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Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years #1
Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, Vol. 1: Made for America, 1890-1901
Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years reconstructs the life of Emma Goldman through significant texts and documents. These volumes collect personal letters, lecture notes, newspaper articles, court transcripts, government surveillance reports, and numerous other documents, many of which appear here in English for the first time. Supplemented with thorough annotations, multiple appendixes, and detailed chronologies, the texts bring to life the memory of this singular, pivotal figure in American and European radical history.
Volume 1: Made for America, 1890-1901 introduces readers to the young Emma Goldman as she begins her association with the international anarchist movement and especially with the German, Jewish, and Italian immigrant radicals in New York City. From early on, Goldman's movement through political and intellectual circles is marked by violence, from the attempted murder of industrialist Henry Clay Frick by Goldman's lover, Alexander Berkman, to the assassination of President William McKinley, in which Goldman was falsely implicated. The documents surrounding these events illuminate Goldman's struggle to balance anarchism's positive gains and its destructive costs. This volume introduces many of the themes that would pervade much of Goldman's later writings and speeches: the untold possibilities of anarchism; the transformative power of literature; the interplay of human relationships; and the importance of free speech, education, labor, women's freedom, and radical social reform.
Volume 1: Made for America, 1890-1901 introduces readers to the young Emma Goldman as she begins her association with the international anarchist movement and especially with the German, Jewish, and Italian immigrant radicals in New York City. From early on, Goldman's movement through political and intellectual circles is marked by violence, from the attempted murder of industrialist Henry Clay Frick by Goldman's lover, Alexander Berkman, to the assassination of President William McKinley, in which Goldman was falsely implicated. The documents surrounding these events illuminate Goldman's struggle to balance anarchism's positive gains and its destructive costs. This volume introduces many of the themes that would pervade much of Goldman's later writings and speeches: the untold possibilities of anarchism; the transformative power of literature; the interplay of human relationships; and the importance of free speech, education, labor, women's freedom, and radical social reform.
680 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2003
About the author
Emma Goldman
396 books1,058 followersEmma Goldman was a feminist anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century.
Born in Kovno in the Russian Empire (present-day Kaunas, Lithuania), Goldman emigrated to the US in 1885 and lived in New York City, where she joined the burgeoning anarchist movement.Attracted to anarchism after the Haymarket affair, Goldman became a writer and a renowned lecturer on anarchist philosophy, women's rights, and social issues, attracting crowds of thousands.
She and anarchist writer Alexander Berkman, her lover and lifelong friend, planned to assassinate Henry Clay Frick as an act of propaganda of the deed. Although Frick survived the attempt on his life, Berkman was sentenced to twenty-two years in prison. Goldman was imprisoned several times in the years that followed, for "inciting to riot" and illegally distributing information about birth control. In 1906, Goldman founded the anarchist journal Mother Earth.
In 1917, Goldman and Berkman were sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring to "induce persons not to register" for the newly instated draft. After their release from prison, they were arrested—along with hundreds of others—and deported to Russia.
Initially supportive of that country's Bolshevik revolution, Goldman quickly voiced her opposition to the Soviet use of violence and the repression of independent voices. In 1923, she wrote a book about her experiences, My Disillusionment in Russia. While living in England, Canada, and France, she wrote an autobiography called Living My Life. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, she traveled to Spain to support the anarchist revolution there. She died in Toronto on May 14, 1940, aged 70.
During her life, Goldman was lionized as a free-thinking "rebel woman" by admirers, and derided by critics as an advocate of politically motivated murder and violent revolution.Her writing and lectures spanned a wide variety of issues, including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, free love, and homosexuality. Although she distanced herself from first-wave feminism and its efforts toward women's suffrage, she developed new ways of incorporating gender politics into anarchism. After decades of obscurity, Goldman's iconic status was revived in the 1970s, when feminist and anarchist scholars rekindled popular interest in her life.
Born in Kovno in the Russian Empire (present-day Kaunas, Lithuania), Goldman emigrated to the US in 1885 and lived in New York City, where she joined the burgeoning anarchist movement.Attracted to anarchism after the Haymarket affair, Goldman became a writer and a renowned lecturer on anarchist philosophy, women's rights, and social issues, attracting crowds of thousands.
She and anarchist writer Alexander Berkman, her lover and lifelong friend, planned to assassinate Henry Clay Frick as an act of propaganda of the deed. Although Frick survived the attempt on his life, Berkman was sentenced to twenty-two years in prison. Goldman was imprisoned several times in the years that followed, for "inciting to riot" and illegally distributing information about birth control. In 1906, Goldman founded the anarchist journal Mother Earth.
In 1917, Goldman and Berkman were sentenced to two years in jail for conspiring to "induce persons not to register" for the newly instated draft. After their release from prison, they were arrested—along with hundreds of others—and deported to Russia.
Initially supportive of that country's Bolshevik revolution, Goldman quickly voiced her opposition to the Soviet use of violence and the repression of independent voices. In 1923, she wrote a book about her experiences, My Disillusionment in Russia. While living in England, Canada, and France, she wrote an autobiography called Living My Life. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, she traveled to Spain to support the anarchist revolution there. She died in Toronto on May 14, 1940, aged 70.
During her life, Goldman was lionized as a free-thinking "rebel woman" by admirers, and derided by critics as an advocate of politically motivated murder and violent revolution.Her writing and lectures spanned a wide variety of issues, including prisons, atheism, freedom of speech, militarism, capitalism, marriage, free love, and homosexuality. Although she distanced herself from first-wave feminism and its efforts toward women's suffrage, she developed new ways of incorporating gender politics into anarchism. After decades of obscurity, Goldman's iconic status was revived in the 1970s, when feminist and anarchist scholars rekindled popular interest in her life.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 11, 2009
Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, Volume 1 is a thorough and well-organized compilation of the letters, essays, speeches, court transcripts, and media accounts of Emma Goldman from 1890 through 1901. The editors begin with an overall synopsis of what is covered in the documents, which is essentially an overview of Goldman’s life during the eleven years covered - including a great deal of background information about the anarchist movement through which Goldman worked. Following the synopsis are letters and assorted documents, in chronological order, and the end contains a glossary, of sorts, of important people, periodicals, and organizations, with brief summaries of each.
Because of the excellent job the editors do providing background information and explanations of the nuances of various social and political movements at play during the time period, the book is ideal even for a reader with no prior knowledge of Emma Goldman, the anarchist movement, or even late nineteenth century United States and European history. Through skilled footnoting and remarkably accessible prose, all of these things are explained in an orderly manner, leaving few questions in the reader’s mind about the events, while opening the door to an infinite number of ideological and philosophical questions.
Inevitably, since the book is covering the story of a woman, it has to include an in-depth analysis of her wardrobe, traditional feminine qualities, and personal style. Not to blame the editors – they simply provide and analyze information that was written about Goldman in the media. An interesting quote has Goldman complaining that the news media concentrated only on sensationalist news, making it difficult for anyone to really know what is going on in the world. Regrettably, if she came back to life today, she may scarcely notice that 100 years of alleged progress have come to pass.
Some of the most interesting documents are letters written to Goldman by her lover and comrade Alexander Berkman while he was in prison for the attempted assassination of Henry Frick. She spent a year in prison as well, for telling a crowd they were entitled to steal bread if they would otherwise starve. The book includes poignant essays that she subsequently published, shedding light on the prison system and holding herself up as proof that - even in “free” America - threats to the status quo were unwelcome and punished. Other documents in this book illustrate her radical views of what feminist motherhood might look like and her belief in free love without state or church intervention through the institution of marriage.
It’s difficult to condense a fascinating 617 page collection into a few paragraphs, but the overall relevance of a compilation of Goldman’s life work is invaluable for furthering political, social, and economic discourse - not because she provided real solutions to the timeless issues of class struggle and gender inequality, but because of the courage and tenacity with which she raised and confronted them.
Review by Staci Schoff
Because of the excellent job the editors do providing background information and explanations of the nuances of various social and political movements at play during the time period, the book is ideal even for a reader with no prior knowledge of Emma Goldman, the anarchist movement, or even late nineteenth century United States and European history. Through skilled footnoting and remarkably accessible prose, all of these things are explained in an orderly manner, leaving few questions in the reader’s mind about the events, while opening the door to an infinite number of ideological and philosophical questions.
Inevitably, since the book is covering the story of a woman, it has to include an in-depth analysis of her wardrobe, traditional feminine qualities, and personal style. Not to blame the editors – they simply provide and analyze information that was written about Goldman in the media. An interesting quote has Goldman complaining that the news media concentrated only on sensationalist news, making it difficult for anyone to really know what is going on in the world. Regrettably, if she came back to life today, she may scarcely notice that 100 years of alleged progress have come to pass.
Some of the most interesting documents are letters written to Goldman by her lover and comrade Alexander Berkman while he was in prison for the attempted assassination of Henry Frick. She spent a year in prison as well, for telling a crowd they were entitled to steal bread if they would otherwise starve. The book includes poignant essays that she subsequently published, shedding light on the prison system and holding herself up as proof that - even in “free” America - threats to the status quo were unwelcome and punished. Other documents in this book illustrate her radical views of what feminist motherhood might look like and her belief in free love without state or church intervention through the institution of marriage.
It’s difficult to condense a fascinating 617 page collection into a few paragraphs, but the overall relevance of a compilation of Goldman’s life work is invaluable for furthering political, social, and economic discourse - not because she provided real solutions to the timeless issues of class struggle and gender inequality, but because of the courage and tenacity with which she raised and confronted them.
Review by Staci Schoff
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September 23, 2010"Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, Volume One: Made for America, 1890-1901 by Emma Goldman (2003)"
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews