Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Elizabeth Flynn
"East Side Joan of Arc": from the IWW's Rebel Girl to first woman chair of the CPUSA
"We are Communist leaders, proudly and avowedly. We will prove to you that we are not a criminal conspiracy but a 33-year-old working-class political party, devoted to the immediate needs and aspirations of the American people." — Summation to the jury, Smith Act trial, April 24, 1952
American labor organizer and communist. Known as the IWW's "Rebel Girl" from age 15, she led the Lawrence strike and co-founded the ACLU. Elected CPUSA's first woman chair in 1961; died in Moscow and was given a Red Square state funeral.
Career timeline
- 1906First socialist speech, Harlem Socialist Club — arrested; joins IWW
- 1907–1916Full-time IWW organizer — Lawrence and Paterson strikes, Missoula and Spokane free-speech fights
- 1918Founds Workers' Defense Union to defend Espionage Act arrestees
- 1920Co-founds ACLU; leads Sacco and Vanzetti defense campaign
- 1936Joins CPUSA; writes weekly column for the Daily Worker
- 1940Expelled from ACLU board for Communist Party membership
- 1951–1955Convicted under Smith Act; serves 2 years at Alderson prison, writes The Alderson Story
- 1961–1964Chair of CPUSA National Committee; dies in Moscow — Red Square state funeral