''Free Society'' (1895–1897 as ''The Firebrand''; 1897–1904 as ''Free Society'') was a major
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
newspaper in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.
["''Free Society'' was the principal English-language forum for anarchist ideas in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century." ''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902–1909'', p.551.] Most anarchist publications in the US were in Yiddish, German, or Russian, but ''Free Society'' was published in English, permitting the dissemination of anarchist thought to English-speaking populations in the US.
The newspaper was established as ''The Firebrand'' in 1895 in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...
by the Isaak family,
Abraham Isaak
Abraham Isaak (October 4, 1856 – December 10, 1937) was a newspaper editor and Russian anarchist. He was raised in the Mennonite village of Rosenthal, part of the Chortitza Colony, but later settled in the U.S.
Biography
Abraham Isaak was th ...
,
Mary Isaak, and their children, along with some associates; the organization served as "the headquarters of anarchist activity on the
estCoast". The paper was particularly known for its advocacy of
free love
Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...
and
women's rights
Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
, bringing an anarchist critique to bear on social and gender relations.
Deliberately defying the
Comstock laws
The Comstock laws were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws.Dennett p.9 The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the Suppression of ...
in an act of
civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
, ''The Firebrand'' published
Walt Whitman
Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...
's "A Woman Waits for Me" in 1897;
A. J. Pope, Abe Isaak, and
Henry Addis were quickly arrested and charged with publishing obscene information for the Whitman poem and a letter "It Depends on the Women", signed by A.E.K. The A.E.K. letter presented various hypotheticals of women refusing or assenting to sex with their husbands or lovers, and argued that true liberation required education of both sexes and particularly women.
[ ]
After Isaak was released, the Isaak family moved the publication to
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, and resumed publication under the name ''Free Society''. However, while ''Free Society'' continued to discuss free love and advocate for equality of the sexes, it did not openly defy the Comstock laws again.
Notable contributors include
Kate Austin
Kate Cooper Austin (July 25, 1864 – October 28, 1902) was an American journalist and advocate of feminist and anarchist causes.
Early life
Born Catherine Cooper on July 25, 1864, in LaSalle County, Illinois Austin moved with her family to Ho ...
,
Voltairine de Cleyre
Voltairine de Cleyre (November 17, 1866 – June 20, 1912) was an American anarchist known for being a prolific writer and speaker who opposed capitalism, marriage and the State (polity), state as well as the domination of religion over sexuality ...
,
Michael Cohn,
Jay Fox
Jay Fox (August 20, 1870 – March 8, 1961) was an American journalist, trade unionist, and political activist. The political trajectory of his life ran through anarchism, syndicalism, and communism, and he played a significant role in each of the ...
,
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
,
Lizzie Holmes
Lizzie Holmes (, Hunt; after first marriage, Swank; after second marriage, Holmes; pen name, May Huntley; December 21, 1850 – August 8, 1926) was an American anarchist, writer, and organizer of Chicago's working women during the late 19th cent ...
,
William Holmes,
C. L. James,
C. L. James
at fair-use.org
Harry Kelly,
James Ferdinand Morton Jr.,
and
Ross Winn
Ross Winn (August 25, 1871 – August 8, 1912) was an American anarchist writer and publisher from Texas who was mostly active within the Southern United States.
Biography
Ross Winn was born in Denton County, Texas in 1871. Prior to beginn ...
.
See also
* List of anarchist periodicals
The following is a chronological list of noteworthy anarchist and proto-anarchist periodicals.
Footnotes
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External linksCold Off The Pressescontains full text copies of anarchist periodicals from the Anarchy ...
* Christian anarchism
Christian anarchism is a Christian movement in political theology that claims anarchism is inherent in Christianity and the Gospels. It is grounded in the belief that there is only one source of authority to which Christians are ultimately answ ...
Notes
References
* Carolyn Ashbaugh
Carolyn is a female given name, a variant of Caroline. Other spellings include Karolyn, Carolyne, Carolynn or Carolynne. Caroline itself is one of the feminine forms of Charles.
List of Notable People
*Carolyn Bennett (born 1950), Canadian pol ...
, "Radical Women: The Haymarket Tradition", IN ''Haymarket Scrapbook'', ed. by Dave Roediger and Franklin Rosemont
Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009) was an American poet, artist, historian, street speaker, and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group. Over four decades, Franklin produced a body of work, of declarations, manifestos, poetry, collage, hidden hi ...
, Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 1986 (available a
''The Lucy Parsons Project''
(discussing ''Free Society'', including later imprisonment of Isaak family in 1901 after the McKinley assassination
William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901, six months into his second term. He was shaking hands with the ...
, and Jane Addams
Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...
' efforts to secure their release)
*
* Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
, ''Living My Life'' (Vol. 1).
* ''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902-1909'', p. 551
* Elmer B. Isaak (Interview), IN Paul Avrich
Paul Avrich (August 4, 1931 – February 16, 2006) was a historian of the 19th and early 20th century anarchist movement in Russia and the United States. He taught at Queens College, City University of New York, for his entire career, from 1961 ...
, ''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America'' (AK Press, 2006, ), pp. 27–28
* Maurice, Lori Klatt
"Stamping Out Indecency, The Postal Way"
(aka "Stamping Out Indecency: Post Office Censorship"] (March 8, 2004, Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...
)
External links
{{Commons category inline, Free Society
Anarchist periodicals published in the United States
Feminist newspapers
Free love advocates
Publications established in 1895
Anarcho-communism
Publications disestablished in 1904
Defunct newspapers published in Oregon
1895 establishments in Oregon
1904 disestablishments in Oregon