Lizzie Holmes | |
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| Born | Elizabeth May Hunt December 21, 1850 Iowa, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1926 (aged 75) Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Pen name | "May Huntley" |
| Nickname | "Lizzie" |
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| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Subject | labor movement |
| Spouse |
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| Children | 2 |
| Part of a series on |
| Anarcha-feminism |
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Lizzie Holmes (née, Hunt; after first marriage, Swank; after second marriage, Holmes; pen name, May Huntley; December 21, 1850 – August 8, 1926)[1][2] was an American anarchist, writer, and organizer of Chicago's working women during the late 19th century in the United States.[3] She was a key figure in Chicago's labor movement in the years just preceding the Haymarket affair, during which she worked with and played a leading role in a range of unions including the Knights of Labor and the International Working People's Association. Prior to becoming a labor organizer, she worked as a school teacher and music instructor in Ohio.[4]
In addition to her work as a labor organizer, Holmes served as a writer and editor in various radical and anarchist newspapers. She worked as the assistant editor of The Alarm, and she published articles in Lucifer, the Light-Bearer, Freedom, and Free Society. In contrast to some of her anarchist contemporaries, she was also willing to publish in more conservative outlets, which led to her publishing a string of articles in the American Federation of Labor affiliated journal American Federationist.[4] Holmes published articles on a diverse array of topics, including free love, marriage, gender inequality, and economic injustice. Holmes also published multiple works of fiction, including a full-length novel entitled Hagar Lyndon; or, A Woman's Rebellion.[5]
Along with her close friend and collaborator Lucy Parsons, Holmes fought for and demonstrated the validity of gender equality within the anarchist and broader labor movement. Holmes has been recognized as an early pioneer of anarchist feminism, and an influence on more prominent thinkers like Emma Goldman.[6]
After the Haymarket affair, Holmes testified in court on behalf of her friend Albert Parsons.[4] Following his execution and the subsequent crackdown on left-wing organizing in Chicago, many outlets Holmes had previously helped edit became defunct, including The Alarm.[4] Holmes was under constant pressure from law enforcement following the Haymarket affair, serving a short time in jail with Lucy Parsons for agitation and anarchist organizing. Holmes and her husband left Chicago for the western United States, eventually settling in New Mexico, where she spent the last years of her life. Holmes continued to write for both radical and mainstream labor newspapers and magazines until 1908, when she retreated into a private life.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Schaackwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Haydenwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Lloydwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b c d Percy, Ruth (2009). "Death at the Machine: Critiques of Industrial Capitalism in the Fiction of Labor Activist Lizzie M. Holmes". Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas. 6 (3): 65–88. doi:10.1215/15476715-2009-009.
- ^ McKinley, Blaine (March 1, 1990). "Free Love and Domesticity:Lizzie M. Holmes, Hagar Lyndon (1893), and the Anarchist-Feminist Imagination". Journal of American Culture. 13: 55–62. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.1990.1301_55.x.
- ^ Moran, Jessica (2004). "The Firebrand and the Forging of a New Anarchism: Anarchist Communism and Free Love". The Anarchist Library. Retrieved June 21, 2019.