a labor union founded in secrecy in December 1869, by a group of Philadelphia tailors led by Uriah S. Stephens. ...

In 1892 she briefly published Freedom: A Revolutionary Anarchist-Communist Monthly, and was often arrested for giving public speeches or distributing anarchist literature. While she continued championing the anarchist cause, she came into ideological conflict with some of her contemporaries, including Emma Goldman, over her focus on class politics over gender and sexual struggles. Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Lithuanian-born anarcho-communist known for her anarchist writings and speeches. ...

Then, in 1905, she participated in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World, and began editing the Liberator, an anarchist newspaper that supported the IWW in Chicago. Lucy's focus shifted somewhat to class struggles around poverty and unemployment, when she organized the Chicago Hunger Demonstrations in January 1915, which pushed the American Federation of Labor, the Socialist Party, and Jane Addam's Hull House to participate in a huge demonstration on February 12. Parsons was also quoted as saying, "My conception of the strike of the future is not to strike and go out and starve, but to strike and remain in and take possession of the necessary property of production." (Wobblies! 14) Parsons anticipated the sit down strikes in the US and, later, workers' factory takeovers in Argentina. 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or the Wobblies) is a famous international union currently headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It contends that all workers should be united within a single union as a class and the wage system abolished. ... A recovered factory (fábrica recuperada) is a company in which its workers have taken over control, commonly after mass redundancy or intentional bankruptcy by the managment. ...

In 1925, she began working with the National Committee of the International Labor Defense in 1927, a communist-led organization that defended labor activists and unjustly accused African Americans such as the Scottsboro Nine and Angelo Herndon. Most biographical works on Lucy Parsons erroneously claim that she joined the Communist Party in 1939. All of these sources derive their claim from Carolyn Ashbaugh's biography of Parsons which makes the claim without offering any proof. The claim was conclusively disproven by Gale Ahrens in her essay "Lucy Parsons: Mystery Revolutionist, More Dangerous Than A Thousand Rioters." The essay can be found in the recently published book, edited by Ahrens, "Lucy Parsons: Freedom, Equality, Solidarity" which also includes many of Lucy's most important writings. Furthermore, in a letter dated February 27, 1934, Parsons explains that she chose to work with the ILD only due to the lack of a coherent anarchist movement at the time and not out of any ideological or organizational change of heart (the letter can be found in the Ahrens book mentioned above.) 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, the sociopolitical philosophy based on Marxism. ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

One of her last major appearances was at the International Harvester in February 1941. She died in 1942 in a house fire, and her lover, George Markstall, died the next day from wounds he received while trying to save her. The state still viewed Lucy Parsons as such threat to the status quo that after her death, police seized her library of over 1500 books and all of her personal papers. This article is about the year. ...

Selected coverage in the New York Times

• New York Times; March 8, 1942; page 36. Chicago, March 7, 1942. Lucy Parsons, 83 years old, noted anarchist whose husband was hanged for his part in the Chicago Haymarket riot in 1886, was burned to death late today when a fire broke out in her frame residence at ...

References

Wobblies! A Graphic History of the Industrial Workers of the World. Buhle, Paul and Schulman, Nicole, eds. Verso, NY, 2005.

External links

• The Lucy Parsons Project
• The Lucy Parsons Center, a radical bookstore in Boston, Massachusetts