Johanna Greie (1864–1911), also known as Johanna Greie-Cramer, was a German-American writer, socialist, and reformer.

Biography

Born in Dresden on January 6, 1864 to middle-class parents, her formal education ended after primary school. She met and married Emile Greie, a lathe-turner devoted to the free-thought and

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

movements. A friend of her husband's, the writer , discovered her literary ability and urged her to write for his paper, the ''Neue Magdeburger Tageblatt'', where she worked for some years. Forced to leave Germany as a result of the political convictions of her husband, whose views she shared, the couple moved to America in 1887. She "flowered virtually overnight into a leading Socialist writer and lecturer", becoming an editorialist in ', the party's weekly national newspaper; her major essay on the subject, "Is It Necessary For Women to Organize Themselves?," was published in early 1888 there and soon reprinted as the first major political treatise on women's organization from within the German-American Socialist movement. She wrote for the '' Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung'' and started a women's page in the '' New Yorker Volkszeitung'', making it her explicit aim to familiarize women with socialist class theory. In 1889 she was elected to the Committee on Credentials of the

Socialist Labor Party of America The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 192 ...

. Her biography is sketched out in the '' New Yorker Volkszeitung'', Feb 26, 1911.

Legacy

During her lecture circuit on the subject of the

Haymarket affair The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886 at Haymarket Square (C ...

, Greie met

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

, who was deeply affected by her lecture in Rochester and went on to become a notable

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and political activist. Goldman wrote on meeting Greie in her autobiography.

Bibliography

*''Is It Necessary For Women to Organize Themselves?'' *''The Woman and the Labor Press''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greie, Johanna 1864 births 1911 deaths German socialists American socialists Immigrants to the United States Socialist Labor Party of America politicians 19th-century German writers 19th-century American writers People from Dresden American journalists