Lucy Parsons was a respected writer and powerful orator known throughout the United States and around the world. Much of Lucy's writings appeared in the Alarm, a revolutionary syndicalist newspaper edited by her husband, Albert, and founded by the International Working People's Association, of which Lucy was a member. She also briefly published and wrote for Freedom, in which she scorned racism and lynchings, and the Liberator, in which she emphasized famous women. In 1889 she published The Life of Albert Parsons, dedicated to exposing the state's crime of executing her husband and their comrades for their politcal beliefs in anarchism. Although she frequently wrote for various publications, Lucy Parsons was most widely known for her inspiring and moving speeches, which provoked the police to repeatedly arrest and silence her voice.
Unlike many of her allies and contemporaries, Lucy spent very little time writing or talking about herself and her personal life. Parsons believed it was the causes she championed, the movements she supported and the struggles against injustice that were of paramount importance, and saw little purpose in publicizing her own life. "For Lucy Parsons," writes Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, "identity—other than being of and for the working class—was irrelevant." As a result we are left with few autobiographical resources concerning the life of Lucy Parsons. Unfortunately the vast array of writings, speeches and other accounts of Lucy Parsons' commitment to the movements she was a part of are also far and few between. Much of her writings for the Alarm, her personal journals, letters and other history burned with Lucy when her house caught fire and ended her life in 1942. The remaining letters, writings and other documents of Lucy Parsons (along with her collection of 1,500 books) were promptly confiscated and eliminated by the authorities, who considered her words too dangerous and likely to inspire future generations, and so they were destroyed. As a result we are left with very few writings and transcribed lectures by Lucy Parsons. The most comprehensive printed collection of Lucy Parsons's writings and speeches can be found in the book Lucy Parsons: Freedom, Equality & Solidarity, Writings and Speeches, 1878-1937 edited by Gale Ahrens (published in 2004).
Writings & Lectures By Lucy Parsons: TO TRAMPS, The Unemployed, the Disinherited, and Miserable A Wise Move: On Anarchist Organization An Interview with Lucy Parsons on the Prospects for Anarchism in America The Voice of the People will yet be Heard Speeches at the Founding Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World The IWW and the Shorter Workday Industrial Workers of the World: Aims and Objects I'll be Damned if I go Back to Work Under Those Conditions!: A May Day Speech The Eleventh of November, 1887 Woman: Her Evolutionary Development Famous Women of History: Louise Michel Property Rights vs. Human Rights Related Articles: Other Resources: Lucy Parsons: Freedom, Equality & Solidarity, Writings and Speeches, 1878-193 |