Condensed Chronology
The chronology was created to assist researchers using the comprehensive
collection of The Emma Goldman Papers and to
supplement the introductory
essays and indexes to the microfilm edition. It serves also to fill some of
the obvious gaps in the collection, to compensate for the various government
seizures of Goldman's letters and papers during her most active period of
political activity in the United States up to her deportation--papers that
Goldman herself unsuccessfully tried to retrieve while she was writing her
autobiography. The chronological details of Goldman's public life in
America--the magnitude of her lecture schedule, the extent of her travels, and
the evolution of her varied and far-reaching political friendships--are a
critical complement to her correspondence, lecture manuscripts, and government
surveillance documents, and together, they constitute a more accurate
historical representation of Goldman's life work.
The research involved in locating relatively rare source material for tracking and recording a full list of Goldman's speaking engagements (sometimes numbering over three hundred in a year), and determining which of her scheduled lectures were barred by the police, was daunting. For these, and other events in her life, the Project editors relied primarily on the sometimes flawed recollections in Goldman's autobiography, reports from Mother Earth magazine, her chronicle of her experiences in Russia, letters and government documents in the collection, and various secondary historical sources. Despite the generally inconsistent reporting in the mainstream press about controversial anarchists, newspaper accounts of Goldman's lectures were a crucial resource for the identification of dates and places of, as well as the character of the public response to, Goldman's lectures. Though inevitably incomplete, the chronology will facilitate effective use of this immense collection.
1869
June 27
Emma Goldman born to Taube Bienowitch and Abraham Goldman in Kovno (present-day Kaunas), Lithuania,
then a province of the Russian Empire. Siblings include step-sisters Helena (b.
1860) and Lena (b. 1862) Zodikow, and brothers Louis (b. 1870), Herman (b.
1872), and Morris (b. 1879, identified as "Yegor" in Goldman's autobiography,
Living My Life). Goldman's girlhood and
adolescence spent in Kovno, Popelan, Königsberg, and St. Petersburg.
1870
November 21
Alexander (Sasha) Berkman born in Vilna, Russia (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania).
1881
March 1
Czar Alexander II assassinated by Nihilists in St. Petersburg.
1885
December
Goldman immigrates to the United States with her sister Helena; they settle in
Rochester, N.Y., with their sister Lena.
1886
Goldman finds employment as a garment worker.
On May 1, three hundred thousand workers throughout the country strike for the eight-hour workday. On May 4 in Chicago's Haymarket Square during a workers' protest of police violence the day before, a bomb is thrown that results in the deaths of seven police officers. Although the identity of the bomb-thrower is never determined, prominent anarchists and organizers of the event are held responsible and sentenced to death. Goldman attributes her political awakening to German socialist Johanna Greie's eloquent defense of the innocence of the Haymarket anarchists at a Rochester lecture during the Haymarket trial. During this period, Goldman begins to read anarchist literature on a regular basis, including German anarchist Johann Most's paper Die Freiheit.
The other members of Goldman's family emigrate from St. Petersburg to Rochester.
1887
February
Marries fellow factory worker Jacob A. Kersner, gaining U.S. citizenship.
November 11
Execution of four Chicago anarchists found guilty in the Haymarket Square
bombing elicits international outcry.
1888
Goldman divorces Kersner and leaves Rochester. Moves to New Haven, Conn., where she works at a corset factory. Meets many Russian socialists and anarchists, including Dr. Hillel Solotaroff who, during visits from New York, lectures in New Haven.
Goldman returns to Rochester where she lives with her sister Helena's family and works in a sewing factory. Under pressure, she agrees to remarry Kersner; after a brief reconciliation, Goldman is shunned by her parents and the Jewish community of Rochester for her insistence on finalizing the divorce.
1889
Goldman arrives in New York City on Aug. 15; meets Johann Most, editor of Die Freiheit, and Alexander Berkman; gains employment doing piece work for a silk waist factory. Goldman's political activities include support work at the office of Die Freiheit, and help with the organization of the second anniversary commemoration of the hanging of the Haymarket martyrs.
Goldman and Berkman become lovers. She shares an apartment with Berkman, his cousin Modest Stein, and their mutual friend Helen Minkin.
Berkman and Goldman contemplate returning to Russia when they hear about political repression there, but lack the necessary financial resources.
1890
January
Johann Most arranges Goldman's first public lecture tour to Rochester, Buffalo,
and Cleveland to speak on the limitations of the eight-hour movement. In the
course of her tour, Goldman demonstrates her talents as an orator and realizes
the need to articulate her political beliefs independently; her growing
autonomy causes tensions with Most.
February-July
Goldman presents a series of lectures in New York City and Newark, N.J., on
subjects ranging from the "Paris Commune, 1871," to "The Right To Be Lazy," and
on Most's Pittsburgh Manifesto of 1883, sponsored primarily by the
International Working People's Association, and delivered in German and in
Yiddish.
Goldman works tirelessly to recruit women workers to join the cloakmakers strike, organized by Jewish labor leader Joseph Barondess that begins in February.
Goldman becomes ill and is forced to spend several weeks convalescing. During this period she has a brief affair with Modest Stein.
Accompanies Johann Most on his two-week lecture tour of New England.
Summer
To earn enough money to return to Russia and respond to the political
repression there, Goldman moves briefly with comrades, including Berkman, to
New Haven, with plans to start a dressmaking cooperative. Until they build a
clientele, Goldman works temporarily at the corset factory where she had worked
in 1888. Berkman gains employment in the printing trade.
Goldman helps to organize an anarchist educational and social group in New Haven that becomes a gathering place for German, Russian, and Jewish immigrants; among their invited speakers are Johann Most and Hillel Solotaroff, a leader of the anarchist group Pioneers of Liberty.
Fall
When the members of Goldman's dressmaking cooperative fall ill or move away,
Goldman and Berkman move back to New York where they begin to attend meetings
of the Autonomie group, led by Most's chief contender, Josef Peukert.
October
Goldman lectures in Elizabeth, N.J., and Baltimore. Her two talks in Baltimore
are before the International Workingmen's Association and the Workingmen's
Educational Society. She reaches both German and Eastern European Jewish
immigrant communities, many of whom participate in a conference of Yiddish
anarchist organizations in December.
1891
March 16
Goldman scheduled to speak at the "Great Commune Celebration" sponsored by the
International Worker's Association in New Haven.
May 1
Goldman marches with the Working Women's Society of the United Hebrew Trades in
New York's May Day parade.
June 18
Goldman addresses a mass meeting to protest the second imprisonment of Johann
Most at Blackwell's Island after the Supreme Court rejects the appeal of his
1887 conviction for illegal assembly and incitement to riot following the
Haymarket executions.
1892
Winter and Spring
In search of a financial base, Goldman moves to Massachusetts--first to
Springfield to work in a photography studio with Modest Stein ("Fedya"), and
then to Worcester, where, with Alexander Berkman, Stein and Goldman open their
own studio. When the photography business fails, they open an ice-cream parlor
with the renewed aim of returning to Russia to respond to the political
repression under Czar Alexander III.
May 1
Anarchists disrupt the Central Labor Union's May Day celebration in Union
Square, New York. In retaliation, the organizers of the celebration stop
Goldman's speaking by hitching a horse to the open wagon she is using as a
platform and pulling it away.
July-August
Goldman, Berkman, and Stein return to New York to respond to the lockout of
employees of the Carnegie Steel Company in Homestead, Pa. On July 6, Pinkerton
guards hired by plant manager Henry Clay Frick kill nine striking steel
workers; Goldman and Berkman decide to avenge their deaths.
On July 23, Berkman attempts to assassinate Frick, but fails. Goldman is suspected of, but not charged with, complicity; police raid her apartment and seize her papers. Debate within the labor movement about the effectiveness of Berkman's action follows; Johann Most denounces Berkman and questions his motives. As public antagonism to Berkman's act mounts, Goldman temporarily goes into hiding.
August 1
Goldman chairs a meeting of over three hundred anarchists to discuss Berkman's
act. Other speakers include Autonomie group leader Josef Peukert, Dyer D. Lum,
editor of the Alarm, and Italian anarchist Saverio
Merlino, an editor of Solidarity.
September 19
Berkman found guilty on all counts and sentenced to twenty-two years in prison;
Goldman learns about his sentence while she is lecturing in Baltimore.
Announcement prompts audience pandemonium, police action, and Goldman's
consequent arrest.
November 24
Goldman visits Berkman at the Western State Penitentiary in Pittsburgh.
December
Goldman appears only occasionally in public to lecture. Speaks in Manhattan on
Dec. 4, denouncing government anti-immigration legislation; other
speakers at the event include anarchist journalist John Edelmann, Spanish
anarchist Pedro Esteve, and Saverio Merlino.
During this period, Goldman meets German anarchist Robert Reitzel, editor of the Der arme Teufel.
Attends anarchist meetings, where, in late December, Goldman meets and falls in love with Austrian anarchist Edward Brady.
1893
General financial panic deepens into one of the worst economic depressions in U.S. history.
June-July
Goldman returns temporarily to Rochester to recuperate from illness.
June 26
Governor John Peter Altgeld pardons three men found guilty of the Haymarket
bombing.
August
The day after a riot of the unemployed on Aug. 17, Goldman addresses a public
meeting, urging those in need to take bread if they are hungry. The next
evening she helps lead a procession of several hundred anarchists to Union
Square, where, among many other speakers, she addresses a crowd of the
unemployed.
On Aug. 21, Goldman again leads a march of a thousand people to Union Square, where, speaking in German and English, she repeats her belief that workers have a right to take bread if they are hungry, and to demonstrate their needs "before the palaces of the rich"; about three thousand gather to listen. Goldman's speech is characterized by the press as "incendiary" and, over a week later, cited as the reason for her arrest.
Goldman lectures in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, on Aug. 23, before traveling to Philadelphia. While in Philadelphia, Goldman meets German anarchist Max Baginksi and American-born anarchist Voltairine de Cleyre for the first time.
August 31
Scheduled to speak to the unemployed, Goldman is arrested in Philadelphia on
New York warrants charging her with incitement to riot for her Aug. 21
speech.
September
On Sept. 6, a New York Grand Jury indicts Goldman on three charges. She is
returned from Philadelphia to New York on Sept. 9, where she is placed in
confinement. On Sept. 11, pleads not guilty; released on bail Sept. 14.
Benefit concert on Sept. 23 intended to raise money for Goldman's defense is a
financial failure.
October 4-9
Goldman tried in court; defended by ex-mayor
of New York A. Oakey Hall. Denies speaking the words attributed to her by
police detectives who monitored her speech. Jury finds Goldman guilty of
aiding and abetting an unlawful assemblage.
October 16
Goldman is sentenced to Blackwell's Island penitentiary for one year. Begins
her term on Oct. 18.
In prison, Goldman is initially put in charge of the sewing shop, but soon trained to serve as a nurse in the prison hospital. Reads widely while in prison.
December 16
Benefit concert and ball held in New York City for Goldman and others
imprisoned for speaking at the Aug. 21 demonstration. Voltairine de Cleyre
delivers a speech, "In Defense of Emma Goldman and the Right of
Expropriation."
1894
May-July
Strike of the Pullman railroad car plant in Chicago begins on May 11; by July
3, federal troops are called in to quell the strike.
August 17
Goldman released from prison after serving ten months. She sells a report
about her prison experience for $150 to the New York World, which
publishes it the day after her release.
August 19
Large anarchist gathering in New York welcomes Goldman back. Among the
speakers are Voltairine de Cleyre, English anarchist Charles Mowbray, and
Italian anarchist Maria Roda.
August 21
Goldman scheduled to speak on "The Right of Free Speech" at a mass meeting
called by the American Labor Union in Newark.
September
Meets with the American journalist and labor rights advocate John Swinton and
his wife Orsena, who had both visited her at Blackwell's Island.
Goldman's interest in reaching more American-born citizens grows; resolves to conduct more propaganda in the English language.
Goldman speaks in Baltimore.
Moves into an apartment with Edward Brady.
October
Goldman begins a new campaign for the commutation of Berkman's prison sentence;
works as a nurse.
November 11
Goldman speaks at a poorly attended commemoration of the Haymarket martyrs in
New York; other speakers include Charles Mowbray, German anarchist and
barkeeper Justus Schwab, Voltairine de Cleyre, Max Baginski, and John Edelmann,
editor of the anarchist journal Solidarity.
Mid-November
Scheduled to speak with Charles Mowbray in West Hoboken, N.J., and Baltimore.
1895
January 5
Goldman helps organize a benefit ball sponsored by the joint anarchist groups
of New York.
January 24
Goldman lectures on strikes at a meeting in New York City.
Spring
Goldman and friends Claus Timmerman and Edward Brady open an ice-cream parlor
in Brownsville, Brooklyn; within three months, the venture fails and the shop
is closed.
Summer
Upon investigating the possibility of appealing Berkman's case before the
Supreme Court, Goldman and others discover there are no grounds for an appeal,
as Berkman made no formal objections to the judge's rulings during the
proceedings. Goldman tries to convince Berkman to appeal to the Pennsylvania
Board of Pardons to set aside or reduce his prison sentence and begins to
solicit funds for that purpose.
Mid-August
Goldman sails to England under the name "Mrs. E. G. Brady" fearing that her
real identity would limit her freedom to travel in Europe. Funds for her
travel and a portion of living expenses are provided by Modest Stein.
Fall
Spends five-and-a-half weeks in Great Britain, where she finds a greater amount
of political freedom than in the United States. During her three weeks in
England, she addresses large crowds at open-air
meetings in London, and meetings at Hyde Park, Whitechapel, Canning Town,
Barking, and Stratford. Topics include "The Futility of Politics and Its
Corrupting Influence."
On Sept. 13, Goldman appears among several other lecturers--including James Tochatti of the British anarchist journal Liberty and French anarchist Louise Michel--at an event in Finsbury. She lectures on "Political Justice in England and America," highlighting Berkman's case.
In England, meets anarchist theorists Peter Kropotkin and Errico Malatesta, among others.
German police authorities monitor Goldman's movements in London, prepared to arrest her if she enters Germany.
Mid-September-December
On Sept. 14 Goldman travels to Scotland; delivers successful lectures in
Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Maybole.
By Oct. 1, Goldman travels to Vienna to begin formal training in nursing and midwifery at the Allgemeines Krankenhaus. Keeps a low profile in Vienna, as political persecution there is known to be harsh.
During this period she discovers and devours works by Friedrich Nietzsche, attends performances of Wagner operas, sees Eleonora Duse perform, and attends the lectures of Professor Karl Bruhl and Sigmund Freud.
1896
March
Goldman completes her medical training in Austria; travels to Paris where she
meets anarchist editor Augustin Hamon.
April
Back in New York, Goldman resides with Edward Brady in a German neighborhood on
Eleventh Street; she rebels against Brady's periodic fits of jealousy. Earns a
meager living as a midwife and nurse; witnesses the plight of many women
suffering from unwanted pregnancies.
Persuades Berkman to appeal to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons for his release from prison. Helps to launch a broad-based campaign for his case; solicits Voltairine de Cleyre's support.
Helps to arrange lectures for the English anarchist and labor leader John Turner, whose visit gives Goldman the opportunity to gain experience addressing English-speaking audiences. Goldman speaks at Turner's concluding lecture in New York on Apr. 30.
Begins to suffer from "nervous attacks" that are attributed to an inverted womb; Goldman unwilling to undergo surgery to resolve the problem.
May 1
At a demonstration in Union Square, Goldman helps to distribute a May Day
anarchist manifesto written by her and a group of American-born comrades in New
York.
June
Brady supports Goldman financially so that she can take a break from nursing to
relax and begin preparations for an East Coast winter lecture series. In her
leisure time, Brady tutors Goldman's reading of the works of the
seventeenth-century French dramatists Racine, Corneille, and Moliere.
Independently, she studies modern literature, including the novels of Emile
Zola.
June 7
Bomb explodes in a religious procession in Barcelona, killing eleven people;
Spanish authorities imprison over four hundred people, including anarchists,
suspected of involvement in the bombing. The severity of the punishment sparks
international protests.
September
Goldman is urged to support the free-silver campaign of presidential candidate
William Jennings Bryan; she declines, considering the free-silver issue and the
presidential campaign diversions from a radical agenda.
October 12
Johann Most, Goldman's former mentor, denounces her at an event in New York
when she solicits funds for the commemoration of the execution of the Haymarket
martyrs.
November 4-8
In Philadelphia, on Nov. 4, Goldman speaks at the Ladies' Liberal League about
her "Experiences on Blackwell's Island." On Nov. 8, she delivers two
lectures--before a mass meeting called by a Jewish group to honor the Haymarket
martyrs and to raise money for Berkman, the second on "Woman's Cause" to the
Young Men's Liberal League.
November 11-15
Goldman lectures in Baltimore and raises money for Berkman's appeal.
November 18-26
Following an appearance in Buffalo, Goldman lectures to enthusiastic audiences
in Pittsburgh, primarily in German, and continues to raise money for the
Berkman fund. Topics include "The Jews in America," "Anarchism in America,"
and "The Effect of the Recent Election on the Condition of the Workingmen."
Her concluding lecture addresses the Haymarket Affair.
1897
March 4
William McKinley inaugurated as president of the United States.
April 23-25
Goldman's lectures in Providence, R.I., include "What Is Anarchism?" and "Is It
Possible to Realize Anarchism?" The audience at an open-air meeting is
reportedly "spell-bound" by Goldman's message. When she attempts to speak at
another open-air meeting, however, the police intervene on the grounds
that she doesn't have a permit. Local socialists disavow any connection
to Goldman.
May
Goldman speaks in Philadelphia; her lecture on "The Women in the Present and
Future" is "loudly applauded." She is credited with the ability to relate
anarchism to the working people of Philadelphia, thus helping to boost the
movement there.
Returning to New York, Goldman undergoes an operation on her foot, requiring several months of recuperation.
May 28
Carl Nold and Henry Bauer, convicted and imprisoned for aiding Berkman's
attempt to assassinate Frick, are released from the Western State Penitentiary
in Pittsburgh.
July
Goldman's lecture on "Marriage" is published in the anarchist journal
The Firebrand.
August 8
Anarchist Michel Angiolillo assassinates Antonio Canovas del Castillo, premier
of Spain, who in May had ordered the execution of five anarchists held
responsible for the bombing in Barcelona the year before. The torture and
inhumane treatment of several hundred others imprisoned in connection with the
bombing were widely protested throughout Europe. In New York, Goldman and
others--including Italian and Spanish anarchists, and Harry Kelly, John
Edelmann, Justus Schwab, and Edward Brady--had organized a demonstration in
front of the Spanish consulate.
August 16
Goldman among several speakers at a meeting of one thousand people in New York
celebrating Canovas's assassination.
August 22
In response to criticism from anarchists that she had glorified
Canovas's murder, Goldman defends her position at a small meeting in New
York.
September-December
Goldman conducts a lecture tour through eighteen cities in eastern and
midwestern states to promote anarchism and Alexander Berkman's release from
prison--intended topics include "Why I am an Anarchist-Communist," "Woman,"
"Marriage," and "Berkman's Unjust Sentence."
September 3-8
Lectures begin in Providence, R.I.; speaks at two open-air meetings--attended
by thousands--when the mayor warns Goldman that she will be arrested if she
speaks in the open-air again. Despite the prohibition, Goldman continues to
lecture in Providence; addresses the assassination of the Spanish premier.
On Sept. 5, she speaks in Boston on "Must We Become Angels to Live in an Anarchist Society?" and collects money for the victims of the Spanish authorities in the aftermath of the assassination of the premier.
When she attempts to address another open-air meeting in Providence on Sept. 7, she is arrested and jailed overnight. The following day she is given twenty-four hours to leave town or face three months imprisonment.
Mid-September
Goldman returns to Boston on Sept. 12 where she lectures on the Sept. 10
killings of immigrant miners striking in Hazleton, Pa. Travels to New Haven
and New York to speak again on the Hazleton strikers.
Beginning Sept. 15, Goldman delivers four lectures in Philadelphia before several English-speaking organizations, including the Ladies' Liberal League and the Single Tax Society. Her lectures include "Free Love." Before the largest free-thought organization of Philadelphia, the Friendship Liberal League, she critiques the freethinkers' "partial application of the principles of freedom."
September 17
Portland editor A. J. Pope arrested and jailed for sending "obscene" material
in the anarchist Firebrand through the mail. Abe
Isaak and Henry Addis, the other Firebrand
editors, are arrested within the next few days on the same charge.
Late September
From Philadelphia, Goldman travels to Washington, D.C., where she lectures
before a German free-thought society.
Goldman then travels to Pittsburgh to meet Carl Nold and Henry Bauer; they inform her that if Berkman's appeal for pardon is denied, he plans to attempt an escape from prison.
Goldman speaks before the Turnerverein in Monaca, Pa.; complies with their request not to speak on her proposed topic, "Woman, Marriage, and Prostitution."
On Sept. 27, Goldman addresses a labor congress organized by Eugene Debs in Chicago.
October
Goldman remains in Chicago to lecture; speaks to the Lucifer Circle on the
theme of "Prostitution: Its Causes and Cure" and on "Free Love." On Oct. 13
Goldman is among several speakers-- including Max Baginski, Lucy Parsons, and
Moses Harman--at a well-attended event to raise money for the imprisoned
editors of the Firebrand.
October 16-23
In St. Louis, Goldman speaks to German- and English-speaking audiences while
continuing to raise money for Berkman's prison fund.
On Oct. 19, the St. Louis House of Delegates passes a resolution supporting the mayor's prohibition of Goldman's open-air meetings. Goldman's lectures--including "Revolution" and "Why I Am an Anarchist and Communist"--are held in private halls under police surveillance.
Late October
Traveling for hours by train and wagon to learn about the plight of farmers,
Goldman speaks to well-attended meetings in Caplinger Mills, Mo., home of rural
anarchist Kate Austin. Her lecture topics include "The Aim of Humanity,"
"Religion," "Anarchy," and "Free Love."
Early November
Goldman scheduled to lecture in Kansas City and Topeka, Kans.
On Nov. 11 in Chicago, Goldman addresses an assembly in German to commemorate the Haymarket martyrs.
Mid-November
Goldman lectures four times in Detroit, aided by Robert Reitzel and his paper,
Der arme Teufel. On Nov. 19, Goldman speaks at
the People's Tabernacle despite opposition from the congregation; the
event is sensationalized in the press. In response to Goldman's talk,
the deacons and members of the church request the pastor's resignation.
Late November-December
Goldman lectures in Cleveland before several liberal societies, including the
Franklin Club. On Nov. 21 she lectures on "What Anarchy Means" and collects
donations for the Firebrand editors.
Goldman delivers several successful lectures in Buffalo--where she speaks at the Trade and Labor Council Hall, the Spiritualist Temple, and before German anarchists--and Rochester, where she visits her family for the first time since 1894. Considers her meetings in Rochester, Buffalo, and Detroit to be the best of her 1897 tour.
Berkman's appeal before the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons is postponed.
By mid-December, Goldman returns to New York.
1898
January
Goldman announces her lecture topics for the year: "Charity," "Patriotism,"
"Authority," "Majority Rule," "The New Woman," "The Woman Question," and "The
Inquisition of Our Postal Service."
Goldman's youngest brother, Morris, moves into the apartment she shares with Brady in New York City.
During this period, Goldman is in contact with Filipino rebels and helps to support their attempts to gain independence from Spain.
January 5
Goldman scheduled to speak on "The New Woman" (in German) to the Social Science
Club in Brooklyn.
January 21-23
Lectures on anarchism in English and Yiddish in Providence without interference
from the mayor or police; Goldman assisted by John H. Cook, former president of
the Central Labor Union.
To help cover traveling expenses, Goldman earns a percentage on sales she makes for Brady's stationery business while on tour.
January 24
Lectures on "Authority" to economics students in Boston.
February 13
Goldman scheduled to speak to the Philosophical Society in Brooklyn.
February-June
Twelve-state lecture tour: Goldman addresses sixty-six meetings and
participates in one debate. Several reporters note Goldman's improvement as a
public speaker as she develops her command of the English language.
February 15
The U.S.S. Maine explodes in Havana harbor,
killing 2 officers and 258 crew members, which becomes the spark for the
Spanish-American War.
February 16-20
Goldman's tour begins in Philadelphia where she lectures before several
well-attended gatherings sponsored by the Ladies' Liberal League, the Single
Tax Society, the Society of Ethical Research, and the German Anarchist Society.
Notes an increasing interest in anarchism among younger members of the
Friendship Liberal League, to which she lectures twice. Topics include "The
Absurdity of Non-resistance to Evil," "The Basis of Morality," and "Freedom."
February 23-March 12
After scheduled visits to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., Goldman is invited to
Pittsburgh and coal mining towns in western Pennsylvania by anarchists Carl
Nold and Henry Bauer in association with the International Workingmen's
Association. Though the Pittsburgh region is heavily populated by Germans,
most of Goldman's speaking engagements are purposely conducted in English.
Talks include "Patriotism," with specific reference to the miners shot by the police at Hazleton, Pa., in September, and the possibility of war between Spain and the United States. She addresses the Monaca, Pa., local of the Glass Blowers' Union, one of the most conservative unions in the country. Lectures in western coal mining towns include McKeesport, Roscoe, West Newton, and Homestead; Goldman also scheduled to speak in Beaver Falls, Carnegie, Duquesne, Charleroi, and Tarentum. Goldman's engagement in Allegheny is canceled when the owners of the liberal Northside Turner Hall refuse to let her speak.
Goldman suffers several "nervous attacks" from the strain of continuous lecturing.
March 12
Goldman among several speakers at an international celebration of the
twenty-seventh anniversary of the Paris Commune in Pittsburgh attended by three
hundred people.
Mid-March
Goldman delivers three lectures in Cleveland, including a well-attended meeting
of the Franklin Club.
Just weeks before his death on Mar. 31, Goldman visits the ailing Robert Reitzel in Detroit.
March 20-26
In Chicago, Goldman is aided by Josef Peukert, who secures for her several
speaking engagements before labor unions. Addresses the Economic Educational
Club (a primarily American-born audience), the Brewers and Malters Union, the
Painters and Decorators Union, the Co-operative College of Citizenship,
the Turn-Verein Vorwärts Society, the German group of the
International Workingmen's Association, and the Bakers' and
Confectioners' Union. Lectures include "Trades Unionism," "Passive Resistance"
(both in German), and "The New Woman."
While in Chicago, she visits Max Baginski at the Arbeiter Zeitung office. Fearing that Baginski had disapproved of Berkman's attempt to kill Frick, she had avoided seeing him; she finds, however, that they share many similar viewpoints. She also meets Moses Harman, the editor of Lucifer, with whom she discusses women's emancipation.
Visits Michael Schwab, who served more than six years in prison for charges relating to the Haymarket affair before he was pardoned. Hospitalized with tuberculosis, Schwab dies a few months later, on June 29.
March 27-28
Goldman lectures in Cincinnati to a large meeting of the Ohio Liberal
Society.
Brady complains about their separation; she responds by asserting her need for freedom.
March 29-April 2
Goldman returns to Chicago for additional lectures; speaks before the gymnastic
society Gut Heil in a Chicago suburb and to residents of a Jewish neighborhood
in Chicago.
On Mar. 31, Goldman lectures on "The Inquisition of Our Postal Service" to the Progressive Bohemian Labor Organization, addressing recent censorship cases, including the conviction of the Firebrand editors. The organization votes unanimously to adopt a resolution protesting postal censorship.
On Apr. 2, Goldman honored at a farewell meeting held by the Committee on Agitation of the Progressive Labor Organizations of Chicago.
April 3-4
Goldman scheduled to speak in Milwaukee.
April 6-10
"Patriotism" is among the five lectures Goldman presents in St. Louis;
encounters no interference by the mayor or police. Local comrades note an
increase of young women in attendance.
April 13-18
Goldman makes her first visit to Denver, where she is hosted by a small group
of American anarchists. Her five lectures are met with surprising
enthusiasm--"The Basis of Morality" noted as her best. Sponsors include the
Denver Educational Club, a largely Jewish group.
Mid-April
Goldman visits Salt Lake City.
April 24
Spanish-American War begins.
Late April-May
Goldman in San Francisco; opens her engagements with a lecture on "Patriotism,"
which, following the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, becomes her most
important and successful lecture. Her other speeches--at least four, including
a talk at a May Day celebration--are well attended and receive fair press
coverage. Goldman also debates the German socialist Emil Lies, editor of the
Tageblatt. Goldman especially impressed with Abe
Isaak, former editor of the Firebrand and current
editor of Free Society, who had recently settled in
San Francisco with his family. Goldman's San Francisco activities supported in
part by local single-taxers.
While in San Francisco, Goldman meets the young socialist Anna Strunsky, who will become a lifelong friend and associate, and through Strunsky, the writer Jack London.
In San Jose, her lecture on "Patriotism" is so controversial that she has difficulty maintaining control of the platform. From San Jose, she travels for the first time to Los Angeles, sponsored by a wealthy acquaintance from New Mexico. Lectures to several large audiences. Goldman severs her relationship with her sponsor when he proposes marriage; she continues lecturing among Jewish sympathizers and organizes a group to conduct ongoing anarchist activities. Goldman denounced in the Freiheit for having alienated workers from anarchism when, under the direction of her wealthy manager, she lectured and resided in expensive halls and hotels.
Following Los Angeles, she returns to San Francisco for additional lectures.
Early June
Goldman delivers three lectures in Portland, Oreg. Logistical problems cause
the cancellation of scheduled events in Tacoma and Seattle.
June 7
In Chicago, Goldman attends the first convention of Eugene Debs's Social
Democracy movement; in her view it is a "fiasco." When she is at first
prevented from speaking at the event, Debs personally invites Goldman to
address the convention.
July
Pleased with the success of her lecture tour, Goldman returns to New York. In
association with Salvatore Palavicini and other Italian anarchists, helps to
support local labor struggles.
September 10
Empress Elizabeth of Austria is stabbed by anarchist Luigi Leccheni. Goldman
considers the act a "folly" but refuses to condemn it; her activities are
subsequently monitored by the police and scorned by the press.
November-December
Goldman supports efforts of Berkman's defense committee to seek a pardon. With
Justus Schwab and Brady, she reluctantly follows the recommendation of defense
attorneys to seek Andrew Carnegie's influence in granting a pardon. They
approach Benjamin Tucker, editor of Liberty, to
meet with Carnegie, but reject his suggestion that Berkman be presented
as a "penitent sinner." All plans to meet with Carnegie are eventually
abandoned.
November 24
International Anti-Anarchist Conference, prompted by the assassination of the
Empress of Austria, is convened by Italian government officials in Rome;
attended by fifty-four delegates representing twenty-one countries, including
police chiefs from several European countries and major cities. Conference
marks the development of strategic international surveillance of and exchange
of information about anarchist activities.
1899
January
Goldman ends her relationship with Edward Brady.
January 5
Goldman speaks at a large meeting at Cooper Union to protest the International
Anti-Anarchist Conference in Rome.
Late January-September
Goldman conducts a nine-month lecture tour of eleven states, beginning in
Barre, Vt., where she is hosted by Salvatore Palavicini. She delivers several
lectures in Barre, including "The New Woman" and "The Corrupting Influence of
Politics on Man"--the first anarchist lectures in English ever presented
there.
When she is prevented from delivering her last lecture, "Authority versus Liberty," on Jan. 31, Goldman's comrades print and distribute five thousand copies of a manifesto containing the text of Goldman's barred speech.
While in Barre, Goldman meets Luigi Galleani, editor of the anarchist journal Cronaca Sovversiva.
February
President William McKinley signs peace treaty with Spain. United States
acquires Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines; Spain relinquishes its claim
to Cuba.
Insurgent forces begin rebellion against U.S. rule in the Philippines.
Mid-February
Goldman delivers ten lectures, in German and English, in Philadelphia; speaks
before the Friendship Liberal League, Ladies' Liberal League, the Fellowship
for Ethical Research, the Knights of Liberty, and the Arbeiter Bund.
Goldman helps organize a regional committee of anarchists from Philadelphia and surrounding areas.
Late February
Goldman addresses two large meetings in Cleveland.
March
Goldman's lectures in Detroit include "The Power of the Idea" and "A Criticism
of Ethics." Goldman is offered financial support for her future medical
studies by Herman Miller, a friend of Robert Reitzel and president of the
Cleveland Brewing Company.
Invited by the Ohio Liberal Society to lecture on trade unionism, Goldman addresses three meetings in Cincinnati. From Cincinnati, Goldman travels to St. Louis where she delivers ten lectures, including one before the conservative Bricklayers' Union.
Close by, she speaks before two large gatherings in the mining town of Mount Olive. Her lecture on "The Eight-Hour Struggle and the Condition of the Miners of the Whole World" is especially well received.
April-May
Goldman spends over a month in Chicago, delivering about twenty-five lectures.
Her efforts to speak before a wide variety of trade unions, philosophical and
social societies, and women's clubs are aided by Max Baginski and other German
comrades; the International Workingmen's Association helps her organize English
lectures.
Goldman lectures on "Trades-Unionism and What It Should Be" and other issues in German and English before the International Workingmen's Association and trade unions including the Brewers and Malters Union, the Painters and Decorators Union, and the Journeymen Tailors Union. Goldman's presentation to the conservative Amalgamated Wood Workers Union is the first to take place by an anarchist.
Additional lectures--including "Religion," "Women's Emancipation," "Politics and Its Corrupting Influence on Man," "The Origin of Evil," and "The Basis of Morality"--are delivered to the Friesinuge Gemeinde, several chapters of the Turner Society, the Freethought Society, and the Women's Sick Benefit Society. Her lecture on "Sex Problems" is debated by many of the Chicago comrades who feel the subject matter is inappropriate for public discussion.
Before leaving Chicago, Goldman organizes a social science club so that the local comrades will continue to organize in her absence.
May
Goldman spends a few days visiting miners in Spring Valley, Ill. By May 20,
she arrives in Tacoma, Wash., where she participates in a debate on "Socialism
versus Anarchism." A group of spiritualists lend her use of their temple free
of charge for a series of lectures, but when she proposes to lecture on "Free
Love," they deny her the use of the hall.
Goldman delivers two well-attended lectures in Seattle.
June
Goldman visits an anarchist colony at Lakebay, Wash. By June 10, she is
scheduled to hold a series of meetings in Portland, Oreg., followed by lectures
in the farming community of Scio, Oreg., where use of the city hall is donated
to Goldman by the marshal of Scio.
June-August
Goldman arrives in San Francisco on June 22, where she begins a seven-week
series of lectures in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Stockton. "Why I
Am an Anarchist Communist," "The Aim of Humanity," "The Development of
Trades-Unionism," and "Charity" number among her lectures. Socialists
antagonistic to her on several occasions. Her lecture on "Sex Problems"
continues to stir debate; some applaud her courage to speak about this taboo
issue.
Mid-Late August
Goldman delivers three lectures in Ouray, Colo., followed by several lectures
in Denver, including "The Power of an Idea," "Education" before the
Smeltermen's Union, and an open-air meeting on "Patriotism."
September
At the invitation of Kate Austin, Goldman travels to the farming community of
Caplinger Mills, Mo., where she delivers three lectures, including
"Patriotism."
September 6
In the mining town of Spring Valley, Ill., Goldman heads a Labor Day
procession, which ends with a meeting in the central market place, a direct
violation of the mayor's denial of authorization to do so.
September 23-October 10
Goldman addresses thirteen meetings in Pittsburgh and surrounding cities,
including West Newton, McDonald, and Roscoe, Pa.
Fall
Goldman arranges for their trusted comrade Eric B. Morton to begin to dig a
tunnel for Berkman's escape.
Mid-October
Goldman's lecture tour complete, she returns to New York City. Under the guise
of pursuing a new legal action in Berkman's case, with Saul Yanofsky of the
Freie Arbeiter Stimme, Goldman raises money to
support the cost of digging Berkman's prison escape tunnel. If
successful, Berkman intends to meet Goldman in Europe.
November 3
Goldman embarks for Europe to attend the 1900 International Anti-Parliamentary
Congress in Paris and with the intention of studying medicine in Zurich,
Switzerland.
November 13-December 9
Goldman arrives in London where she stays with Harry Kelly and his family and
lectures in English and German. Among her proposed topics are "America: The
Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave," "Strikes and Their Effect on the
American Worker," and "Marriage." While visiting Peter Kropotkin at his home
in Bromley, she meets the Russian populist Nicholas Chaikovsky, whom Goldman
greatly admires. She argues heatedly with Kropotkin about the political
significance of "the sex problem."
Following one of her German lectures, she meets the Czechoslovakian refugee Hippolyte Havel, with whom she later falls in love.
December 9
Goldman appears in London among a cast of international speakers, including
Louise Michel and Kropotkin, at a "Grand Meeting and Concert for the Benefit of
the Agitation in Favour of the Political Victims in Italy."
December 10-22
Goldman travels to Leeds and Bradford for several lectures.
December 23
Goldman returns to London.
1900
January
Goldman attends a Russian New Year party in London where she meets notable
Russian revolutionary exiles, including L. B. Goldenberg and V. N.
Cherkezov.
Goldman travels to Glasgow, Dundee, and Edinburgh, Scotland to lecture. On Jan. 21 in Dundee she lectures on "Authority versus Liberty" and "The Aim of Humanity." In Edinburgh, she meets anarchist Thomas Bell.
February
Goldman spends the month in London before traveling to Paris. On Feb. 20,
Goldman speaks out against the Anglo-Boer War at a meeting of the Freedom
Discussion Group; lectures on "The Effect of War on the Workers." Her
activities are credited for providing impetus to the London anarchist
movement.
On Feb. 25, Goldman scheduled to deliver her lecture "The Basis of Morality" in German. On Feb. 26, she is honored at a farewell concert and ball where she speaks about the striking Bohemian miners; other speakers include Peter Kropotkin and Louise Michel.
Goldman begins debate in the anarchist press about the importance of developing consistent propaganda and supporting individual lecturers financially.
March-October
Accompanied by Hippolyte Havel, Goldman visits Paris in preparation for the
September International Anti-Parliamentary Congress in Paris. While immersing
herself in French culture, Goldman becomes acquainted with the leading figures
of the French anarchist movement and other progressive circles, including
Augustin Hamon and Victor Dave. Decides against pursuing further medical
studies so that she can concentrate on political activities.
Goldman delivers a statement to the organizing committee of the Paris congress about her most recent lecture tour in the United States, the necessity of organizing American-born citizens into the anarchist movement, and the reluctance of some anarchists to participate in the Paris congress.
U.S. anarchists debate the importance of selecting American-born delegates to represent their movement at the Paris congress; it is eventually decided that Goldman, although an immigrant, will be a suitable representative. Other representatives also selected. Goldman asked by several American comrades, including Lizzie and William Holmes, Abe Isaak, and Susan Patton, to present papers at the congress.
June-July
Goldman meets up with some Italian comrades from the United States, including
Salvatore Palavicini. Reunites with Max Baginski when he arrives in Paris.
June 14
French intelligence notes presence of Goldman and Havel at a women's congress
in Paris.
July 16
The tunnel being dug for Berkman's escape is discovered. Although prison
officials cannot verify who is responsible, Berkman is placed in solitary
confinement. Eric B. Morton, sick from the physical hardship of digging the
tunnel, sails to France where he is nursed back to health by Goldman.
July 29
King Umberto of Italy is killed by Gaetano Bresci, an Italian anarchist Goldman
had met in Paterson, N.J.
September
Meets Oscar Panizza, whose writings she had read in the Der arme
Teufel.
Discusses issues of sexuality, including homosexuality, with Dr. Eugene
Schmidt.
September 18
The International Anti-Parliamentary Congress, scheduled to begin the following
day, is prohibited by the French Council of Ministers. Protest meeting called
for that evening is prevented by the police. Though some of the scheduled
meetings are canceled, others take place in secret locations.
Goldman's "The Sex Question" is one of eight anarchist lectures scheduled to be presented on Sept. 21--although some French comrades were opposed to this topic being addressed in public for fear that it would lead to further misconceptions of anarchism.
During this period, Goldman also attends the Neo-Malthusian Congress in Paris, which holds its meetings in secret because of a French law prohibiting organized attempts to limit offspring. Goldman obtains birth control literature and contraceptives to take back to the United States.
Late September-November
Following the Paris congress, Goldman earns her living as a boarding room cook
and as an American tour guide at the Paris Exposition.
December
Goldman returns to New York with Hippolyte Havel and Eric B. Morton. Newspaper
reports claim that Goldman had, under an assumed name, rented a hall on Dec. 11
for a mass meeting of the Social Science Club. Goldman the principal speaker;
statement favoring the assassination of King Umberto attributed to her.
Goldman scheduled to speak to the Italian group of New London, Conn., on Dec. 23.
Continue to
Chronology (1901 - 1919).
Go to Guide contents
For more information about the complete guide or microfilm,
refer to Overview.
For more information about the
project, refer to "About
the Emma Goldman Papers Project".
Go to Contents.
Copyright
© 1995 by Chadwyck-Healey Inc. All rights
reserved.
Document maintained at:
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/Guide/chronology6900.html
by the SunSITE Manager.
Last update 8/29/2001. SunSITE Manager:
manager@sunsite.berkeley.edu