Emma Goldman

Goldman, Emma

Ed — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:54:20 +0000

Introduction to Emma Goldman

libcom — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 10:20:46 +0000

Emma Goldman, 1869-1940
Emma Goldman was an anarchist and pioneering feminist and birth control advocate. Born in Russia, she emigrated to the US, where she was described by J. Edgar Hoover as "one of the most dangerous women in America".
She helped her lover Alex Berkman in his assassination attempt of industrialist Henry Clay Frick due to his role in killing Homestead strikers, and put on popular speaking tours.
She was deported illegally to Russia in 1919, where she and Berkman became outspoken critics of the Bolshevik regime. She was active up until her death.

Links on libcom.org
Biography of Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman archive
Alexander "Sasha" Berkman, 1860-1936
The Homestead Strike, 1892
Emma Goldman search results on libcom.org

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Goldman, Emma, 1869-1940

Steven. — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:42:55 +0000

Emma Goldman was born in 1869 in a Jewish ghetto in Russia where her family ran a small inn. When she was 13 the family moved to St Petersburg. It was just after the assassination of Alexander II and so was a time of political repression. The Jewish community suffered a wave of pogroms.

Obituary for Ross Winn, 1871-1912 - Emma Goldman

Steven. — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:40:29 +0000

Obituary for Texan anarchist Ross Winn written by Emma Goldman.

Marriage and Love

libcom — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 17:15:11 +0000

THE popular notion about marriage and love is that they are synonymous, that they spring from the same motives, and cover the same human needs. Like most popular notions this also rests not on actual facts, but on superstition.

Women's Suffrage

libcom — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 17:09:49 +0000

WE BOAST of the age of advancement, of science, and progress. Is it not strange, then, that we still believe in fetich worship? True, our fetiches have different form and substance, yet in their power over the human mind they are still as disastrous as were those of old.

The Traffic in Women

libcom — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 17:04:13 +0000

OUR REFORMERS have suddenly made a great discovery--the white slave traffic. The papers are full of these "unheard-of conditions," and lawmakers are already planning a new set of laws to check the horror.

The Modern Drama: A Powerful Disseminator of Radical Thought

libcom — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 16:59:29 +0000

SO LONG as discontent and unrest make themselves but dumbly felt within a limited social class, the powers of reaction may often succeed in suppressing such manifestations.

Anarchy Defended by Anarchists

libcom — Wed, 14 Dec 2005 10:47:40 +0000

A rare article defending anarchism, by two of its principle proponents in the early-20th Century United States

Kronstadt 1921: An analysis of Bolshevik propaganda - Emma Goldman

libcom — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:52:54 +0000

Kronstadt 1921: An Analysis of Bolshevik Propaganda

My Disillusionment in Russia - Emma Goldman

libcom — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 19:15:32 +0000

Deported American anarchist Emma Goldman travels to Russia for the first time in 30 years. She provides a revealing picture on the rampant opportunism throughout the Soviet government and its steady roots throughout the bureacracy.

Trotsky Protests Too Much - Emma Goldman

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:57:21 +0000

TROTSKY PROTESTS TOO MUCH By Emma Goldman

PRICE TWOPENCE In America Five Cents

Published by THE ANARCHIST COMMUNIST FEDERATION [Glasgow, Scotland, 1938]

INTRODUCTION.

Sacco and Vanzetti

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:54:43 +0000

Sacco and Vanzetti by Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman [Published in The Road to Freedom (New York), Vol. 5, Aug. 1929.]

THE names of the "good shoe-maker and poor fish-peddler" have ceased to represent merely two Italian workingmen. Throughout the civilised world Sacco and Vanzetti have become a symbol, the shibboleth of Justice crushed by Might. That is the great historic significance of this twentieth century crucifixion, and truly prophetic, were the words of Vanzetti when he declared, "The last moment belongs to us--that agony is our triumph."

The Hypocrisy of Puritanism

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:51:08 +0000

Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays (Third revised edition, New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1917)

THE HYPOCRISY OF PURITANISM

SPEAKING of Puritanism in relation to American art, Mr. Gutzon Borglum said: "Puritanism has made us self-centered and hypocritical for so long, that sincerity and reverence for what is natural in our impulses have been fairly bred out of us, with the result that there can be neither truth nor individuality in our art." Mr. Borglum might have added that Puritanism has made life itself impossible. More than art, more than estheticism, life represents beauty in a thousand variations; it is, indeed, a gigantic panorama of eternal change. Puritanism, on the other hand, rests on a fixed and immovable conception of life; it is based on the Calvinistic idea that life is a curse, imposed upon man by the wrath of God. In order to redeem himself man must do constant penance, must repudiate every natural and healthy impulse, and turn his back on joy and beauty.

Prisons: A Social Crime and Failure

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:45:21 +0000

Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays (Third revised edition, New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1917)

PRISONS: A SOCIAL CRIME AND FAILURE

IN 1849 Feodor Dostoyevsky wrote on the wall of his prison cell the following story of The Priest and the Devil:

"'Hello, you little fat father!' the devil said to the priest. 'What made you lie so to those poor, misled people? What tortures of hell did you depict? Don't you know they are already suffering the tortures of hell in their earthly lives? Don't you know that you and the authorities of the State are my representatives on earth? It is you that make them suffer the pains of hell with which you threaten them. Don't you know this? Well, then, come with me!'

The Psychology of Political Violence

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:41:08 +0000

Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays (Third revised edition, New York: Mother Earth Publishing Association, 1917)

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF POLITICAL VIOLENCE

TO ANALYZE the psychology of political violence is not only extremely difficult, but also very dangerous. If such acts are treated with understanding, one is immediately accused of eulogizing them. If, on the other hand, human sympathy is expressed with the AttentÃ¤ter, 1 one risks being considered a possible accomplice. Yet it is only intelligence and sympathy that can bring us closer to the source of human suffering, and teach us the ultimate way out of it.

Patriotism, a Menace to Society

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:32:35 +0000

PATRIOTISM, A MENACE TO LIBERTY by Emma Goldman, 1911

WHAT is patriotism? Is it love of one's birthplace, the place of childhood's recollections and hopes, dreams and aspirations ? Is it the place where, in childlike naivete, we would watch the fleeting clouds, and wonder why we, too, could not run so swiftly? The place where we would count the milliard glittering stars, terror-stricken lest each one "an eye should be," piercing the very depths of our little souls? Is it the place where we would listen to the music of the birds, and long to have wings to fly, even as they, to distant lands? Or the place where we would sit at mother's knee, enraptured by wonderful tales of great deeds and conquests ? In short, is it love for the spot, every inch representing dear and precious recollections of a happy, joyous, and playful childhood?

Minorities Versus Majorities

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:22:16 +0000

MlNORITIES VERSUS MAJORITIES by Emma Goldman

IF I WERE to give a summary of the tendency of our times, I would say, Quantity. The multitude, the mass spirit, dominates everywhere, destroying quality. Our entire life production, politics, and education rests on quantity, on numbers. The worker who once took pride in the thoroughness and quality of his work, has been replaced by brainless, incompetent automatons, who turn out enormous quantities of things, valueless to themselves, and generally injurious to the rest of mankind. Thus quantity, instead of adding to life's comforts and peace, has merely increased man's burden.

The Individual, Society and the State

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:07:57 +0000

The Individual, Society and the State by Emma Goldman

The minds of men are in confusion, for the very foundations of our civilization seem to be tottering. People are losing faith in the existing institutions, and the more intelligent realize that capitalist industrialism is defeating the very purpose it is supposed to serve.

Samuel Gompers

libcom — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 21:02:36 +0000

Samuel Gompers by Emma Goldman [Published in The Road to Freedom (New York), Vol. 1, March 1925.]

The numerous tributes paid to the late President of the American Federation of Labor, emphasized his great leadership. "Gompers was a leader of men," they said. One would have expected that the disaster brought upon the world by leadership would have proven that to be a leader of men is far from a virtue. Rather is it a vice for which those who are being led are usually made to pay very heavily. The last fifteen years are replete with examples of what the leaders of men have done to the peoples of the world. The Lenins, Clemenceaus, the Lloyd Georges and Wilson, have all posed as great leaders. Yet they have brought misery, destruction and death. They have led the masses away from the promised goal.