Lucy Eldine Gonzalez Parsons (born Lucia Carter; 1851 – March 7, 1942) was an American labor organizer,

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

anarcho-communist Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains resp ...

. She is remembered as a powerful orator. Parsons entered the radical movement following her marriage to newspaper editor

Albert Parsons Albert Richard Parsons (June 20, 1848 – November 11, 1887) was a pioneering American socialist and later anarchist newspaper editor, orator, and labor activist. As a teenager, he served in the military force of the Confederate States of Americ ...

and moved with him from Texas to Chicago, where she contributed to the newspaper he famously edited, ''

The Alarm The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh languag ...

.'' Following her husband's 1887 execution in conjunction with the

Haymarket affair The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square (C ...

, Parsons remained a leading American radical activist, as a founder of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...

and member of other political organizations.

Biography

Early life

Lucy Parsons was born Lucia Carter in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in 1851. Her mother, Charlotte, was an African-American woman enslaved by a white man named Tolliver, who may have been Lucy's father. In 1863, during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, Tolliver relocated to

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a 2020 population of 138,486, making it the 22nd-most populous city in the ...

with his slaves, dodging the enforcement of the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the Civil War. The Proclamation changed the legal sta ...

that set January 1, 1863 as the date all enslaved people would be free. Little is known about her life following the move to Texas. She worked as a seamstress and a cook for white families. Parsons lived with or was married to a former slave, Oliver Gathing, for a time prior to 1870. During this relationship, she had an infant which died at birth. In 1871, she married

, a former

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

soldier. They were forced to flee north from Texas in 1873 due to intolerant reactions to their

interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different races or racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United States, Nazi Germany and apartheid-era South Africa as miscegenation. In 19 ...

. During the journey, Parsons altered her first name to Lucy. The couple settled in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Organizing

Described by the

Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...

as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters" in the 1920s, Parsons and her husband had become highly effective

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 ...

organizers primarily involved in the

labor movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

in the late 19th century, but also participating in revolutionary

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

on behalf of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s, people of color, the homeless and women. She began writing for ''The Socialist'' and ''The Alarm'', the journal of the

International Working People's Association The International Working People's Association (IWPA), sometimes known as the "Black International," was an international anarchist political organization established in 1881 at a convention held in London, England. In America the group is best r ...

(IWPA) that she and Parsons, among others, founded in 1883. Parsons worked closely with her friend and collaborator

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 ...

in the early years of the 1880s, and the two of them led marches of working seamstresses in Chicago. In 1886 her husband, who had been heavily involved in campaigning for the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the 16 ...

, was arrested, tried, and executed on November 11, 1887, by the state of Illinois on charges that he had conspired in the

Haymarket Riot The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square in ...

— an event which was widely regarded as a political

frame-up __NOTOC__ In the United States criminal law, a frame-up (frameup) or setup is the act of framing someone, that is, providing false evidence or false testimony in order to falsely prove someone guilty of a crime. While incriminating those who a ...

and which marked the beginning of

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

labor rallies in protest. Parsons was invited to write for the French anarchist journal '' Les Temps Nouveaux'' and spoke alongside

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

and

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activis ...

during a visit to Great Britain in 1888. In 1892 she briefly published a periodical, ''Freedom: A Revolutionary Anarchist-Communist Monthly''. She was often arrested for giving public speeches or distributing anarchist literature. While she continued championing the anarchist cause, she came into ideological conflict with some of her contemporaries, including

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 ...

, over her focus on class politics over gender and sexual struggles. In 1905 she participated in the founding of the

(IWW), and began editing the ''Liberator'', an anarchist newspaper that supported the IWW in Chicago. Lucy's focus shifted somewhat to class struggles around poverty and unemployment, and she organized the Chicago Hunger Demonstrations in January 1915, which pushed the American Federation of Labor, the Socialist Party, 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 ...

Hull House Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of the city, Hull House (named after the original house's first owner Cha ...

to participate in a huge demonstration on February 12. Parsons was also quoted as saying: "My conception of the strike of the future is not to strike and go out and starve, but to strike and remain in, and take possession of the necessary property of production." Parsons anticipated the sit-down strikes in the US and, later, workers' factory takeovers in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. In 1925 she began working with the National Committee of the

International Labor Defense The International Labor Defense (ILD) (1925–1947) was a legal advocacy organization established in 1925 in the United States as the American section of the Comintern's International Red Aid network. The ILD defended Sacco and Vanzetti, was activ ...

in 1927, a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

-led organization that defended labor activists and unjustly-accused African Americans such as the Scottsboro Nine and

Angelo Herndon Angelo Braxton Herndon (May 6, 1913 in Wyoming, Ohio – December 9, 1997 in Sweet Home, Arkansas) was an African-American labor organizer arrested and convicted of insurrection after attempting to organize black and white industrial workers in ...

. While it is commonly accepted by nearly all biographical accounts (including those of the

Lucy Parsons Center The Lucy Parsons Center, located in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts, is an radical, nonprofit independent bookstore and community center. Formed out of the Red Word bookstore, it is collectively run by volunteers. The Center provides readin ...

, the IWW, and Joe Knowles) that Parsons joined the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

in 1939, there is some dispute, notably in Gale Ahrens' essay "Lucy Parsons: Mystery Revolutionist, More Dangerous Than A Thousand Rioters". Ahrens points out that the obituary the Communist Party had published on her death made no claim that she had been a member.

Conflict with Emma Goldman

and Lucy Parsons represented different generations of anarchism. This resulted in ideological and personal conflict. Biographer Carolyn Ashbaugh has explained their disagreements in depth: In 1908, after Captain Mahoney (of the New York City Police Department) crashed one of Goldman's lectures in Chicago, newspaper headlines read that every popular anarchist had been present for the spectacle, "with the single exception of Lucy Parsons, with whom Emma Goldman is not on the best of terms." Goldman reciprocated Parsons's absence by endorsing Frank Harris' book ''The Bomb'', which was a largely fictional account of the Haymarket Affair and its martyrs' road to death. (Parsons had published ''The Famous Speeches of the Haymarket Martyrs'', a non-fictional, first-hand recounting of the Haymarket martyrs' final speeches in court.) Parsons was solely dedicated to working class liberation, condemning Goldman for "addressing large middle-class audiences"; Goldman accused Parsons of riding upon the cape of her husband's martyrdom. " doubt," Candace Falk wrote (''

Love, Anarchy, and Emma Goldman ''Love, Anarchy, and Emma Goldman: A Biography'' is a 1984 biography of Emma Goldman by Candace Falk. It is based on letters from Goldman's ten-year love affair with Ben Reitman. Bibliography * * * * * * * * * * External ...

''), "there was an undercurrent of competitiveness between the two women. Emma generally preferred center stage." Goldman planned on preserving her place in the spotlight as an American anarchist laureate by shoving risqué sexual and kinship discourse into "the center of a perennial debate among anarchists about the relative importance of such personal issues". In ''The Firebrand'', Parsons wrote, "Mr. scarRotter _free_love_advocate.html"_;"title="free_love.html"_;"title="_free_love">_free_love_advocate">free_love.html"_;"title="_free_love">_free_love_advocateattempts_to_dig_up_the_hideous_'Variety'_grub_and_bind_it_to_the_beautiful_unfolding_blossom_of_emancipation_of_labour.html" ;"title="free_love">_free_love_advocate.html" ;"title="free_love.html" ;"title=" free love"> free love advocate">free_love.html" ;"title=" free love"> free love advocateattempts to dig up the hideous 'Variety' grub and bind it to the beautiful unfolding blossom of emancipation of labour">labor's emancipation from wage-slavery and call them one and the same. Variety in sex relations and economic freedom have nothing in common." Goldman responded: Parsons responded: "The line will be drawn sharply at personalities as we know these enlighten no one and do infinitely more harm than good." Goldman, in her autobiography, ''

Living My Life ''Living My Life'' is the autobiography of Lithuanian-born anarchist Emma Goldman, who became internationally renowned as an activist based in the United States. It was published in two volumes in 1931 (Alfred A. Knopf) and 1934 (Garden City Publ ...

'', briefly mentioned the presence of "Mrs. Lucy Parsons, widow of our martyred Albert Parsons", at a Chicago labor convention, noting that she "took an active part in the proceedings". Goldman later would acknowledge Albert Parsons for becoming a socialist and anarchist, proceeding to praise him for having "married a young

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

"; there was no further mention of Lucy Parsons.

Death

Grave of Lucy Parsons 1may2015 by IWPCHI

Parsons continued to give fiery speeches in Chicago's Bughouse Square into her 80s, where she inspired Studs Terkel. One of her last major appearances was a speech to striking workers at

International Harvester The International Harvester Company (often abbreviated by IHC, IH, or simply International ( colloq.)) was an American manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, automobiles, commercial trucks, lawn and garden products, household e ...

(the successor to the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, whose striking workers played a role in the

Haymarket Affair The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886, at Haymarket Square (C ...

) in February 1941. Parsons died on March 7, 1942, in a house fire in the Avondale Community Area of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. Her lover, George Markstall, died the next day from injuries he received while trying to save her. She was approximately 91 years old. After her death, police seized her library of over 1,500 books. She is buried near her husband at Waldheim Cemetery (now Forest Home Cemetery), near the

Haymarket Martyrs' Monument The ''Haymarket Martyrs' Monument'' is a funeral monument and sculpture located at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. Dedicated in 1893, it commemorates the defendants involved in labor unrest who were blamed, conv ...

Forest Park, Illinois Forest Park (formerly Harlem) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, United States. The population was 14,339 at the 2020 census. The Forest Park terminal on the CTA Blue Line is the line's western terminus, located on the ...

Origins and ethnicity

Parsons refused to speak about her private life or origins. When asked for details about her history, she declared "I am not a candidate for office, and the public have no right to my past. I amount to nothing to the world and people care nothing of me. I am battling for a principle." This stance has made research into her origins difficult for historians. Parsons specifically denied that she was a child of a former slave of African descent, claiming that she was born in Texas and her parents were Mexican and Native American. She described herself as a “Spanish-Indian maiden” to explain her dark complexion. These personal myths persisted after her death: on her death certificate, her parents' names were listed as Pedro Díaz and Marites González, both born in Mexico.

Legacy, tributes and memorials

The

was founded in 1970 in Boston, Massachusetts. It continues as a collectively-run radical bookstore and infoshop. In the 1990s, a local Chicago artist installed a memorial to Parsons in Wicker Park. In 2004, the city of Chicago named a park for Parsons. On July 16, 2007, a book that purportedly belonged to Lucy Parsons was featured on a segment of the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

television series, ''

History Detectives ''History Detectives'' is a documentary television series on Public Broadcasting Service, PBS. It features investigations made by members of a small team of researchers to identify and/or authenticate items which may have historical significance or ...

''. During the segment it was determined that the book, which was a biography of

' co-defendant August Spies' life and trial, was most likely a copy published and sold by Parsons as a means of raising money to prevent her husband's execution. The segment also provided background on Parsons' life and the Haymarket Affair. On October 15, 2015, a copy of William Morris's ''Signs of Change: Seven Lectures Delivered on Various Occasions'' was sold at auction in England. It was inscribed "To Lucy E Parsons from William Morris November 15, 1888", bore a "Property of Federal Bureau of Investigation US Department of Justice" stamp, and a "Surplus Library of Congress Duplicate" stamp; some of its pages showed traces of smoke damage. In 2016,

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

magazine released free and online a short film by animator Kelly Gallagher about Lucy Parsons, "More Dangerous Than a Thousand Rioters: The Revolutionary Life of Lucy Parsons." The organization Lucy Parsons Labs is a Chicago-based organization focused on digital rights and on-the-streets activism. In 2016 the organization released documents tracking the Chicago Police Department's use of cell-site simulators that connect to passer-by cellphones and store data for potential law enforcement use. In 2022, a new housing development with 100% affordable units was named after Lucy Gonzalez Parsons. The apartments are located 6 blocks from the Avondale, Chicago home where she spent her final years. The apartments provide affordable housing in the Logan Square neighborhood, where gentrification and rapidly-rising rents are common.

References

Works

"A Word to Tramps,"
''The Alarm'', vol. 1, no. 1 (October 4, 1884), p. 1.
"An Interview With Lucy Parsons on the Prospects for Anarchism in America,"
''St. Louis Post-Dispatch,'' vol. 37, no. 95 (October 21, 1886), p. 4.
"Life of Albert R. Parsons, with brief history of the labor movement in America"
(1889)

External links

The Lucy Parsons Center
a radical bookstore in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

* * *
Carolyn Ashbaugh Research Papers
a
the Newberry LibraryLucy Parsons Labs
a Chicago-based digital rights organization {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Lucy 1850s births 1942 deaths 20th-century American women writers Accidental deaths in Illinois Activists from Chicago African-American anarchists African-American communists African-American trade unionists American anti-capitalists American anti-fascists American socialists American women activists American women journalists Anarcha-feminists Anarcho-communists Burials at Forest Home Cemetery, Chicago Communist women writers Deaths from fire in the United States Industrial Workers of the World leaders Industrial Workers of the World members American trade union leaders People from Chicago Year of birth uncertain American revolutionaries American communists Members of the Communist Party USA