Elizabeth Gurley Flynn,

( August 7, 1890-September 5, 1964)

The Rebel Girl

Born in Concord, New Hampshire her mother was a feminist and Irish nationalist. Flynn was only 16 when she gave her first speech, What Socialism Will Do for Women, at the Harlem Socialist Club. A member of Industrial Workers of the World she organized strikes across the country. She stood against World War I and was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union, particularly concerned with women's rights and suffrage. In 1936 Flynn joined the Communist Party, wrote a feminist column for the Daily Worker and two years later was elected to the national committee. In 1942 Flynn ran for Congress in New York, but in June 1951 was arrested and found guilty of violating the Alien Registration Act and served five years in a women's penitentiary. On her release she became national chairman of the Communist Party. She died in the Soviet Union.

HOME                                                  NEXT                                                PORTRAIT LIST