Flynn, Elizabeth Gerley

Elizabeth Flynn was born in Concord , New Hampshire, in 1890. In 1900, she moved with her family to New York , where she studied at local schools, in particular, at Morris High School. Parents instilled in her socialist views from childhood, and at the age of 16, Elizabeth spoke at the Socialist Club in Harlem with a lecture on “What Socialism Will Do for Women.” Elizabeth was so attracted to social activities that she dropped out of school without graduating, which she later regretted ^[1] .

In 1907, Elizabeth met D. Jones, the local functionary of the Industrial Workers of the World organization, who was sixteen years older than her, and in 1908 married him ^[2] . In marriage, they had two sons - John Vincent, who died a few days after birth, and Fred Flynn (1910-1940) ^[3] .

In 1907, Flynn became a full-fledged functionary of the Industrial Workers of the world , and participated in the first congress of the IRM in September of that year ^[4] . Over the next few years, she led jobs among Pennsylvania garment makers, New Jersey weavers, New York restaurant workers, miners in Minnesota , Montana , Washington , and textile workers in Massachusetts . For her ebullient activity, the writer Theodore Dreiser gave Flynn the nickname "East Side Joan of Arc." During this time, Flynn was arrested ten times, but was never sentenced to prison. In 1916, due to disagreements with the leadership, IRM was expelled from the organization along with a group of Joe Ettor.

In 1920, Flynn was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union and took an active part in the campaign against the conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti . Along with the struggle for workers' rights, Flynn fought for women's rights, including birth control and women's suffrage . Flynn also criticized union leaders for being dominated by men, which is why unions do not reflect the interests of women.

Throughout 1926-1936, Elizabeth Flynn lived in the southwest of Portland along with suffragette and anarchist Mary Eki . Despite poor health, Flynn continued social activity, in particular, took an active part in the strike of the sailors of the West Coast of 1934 ^[5] . In 1936, Flynn joined the U.S. Communist Party and led a feminist column in the Daily Worker party publication. Two years later, she was elected to the national committee of the US Communist Party. In 1940, Flynn's membership in the Communist Party led to her expulsion from the Council of the American Civil Liberties Union ^[6] .

During World War II, Flynn played an important role in the campaign for equal economic opportunities for women (including equal pay) and the establishment of day care centers for working mothers. In the 1942 Congressional elections, she ran for one of the constituencies in New York, gaining 50,000 votes, but was not elected. In July 1948, 11 leaders of the US Communist Party were arrested, including its chairman, William Foster, and Secretary General Eugene Dennis . They were charged with violating the Smith Act , namely, that they "plotted ... as the Communist Party to promote and teach the principles of Marxism-Leninism", as well as "to publish and distribute books, articles, magazines and newspapers defending the principles of Marxism -Leninism. " As a result of the trial, 10 defendants were sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of $ 10,000, and the 11th defendant, Robert Thompson, was sentenced to three years in prison. The US Supreme Court in 1951 upheld the verdict with six judges against two with two abstentions.

Flynn began a campaign to free the accused, but in 1951, during the second wave of arrests, she herself was arrested and after nine months of trial, found guilty of violating the Smith Act and sentenced to two years in prison, which was serving in Alderson Federal Prison , West Virginia . She later wrote a book about her imprisonment The Alderson Story: My Life as a Political Prisoner (in Russian translation - “In Alderson Prison. Notes of a political prisoner”).

After her release from prison, Flynn resumed her activities in leftist and communist organizations, and in 1961 became the national chairman of the US Communist Party . In the last years of her life she visited the USSR several times, where she died on September 5, 1964 at the age of 74. In accordance with her last will, Flynn's remains were transported to the United States for burial at Waldheim Cemetery in Chicago, next to the graves of Eugene Dennis, Bill Haywood and victims of the 1886 Haymarket riot .

• Flynn, Elizabeth Gerley // Feeder - Fourierism. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1956. - P. 243. - ( Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 51 vols.] / Ch. Ed. B. A. Vvedensky ; 1949-1958, vol. 45).
• Elizabeth Gerley Flynn. In the Alderson prison. Notes by a political prisoner. - Moscow: Progress, 1964.

•   Sabotage by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn - Free audiobook at LibriVox
• Sabotage, The Conscious Withdrawal of the Workers' Industrial Efficiency
• Memories of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) by Elizabeth Gurley Flynn on Wayback Machine ( October 27, 2009 )
• The Rebel Girl: A Remembrance -Reprint from the Communist Party USA 's People's Weekly World