Goldman, Emma (1869-1940), was a revolutionary who came to the United States from Russia in 1885. In 1889, she became part of the anarchist movement, which opposed all forms of government.
In the Homestead Strike of 1892, several people were killed in clashes between workers and guards of the Carnegie Steel Company (see Homestead Strike ). In response, Goldman helped another anarchist, Alexander Berkman, plot to kill the company’s president, Henry Clay Frick. Berkman’s attempt failed, and he was imprisoned for 14 years. Goldman later came to oppose the use of violence. She was jailed for a year in 1893 for urging people to steal bread if they were starving.
Goldman lectured widely on anarchism, women’s rights, and birth control. She and Berkman edited a monthly magazine, Mother Earth, from 1906 to 1917. Goldman’s opposition to the draft during World War I (1914-1918) led to her imprisonment and eventual deportation to Russia in 1919.
Goldman was born on June 27, 1869, in Kovno (now Kaunas), Lithuania. She remained politically active until her death on May 14, 1940.
