- Emma Goldman (1869-1940), anarchist and free speech advocate. Born into a Jewish family in Russia, she emigrated to the United States as a garment worker in 1886 at the height of the Haymarket conspiracy. This frame-up of five Chicago labor leaders cemented Goldman’s lifelong political dedication. She joined the New York City anarchist community and was soon known internationally for her speeches, essays, and magazine, Mother Earth. She was jailed repeatedly “in the country which guarantees free speech.” A resolute feminist, free love advocate, and pacifist, she was also a joyful personality who loved dances, parties, music, and theater. In 1919, she and her closest comrade, Alexander Berkman, were deported during “the big red scare.” Returning hopefully to her beloved Russia, Goldman was soon disillusioned by the totalitarian post-revolutionary regime. She left in 1921 to live in Europe, where she wrote her autobiography, Living My Life (1931). Brief hopes for anarchism in Spain prompted a trip there in 1936. Goldman died in Canada at 70, while raising funds for Spanish refugees.
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