Lucy Parsons has unfortunately been remembered mostly as the widow of the Haymarket martyr
Albert Parsons, executed in Chicago in 1887. But her activism started nearly a decade
earlier and to ended nearly fifty years later. For much of this period she was at the core
of the revolutionary anarchist movement in the USA and many so of her writings retain a
real relevancy today. ---- Lucy and Albert arrived in Chicago in the 1870's and together
threw themselves into the revolutionary socialist movement that was growing there. The
first letter in this collection was one sent by Lucy to 'The socialists' almost eight
years before Haymarket. It uses the example of a glass workers lockout to argue against
the idea that there can be any partnership between bosses and workers. This was a theme
she was to return to again and again in her writings over the decades to come.
Organiser
By 1879 Lucy was one of the main organizers of the Working Women's Union and in 1883 Lucy
and Albert took part in the founding of the Chicago section of the anarchist International
Working Peoples Association. She was a frequent contributor to the anarchist paper 'The
Alarm' and a co-leader of important working class demonstrations in 1884 and 1885.
The anarchists of Chicago were no fringe movement but rather the main leadership of the
Chicago unions and in particular the struggle for the eight-hour day. Following the
general strike of May 1st 1886 the state used the excuse of a police riot during which
seven policemen died (mostly after being shot in the crossfire from other police guns) to
crush this movement. A rigged trial was used to smash the anarchist's influence and jail
or execute eight of the most prominent anarchists. These events which led to Mayday
becoming an international day of working class solidarity are covered in great detail
elsewhere - relevant to this review is that Albert, Lucy's husband was one of those executed.
Quite naturally these events threw a shadow across the rest of her life but contrary to
what is often implied they did not form the sole focus of her future activity. On a
speaking tour of Britain in 1888 it was observed that "she came as a propagandist to whom
tragedy had given a stronger voice." Later in 1909 she was also to tour Canada - this time
as an IWW agitator. For the next 50 years she would be active in many anarchist and
campaign groups as well.
Communist?
Towards the end of her life when the US anarchist movement has largely collapsed she was
active in the Communist Party dominated 'International Labour Defense'. Unfortunately this
allowed some to claim she had joined the Communist Party - a claim that is too often
repeated by many anarchists today. In fact there is no evidence for this. The CP did
publish an obituary when she died it but did not claim she was ever a member - surely a
major oversight if she had been. Her own attitude to working with the ILD is probably best
expressed in her 1930 May Day speech, which delivered at the age of 77. In it she appeals
for support for the "hundreds and hundreds" of CP members in prison cells but she also
declares "I am an anarchist: I have no apology to make to a single man women or child,
because I am an anarchist, because anarchism carries the very germ of liberty in its womb."
At the age of 81 she replies to an anarchist who had written to her about the state of the
US movement at that time. She says "Anarchism has not produced any organized ability in
the present generation, only a few loose struggling groups scattered over this vast
country, that come together in conferences occasionally, talk to each other, then go
home"... "Do you call this a movement?" ... "I went to work for the International Labour
Defense (ILD) because I wanted to do a little something to help defend the victims of
capitalism who got into trouble, and not always be talking, talking, talking."
Lucy on organistion
One of the striking things about reading Lucy's writing is how relevant many of her
comments are to the US anarchist movement today. As a frequent contributor to the
anarchist press and the editor of the anarchist and pro IWW paper 'The Liberator' she
understood how important a serious commitment to organization and large-scale publication
was. "There is no way of building up a movement, strengthening it, and keeping it intact
except by a press, at least weeklies if dailies are impossible"... "The Liberator is the
only English-language anarchist propaganda paper in America; for this reason, comrades and
sympathizers in all parts of the country should feel in duty bound to support this paper,
write for it, contribute to its support financially, and make its success their personal
concern."
Writing in 1907 she observed, "The Anarchistic cause (there has been no movement in recent
years) has lacked a plan of procedure or organization." The existing groups "were
composed, for the most part, of young, inexperienced people who had about as many
conceptions of the real aims of Anarchism as there were members of the group ... I,
personally, have always held to the idea of organization, together with an assumption of
responsibility by the members, such as paying monthly dues and collecting funds for
propaganda purposes. For holding these views I have been called an 'old school' anarchist,
etc."
This is an example of her serious approach towards organization. She was involved in the
Syndicalist League which argued for involvement in the mass unions as well as building the
IWW. This along with her willingness to generally argue for involvement in mass working
class organizations suggests she is one of the few 20th century US anarchists making
arguments similar to the organizational and interventionist currents of
anarchist-communism. However there is no hint in this collection that she was even aware
of the similar debates around 'the platform' happening within the European anarchist
movement in the mid 1920's.
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