''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 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 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 Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, 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 and women's rights, bringing an anarchist critique to bear on social and gender relations. Deliberately defying the Comstock laws 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's "A Woman Waits for Me" in 1897;

A. J. Pope A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

, 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, 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, Michael Cohn, Jay Fox,

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, 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 ...

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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, 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' efforts to secure their release) * *

, ''Living My Life'' (Vol. 1). * ''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902-1909'', p. 551 * Elmer B. Isaak (Interview), IN Paul Avrich, ''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)

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

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