He raised the workers' flag and the republic's on a single staff
Too wounded to stand, he was shot tied to a chair — Kilmainham Gaol, 12 May 1916
A socialist revolutionary who fused Marxism with Irish national liberation. He founded the Irish Citizen Army, commanded the Dublin Brigade in the 1916 Easter Rising, and was executed by the British after its suppression.
Career timeline
- 1896Founds the Irish Socialist Republican Party
- 1903–1910IWW organizer in America
- 1910–1914Leads the ITGWU through the 1913 Dublin Lockout
- 1910Published Labour in Irish History
- 1913Founds the Irish Citizen Army
- 1915Published The Re-Conquest of Ireland
- 1916.04Easter Rising — Dublin commandant, signatory of the Proclamation
- 1916.05Shot at Kilmainham Gaol
"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
