Carrie Katherine "Kate" Richards O'Hare (March 26, 1876 – January 10, 1948) was an American Socialist Party activist, editor, and orator best known for her controversial imprisonment during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Biography

Early years

Carrie Katherine Richards was born March 26, 1876, in Ottawa County,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. Her father, Andrew Richards (c. 1846–1916), was the son of slaveowners, but had come to hate the institution, enlisting as a bugler and drummer boy in the Union Army at the outbreak of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

in 1861."Andrew Richards," ''St. Louis Labor,'' whole no. 806 (July 15, 1916), p. 8. Following the conclusion of the war he had married his childhood sweetheart and moved to the western Kansas frontier, where he and his wife Lucy brought up Kate and her four siblings, raising the children as

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

from an early age. O'Hare attended Pawnee City Academy in Pawnee City, Nebraska graduating in 1894. O'Hare briefly worked as a teacher in

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

before becoming a secretary for, and later part owner of, her father's

machinist A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who operates machine tools, and has the ability to set up tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines. A competent machinist will generally have a strong mechan ...

shop in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

. There she joined the

International Association of Machinists The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) is an AFL–CIO/ CLC trade union representing over 600,000 workers as of 2024 in more than 200 industries with most of its membership in the United States and Canada. Origi ...

and became involved in socialist politics. In 1901, she moved to Girard, Kansas to attend the International School of Social Economy where she met her future husband Frank P. O'Hare. The couple married in 1902 and moved to

Chandler, Oklahoma Chandler ()Gordon Whittaker, 2005, "A Concise Dictionary of the Sauk Language", The Sac & Fox National Public Library Stroud, Oklahoma/ref> is a city in, and the county seat of, Lincoln County, Oklahoma, Lincoln County, Oklahoma, United States. a ...

. After moving to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, O'Hare began organizing women for the Socialist Party of Oklahoma. In 1907, she was the party's nominee for

Oklahoma Commissioner of Charities and Corrections Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. In 1909, the O'Hares returned to Kansas City.

Political career

She unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in Kansas on the Socialist ticket in 1910. In the pages of the ''National Rip-Saw'', a St. Louis-based socialist journal in the 1910s, O'Hare championed reforms in favor of the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

and toured the country as an

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14 ...

. In 1916 the Socialist Party of Missouri named O'Hare its candidate for U.S. Senate, heading the Socialist ticket in the state. After America's entry into

in 1917, O'Hare led the Socialist Party's Committee on War and Militarism. For giving an anti-war speech in Bowman, North Dakota, O'Hare was convicted and sent to prison by federal authorities for violating the

Espionage Act of 1917 The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code ( ...

, an act criminalizing interference with recruitment and enlistment of military personnel. With no federal penitentiaries for women existing at the time, she was delivered to Missouri State Penitentiary on a five-year sentence in 1919, but was pardoned by Calvin Coolidge in 1920 after a nationwide campaign to secure her release. In prison, O'Hare met the

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

and Gabriella Segata Antolini, and worked with them to improve prison conditions. After her release and the war's end, support for the Amnesty movement waned. In April 1922, to free America's "Political Prisoners" she led the "Children’s Crusade", a cross country march, to prod President Harding to release others convicted of the same 1917 Espionage act she had been convicted. With support of the fledgling ACLU, the women and children stood at the gates of the White House for almost two months before Harding met with them, ultimately releasing many of the prisoners of conscience. O'Hare, unlike Socialist Party leader Eugene V. Debs and other prominent socialists at the time, did not believe African Americans were equal to white Americans. She did not work toward racial equality, and was concerned about African-American men working in close contact with white American women. However, she was sympathetic to the plight of Native Americans, even though she felt that their

sociocultural evolution Sociocultural evolution, sociocultural evolutionism or social evolution are theories of sociobiology and cultural evolution that describe how Society, societies and culture change over time. Whereas sociocultural development traces processes t ...

was too slow for them to thrive in the US. She considered

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

to be largely equal to whites, and she occasionally participated in Jewish holiday celebrations with her friends.

Later years

Kate O'Hare divorced Frank O'Hare in June 1928 and married the engineer and businessman Charles C. Cunningham in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in November of the same year. Despite her continued involvement in politics, much of O'Hare's prominence gradually faded. O'Hare worked on behalf of

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

's radical populist campaign in the

1934 California gubernatorial election The 1934 California gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1934. Held in the midst of the Great Depression, the 1934 election was amongst the most controversial in the state's political history, pitting conservative Republican Frank M ...

, and briefly served on the staff of Wisconsin Progressive Party politician Thomas R. Amlie in 1937–38. Esteemed as a penal reform advocate, she served as an assistant director of the California Department of Penology in 1939–40.

Death and legacy

O'Hare died in

Benicia, California Benicia ( , ) is a city in Solano County, California, located on the north bank of the Carquinez Strait in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It served as the List of capitals in the United S ...

, on January 10, 1948.

Electoral history

References

Works

* ''Americanism and Bolshevism''. St. Louis, MO: F. P. O’Hare, 1919.
"How I Became a Socialist Agitator,"
''Socialist Woman'' irard, KS October 1908, pp. 4–5. * ''In Prison''. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1923. (Internet Archive

''"Nigger" Equality.''
St. Louis, MO: National Rip-Saw, 1912. * ''Socialism and the World War''. St. Louis, MO: F. P. O’Hare, 1919. * ''The Sorrows of Cupid''. St. Louis, MO: National Rip-Saw, 1912.

External links

Kate Richards O'Hare Letters.Schlesinger Library
, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. *Lubna A. Alam and Elizabeth I. Perry

Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000, womhist.alexanderstreet.com/—Document collection. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohare, Kate Richards 1876 births 1948 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American women politicians Activists from Kansas American anti–World War I activists American political writers American prisoners and detainees American socialists Socialist Party of America politicians from Oklahoma People from Ottawa County, Kansas People convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 People pardoned by Calvin Coolidge Socialist Party of America politicians from Kansas Socialist Party of America politicians from Missouri Wisconsin Progressives (1924) Women in Kansas politics American women non-fiction writers Candidates in the 1907 United States elections