Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940

Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was an anarchist, feminist, author, editor, and lecturer on politics, literature and the arts. She was born in Lithuania and died in Canada. Her lectures and publications attracted attention throughout the U.S. and Europe. She was associated with the anarchist journal Mother Earth from 1906 to 1917 and was imprisoned for publicly advocating birth control in 1916 and pacifism in 1917. In 1919 she was deported to Russia but had to leave because of her criticism of the Bolshevik government and was allowed to reenter the U.S. for a lecture tour in 1934.

From the guide to the Emma Goldman papers, 1903-1940, 1919-1940, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division.)

Philosophical anarchist, lecturer, writer, founder and editor of Mother Earth, 1905-17; Alexander Berkman (1870-1936), anarchist, writer, editor, labor union activist, and companion of Emma Goldman; Virginia Hersch (1896- ), novelist, married to painter Lee F. Hersch (1896-1953).

From the description of Emma Goldman and Virginia Hersch correspondence, 1930-1934 (bulk 1931-1932). (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 68915478

Emma Goldman, anarchist, writer, and lecturer born in Russia, agitated for free speech and radical causes in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. For biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (1971).

From the description of Papers, 1908-1939 (inclusive). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232007576

Russian-born philosophical anarchist, lecturer, writer, founder and editor of Mother Earth, 1905-17.

From the description of Letter, 1927 July 6, Toronto, Ont., to Arthur Leonard Ross, New York. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34364405

Anarchist, writer and lecturer, Emma Goldman agitated for free speech and radical causes in the U.S., Canada, and Europe after emigrating from Russia. For further information see Notable American Women (1971).

From the description of Clippings and poster, 1898-1967 (inclusive) (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 123526689

Russian-born anarchist writer, lecturer, founder and editor of Mother Earth, 1905-1917.

From the description of Correspondence, with Agnes Inglis, 1915-1939. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34368165

Emma Goldman was born on June 27, 1869, to Taube Bienowitch and Abraham Goldman in Kovno in the Russian Empire (present-day Kaunas in Lithuania). Goldman's formative years were spent in Konigsberg and St. Petersburg where she was exposed to university radicals. Emma Goldman emigrated to America in 1885 and worked in the textile industry in Rochester, New York. Moving to New York City in 1889, Goldman joined the anarchist movement. She traveled throughout the United States lecturing and writing on her anarchist philosophy, women's rights, and social issues such as birth control. Goldman's prominent role in the anarchist movement brought her into contact with international radicals including Mexican revolutionaries and Russian Bolsheviks. Goldman was incarcerated several times for civil disobedience, encouraging the poor and hungry to seize food, violating standards of public decency (as interpreted by contemporary courts), and opposition to military conscription. Deprived of her U.S. citizenship in 1908, Goldman left the U.S. permanently in 1919 during the Red Scare. Settling initially in Soviet Russia in 1919, Goldman became disillusioned with communism by 1923. She then married a Welsh miner to obtain British citizenship and spent the rest of her days promoting her own form of anarchism throughout the world, visiting the United States only once in 1934. Emma Goldman died of complications from a stroke on May 14, 1940, in Canada.

From the description of Emma Goldman collection, 1918-1991. (University of Illinois-Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 61185911

Philosophical anarchist, lecturer, writer, founder and editor of Mother earth, 1905-17.

From the description of Collection of papers, 1909-1940. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34363911

Philosophical anarchist, lecturer, and writer. Founder and editor of Mother earth, 1905-17.

From the description of Letter, [19]39 Feb. 7, London [England] to [Boris] Yelensky [n.p.]. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34363840

From the description of Letter, 1935 July 12, St. Tropez, Var [France], to Ethel Mannin [England?]. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34365085

Alice Wexler (1942-) received a Ph.D. in history from Indiana University in 1972. She has taught at UC Riverside, the California Institute of Technology, Claremont Graduate School, Occidental College and UCLA. Wexler is the author of two biographies on Emma Goldman: Emma Goldman in America (1984), which tracks Goldman's political career in the United States up to her deportation, and Emma Goldman in Exile (1989), which cover's Goldman's life from 1919 until her death in 1940. Wexler's other books include Mapping Fate: A Memoir of Family, Risk, and Genetic Research (1996) and The Woman Who Walked Into the Sea: Huntington's the Making of a Genetic Disease (2008). She has been a Research Scholar at UCLA's Center for the Study of Women since 1994.

From the guide to the Alice Wexler Research Files on Emma Goldman, Bulk, 1912-1940, 1912-1940, late 1970s-1980s, (Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archive)

Philosophical anarchist, lecturer, and writer. Founder and editor of Mother earth, 1905-1917.

From the description of Letters, 1922-1940, to Mark Mrachnyĭ. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34491645

Emma Goldman was a writer, anarchist, political activist, lecturer, and editor. Born in Lithuania, she lived in Prussia and St. Petersburg before emigrating to the United States in 1889. She was deported to the Soviet Union in 1919.

From the description of Emma Goldman letter to New York Tales Pub. Co., 1905 October 17. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 49523644

Emma Goldman: anarchist, writer and lecturer, agitated for free speech and radical causes in the U.S., Canada, and Europe after emigrating from Russia. For further information see Notable American Women (1971).

Leon Malmed: supporter of anarchist and radical causes, was a fellow Russian emigré, a small businessman in Albany, N.Y., and a friend and lover of Goldman.

From the description of Papers of Leon Malmed and Emma Goldman, 1899-1982 (inclusive), 1899-1940 (bulk). (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 232006732

Emma Goldman, feminist, writer, and anarchist, was born in Russia in 1869. Refused admission to high school because she failed to conform to school rules, Goldman began working in 1882 in a factory in St. Petersburg. At the age of 17 to avoid her fathers̀ plans for her marriage, she fled to the United States, where she again worked in a factory. She joined the anarchist movement in about 1886 after the Chicago Haymarket Square bombing and conspiracy trial. In 1892 she began public speaking in defense of her lover, Alexander Berkmans̀ attempted assassination of industrialist Henry Clay. She continued traveling and speaking about her ideas on revolution and sex. She published The Blast and later, until her deportation, Mother Earth. Goldman was deported in 1919 as a result of opposition to the war. She returned to Russia, but disillusioned with the new regime she left to travel and speak in Europe. She published My Disillusionment in Russia in 1924 and My Further Disillusionment in Russia in 1925. In 1924 she was permitted to make her home in England and married James Colton for the convenience of British citizenship. Alternatingly residing in England, Canada, and the South of France, she wrote her autobiography, Living my Life (1932). A tour through Germany convinced her of the threat of fascism. Her lectures on the topic gained her a 90 day visit to the United States in 1934.

The Spanish Civil War provided her with a needed distraction from Alexander Berkman's suicide. She devoted herself to the loyalists and worked in England on behalf of the Spanish government. Early in 1939 she returned to Canada where she died May 13, 1940, retaining to the last her revolutionary ideals.

From the description of Papers, 1924-1940. (New York University). WorldCat record id: 478460504

Emma Goldman, international anarchist, was born in Lithuania and emigrated to the United States when she was 16. She worked in a clothing factory in Rochester, New York, and attended meetings of German socialists. In 1889, she moved to New York City and became associated with the Russian anarchist, Alexander Berkman.

Goldman conducted anarchist activities in the United States from 1890 to 1917 and served a two year prison term for obstructing the military draft. Goldman and Berkman were deported to Russia in 1919. She later lived in England, Canada and Spain. She wrote many books including, My disillusionment in Russia (1923) and an autobiography, Living my life (1931).

From the description of Postcards and dedication, 1929-1932. (Temple University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 122526093

Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was an anarchist, feminist, author, editor, and lecturer on politics, literature and the arts.

She was born in Lithuania and died in Canada. Her lectures and publications attracted attention throughout the U.S. and Europe. She was associated with the anarchist journal Mother Earth from 1906 to 1917 and was imprisoned for publicly advocating birth control in 1916 and pacifism in 1917. In 1919 she was deported to Russia but had to leave because of her criticism of the Bolshevik government and was allowed to reenter the U.S. for a lecture tour in 1934.

From the description of Emma Goldman papers, 1903-1940, bulk (1919-1940). (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122466450

Emma Goldman, anarchist, feminist, and writer, was born in Russia in 1869. Refused admission to high school because she failed to conform to school rules, Goldman began working in 1882 in a factory in St. Petersburg. At the age of 17 to avoid her father's plans for her marriage, she fled to the United States, where she again worked in a factory. She joined the anarchist movement in about 1886 after the Chicago Haymarket Square bombing and conspiracy trial. In 1892 she began public speaking in defense of her lover, Alexander Berkman's attempted assassination of industrialist Henry Clay. She continued traveling and speaking about her ideas on revolution and sex. She published The Blast and later, until her deportation, Mother Earth. Goldman was deported in 1919 as a result of opposition to the war. She returned to Russia, but disillusioned with the new regime she left to travel and speak in Europe. She published Anarchism and Other Essays (1917), Living My Life (1931), My Disillusionment in Russia (1924), and My Further Disillusionment in Russia (1925).

In 1924 she was permitted to make her home in England and married James Colton for the convenience of British citizenship. Alternatingly residing in England, Canada (Toronto), and the South of France (St. Tropez), she wrote her autobiography, Living my Life (1931). A tour through Germany convinced her of the threat of fascism. Her lectures on the topic gained her a ninety-day visit to the United States in 1934. The Spanish Civil War provided her with a needed distraction from Alexander Berkman's suicide. She devoted herself to the loyalists and worked in England on behalf of the Spanish government. Early in 1939, she returned to Canada where she died May 13, 1940, retaining to the last her revolutionary ideals.

Sources:

From the guide to the Emma Goldman Papers, Bulk, 1929-1940, 1908-1970, (Bulk 1929-1940), (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)