Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890 - 1964)

Thu Aug 07, 1890

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Image: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn addressing strikers in Paterson, N.J. (1913) [socialistworker.org]

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, born on this day in 1890, was a communist activst and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Communist Party USA (CPUSA).

Flynn was a vigorous proponent of women’s rights, birth control, and women’s suffrage. She joined the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) in 1936 and late in life, in 1961, became its chairwoman.

Flynn was also a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), but was expelled in 1940 during an institution-wide purge of all communists from ACLU leadership. This decision was reversed twelve years after her death, in 1976.

In 1948, Flynn was arrested, along with eleven other prominent members of the Communist Party, for violating the Smith Act. She served two years in prison, and continued her political activism after her release.

Flynn died during a visit to the Soviet Union, where she was accorded a state funeral with processions in the Red Square attended by over 25,000 people.

“I fell in love with my country - its rivers, prairies, forests, mountains, cities and people. No one can take my love of country away from me! I felt then, as I do now, it’s a rich, fertile, beautiful land, capable of satisfying all the needs of its people. It could be a paradise on earth if it belonged to the people, not to a small owning class.”

- Elizabeth Gurley Flynn