In our ongoing series #WomenThatDid, ENTITY profiles inspirational and famous women in history whose impact on our world can still be felt today. If you have a suggestion for a historical powerhouse you would like to see featured, tweet us with the hashtag #WomenThatDid.
Name: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Lifetime: August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964
What She’s Known For: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn doesn’t exactly have the stereotypical background that can be expected from a woman born in the 1800s. Born to a radical, activist blue-collar family in the Bronx, her father was a socialist and her mother was a feminist and Irish nationalist.
She gave her first public speech at only 15, the topic on “Women under Socialism.” It may not have been her best speech, but it would certainly not be her last as a teenager. She started making public speeches on behalf of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and was actually expelled from high school in 1907.
She both married and divorced Jack Jones, and together they had one son, Fred. Fred was left at her mother and sister’s while Flynn went and traveled for the IWW. She also had a love affair with an Italian anarchist, Carlo Tresca.
Flynn was a vehement speaker about women’s rights, including birth control. She was also against World War I, and like most naysayers was charged with espionage. Flynn soon became absorbed with defending immigrants who were threatened with deportation because they opposed the war.
A sense of nationalism was extremely important to the US government during war time, and Flynn had her work cut out for her. Flynn’s first hand involvement caused her to help found the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and she was elected to the national board.
She had to take a break from activism, not from a hostile government or because she rethought her positions, but because of her health. She also joined the American Communist Party in 1936, and did in fact inform the ACLU before she was elected—there wasn’t a cover up or anything like that—but because of the rise of Hitler, several known communists supporters were expelled from various organizations, and the ACLU were no different.
In 1941 she was elected to the Communist Party’s Central Committee, and then in 1942 she ran for Congress, campaigning on women’s issues instead of the usual men’s issues. She wasn’t successful, but she actually ended up working for FDR for a little bit, and then after the war she was thrown in prison for two years along with a few others for planning to overthrow the government. Once she got out, she was elected to National Chairman of the Communist Party.
Even though she was a communist, for years she was a critic of the USSR. Elizabeth Flynn wasn’t the usual communist that you might be imagining. She was traveling to the USSR and Eastern Europe—by the skin of her teeth, since the Supreme Court had to get involved when she tried to acquire a passport—working on her biography when she died of heart failure. The ACLU gave her back her membership posthumously 15 years after her death.
Why We Love Her: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was a trail blazer, someone who never stopped fighting for what she believed what was right. Not only an activist, Flynn also published several books about her ideals, opinions and life.
Fun Fact: Joe Hill’s “Rebel Girl” is about her!
