''Free Society'' (1895–1897 as ''The Firebrand''; 1897–1904 as ''Free Society'') was a major

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

newspaper in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries."''Free Society'' was the principal English-language forum for anarchist ideas in the United States at the beginning of the twentieth century." ''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902–1909'', p.551. Most anarchist publications in the US were in Yiddish, German, or Russian, but ''Free Society'' was published in English, permitting the dissemination of anarchist thought to English-speaking populations in the US. The newspaper was established as ''The Firebrand'' in 1895 in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

by the Isaak family, Abraham Isaak,

Mary Isaak Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, and their children, along with some associates; the organization served as "the headquarters of anarchist activity on the estCoast". The paper was particularly known for its advocacy of

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern o ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countr ...

, bringing an anarchist critique to bear on social and gender relations. Deliberately defying the

Comstock laws The Comstock laws were a set of federal acts passed by the United States Congress under the Grant administration along with related state laws.Dennett p.9 The "parent" act (Sect. 211) was passed on March 3, 1873, as the Act for the Suppression o ...

in an act of

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a stat ...

, ''The Firebrand'' published

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

's "A Woman Waits for Me" in 1897;

A. J. Pope A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure o ...

, Abe Isaak, and

Henry Addis Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portuga ...

were quickly arrested and charged with publishing obscene information for the Whitman poem and a letter "It Depends on the Women", signed by A.E.K. The A.E.K. letter presented various hypotheticals of women refusing or assenting to sex with their husbands or lovers, and argued that true liberation required education of both sexes and particularly women. After Isaak was released, the Isaak family moved the publication to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and resumed publication under the name ''Free Society''. However, while ''Free Society'' continued to discuss free love and advocate for equality of the sexes, it did not openly defy the Comstock laws again. Notable contributors include Kate Austin,

Voltairine de Cleyre Voltairine de Cleyre (November 17, 1866 – June 20, 1912) was an American anarchist known for being a prolific writer and speaker who opposed capitalism, marriage and the state as well as the domination of religion over sexuality and women's liv ...

, Michael Cohn, Jay Fox,

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of th ...

Lizzie Holmes Lizzie Holmes (, Hunt; after first marriage, Swank; after second marriage, Holmes; pen name, May Huntley; December 21, 1850 – August 8, 1926) was an American anarchist, writer, and organizer of Chicago's working women during the late 19th cent ...

, William Holmes, C. L. James,C. L. James
at fair-use.org Harry Kelly,

James Ferdinand Morton Jr. James Ferdinand Morton Jr. (October 18, 1870 – October 7, 1941) was an anarchist writer and political activist of the 1900s through the 1920s especially on the topics of the single tax system, racism, and advocacy for women. After about 1920 h ...

, and Ross Winn.

Notes

References

* Carolyn Ashbaugh, "Radical Women: The Haymarket Tradition", IN ''Haymarket Scrapbook'', ed. by Dave Roediger and

Franklin Rosemont Franklin Rosemont (1943–2009) was an American poet, artist, historian, street speaker, and co-founder of the Chicago Surrealist Group. Over four decades, Franklin produced a body of work, of declarations, manifestos, poetry, collage, hidden hi ...

, Chicago: Charles H. Kerr Publishing Co., 1986 (available a
''The Lucy Parsons Project''
(discussing ''Free Society'', including later imprisonment of Isaak family in 1901 after the

McKinley assassination William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition at the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901, six months into his second term. He was shaking hands with the ...

, and

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage i ...

' efforts to secure their release) * *

, ''Living My Life'' (Vol. 1). * ''Emma Goldman: Making Speech Free, 1902-1909'', p. 551 * Elmer B. Isaak (Interview), IN

Paul Avrich Paul Avrich (August 4, 1931 – February 16, 2006) was a historian of the 19th and early 20th century anarchist movement in Russia and the United States. He taught at Queens College, City University of New York, for his entire career, from 1961 ...

, ''Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America'' (AK Press, 2006, ), pp. 27–28 * Maurice, Lori Klatt
"Stamping Out Indecency, The Postal Way"
(aka "Stamping Out Indecency: Post Office Censorship"] (March 8, 2004,

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

)

External links

{{Commons category inline, Free Society Anarchist periodicals published in the United States Feminist newspapers Free love advocates Publications established in 1895 Anarcho-communism Publications disestablished in 1904 Defunct newspapers published in Oregon 1895 establishments in Oregon 1904 disestablishments in Oregon

See also

Notes

References

External links