Williana "Liana" Jones Burroughs (January 2, 1882 – December 24, 1945) was an American teacher,

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. She is best remembered as one of the first women to run for elective office in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Biography

Early years

Williana Jones, known to family and friends as "Liane," was born on January 2, 1882, in

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 33,458 with a majority bla ...

.Philip Sterling, "Williana J. Burroughs: Ousted from New York Public School System, Now Communist Candidate for Comptroller," ''The Daily Worker,'' vol. 10, no. 232 (September 27, 1933), p. 5. Her mother had formerly been a slave for 16 years, her father died when Williana was just four years old. Her widowed mother left

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

for

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, bringing Williana together with a sister and a brother (Gordon Jones), where she worked as a cook. Her mother proved unable to care for her children adequately, however, so Williana spent the next seven years in the Colored Orphan Asylum, located at the time on the corner of 143rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

. Her mother was able to retrieve her three children from the orphanage only when Williana was 11. Williana attended public school in New York, where she was an excellent student. In 1909, Williana Jones married Charles Burroughs, a postal worker and actor. After graduation, she attended New York City Normal College, known today as

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

, where she achieved credentials to become a teacher. In 1910 she obtained her first teaching position, in charge of a

first grade First grade (also 1st Grade or Grade 1) is the first year of formal or compulsory education. It is the first year of elementary school, and the first school year after kindergarten. Children in first grade are usually 6–7 years old. Examples ...

classroom. In 1926, Burroughs moved to P.S. 48 in

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, where she taught first and second grade children. She was soon recruited into the New York City Teachers Union, in which she was active as part of the Communist-led "Rank and File caucus."

Political career

Williana Burroughs joined the

Workers (Communist) Party The Workers Party of America (WPA) was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from December 1921 until the middle of 1929. Background As a legal political party, the Workers Party accepted affiliation from inde ...

in September 1926."Files of the Communist Party USA in the Comintern Archives," Russian State Archive for Social-Political History (RGASPI), f. 515, op. 1, d. 1599, l. 1. Available on microfilm, reel 122. She became active in the campaign for defense of the

Scottsboro boys The Scottsboro Boys were nine African Americans, African American male teenagers accused of rape, raping two White American, white women in 1931. The landmark set of legal cases from this incident dealt with Racism in the United States, racism ...

and was chairman of the Blumberg Defense Council, an organization formed to defend Isidore Blumberg, a teacher removed from the New York public schools system due to his political views. The Communist Party sent Burroughs to the 6th World Congress of the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in the summer of 1928 as a representative of the American Negro Labor Congress, a Communist Party auxiliary group.Mark Solomon, ''The Cry was Unity: Communists and African Americans, 1917-36.'' Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1998; p. 264. Burroughs traveled with her husband and her two youngest sons to the convention, with the boys remaining in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

to attend school thereafter. Burroughs would not be reunited with them until 1937.Solomon, ''The Cry was Unity,'' p. 265. Burroughs made use of the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

"Mary Adams" in the communist movement during the 1920s and 1930s, publishing an article for the party's daily newspaper under that name for

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

1928.Perry, ''Hubert Harrison,'' p. 437, fn. 45. She became prominent within the party organization and was selected as an alternate delegate to the 6th National Convention of the Communist Party USA in March 1929. Upon returning to the United States in January 1931, she resumed teaching. In 1933 Burroughs spoke out at a meeting of the New York City Board of Education, and in June 1933 Burroughs was dismissed from her post for "conduct unbecoming to a teacher and prejudicial to law and order." After loss of her teaching position, Burroughs was the Communist Party's candidate for

New York Comptroller The New York state comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and head of the government of New York (state), New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. Sixty-one individua ...

in the fall of 1933 and the Communist Party's candidate for

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a Constitution of New York, constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governo ...

in 1934. She also ran the Harlem Worker's School from 1933 to 1934. Burroughs was regarded as one of the CP's most effective witnesses during the public hearings over the

1935 Harlem riot The Harlem riot of 1935 took place on March 19, 1935, in New York City, New York, in the United States. It has been described as the first "modern" race riot in Harlem, because it was committed primarily against property rather than persons. Har ...

. She returned to the Soviet Union in the spring of 1937, the year of the

Great Terror The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the assassination of Sergei Kirov by Leonid Nikolaev ...

, where she worked as an announcer and editor for the English-language broadcasts of

Radio Moscow Radio Moscow (), also known as Radio Moscow World Service, was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until 1993, when it was reorganized into Voice of Russia, which was subsequently reorga ...

, the international

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

news service of the Soviet government. Burroughs remained in Moscow for virtually the rest of her life. In the spring of 1940 she made a request to return to the United States together with her sons but was persuaded to stay owing to the lack of capable Americans remaining in the USSR.Ross to Dimitrov, September 14, 1942, RGASPI f. 495, op. 73, d. 152. Translated and published in full in Klehr, Haynes, and Firsov, ''The Secret World of American Communism,'' pg. 201. The war intervened and Burroughs and her sons remained in Moscow until 1945, when she finally managed to return to New York with the younger boy.Klehr, Haynes, and Firsov, ''The Secret World of American Communism,'' p. 200, fn. 4.

Death and legacy

Williana Jones Burroughs died on December 24, 1945, at the Manhattan home of her friend Hermie Huiswoud, just two months after her return to the United States and barely more than a week before what would have been her 64th birthday. Her son Charles Burroughs, the oldest of the boys who had been left in Moscow, retained his American citizenship and was inducted into the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

early in 1945. After his military service he returned to the United States and in 1961 co-founded the

DuSable Museum of African American History The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center, formerly the DuSable Museum of African American History, is a museum in Chicago that is dedicated to the study and conservation of African-American history, culture, and art named after Je ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, of which he remained curator until 1980. A Chicago

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

is named after him. Her granddaughter Carola Burroughs was interviewed by Yelena Demikovsky for the

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

''Black Russians - The Red Experience'', about African-Americans who moved to the Soviet Union.

Footnotes

Works

* (as "Mary Adams"): "Record of Revolts in Negro Workers' Past," ''The Daily Worker,'' May 1, 1928. * ''The Road to Liberation for the Negro People.'' Contributor with A.W. Berry; Benjamin J. Davis;

James W. Ford James W. “Jim” Ford (December 22, 1893June 21, 1957) was an activist, a politician, and the vice-presidential candidate for the Communist Party USA in the years 1932, 1936, and 1940. Ford was born in Alabama and later worked as a party o ...

; Benjamin Carreathers; Angelo Herndon;

William L. Patterson William Lorenzo Patterson (August 27, 1891 – March 5, 1980) was an African-American leader in the Communist Party USA and head of the International Labor Defense, a group that offered legal representation to communists, trade unionists, and ...

;

Harry Haywood Harry Haywood (February 4, 1898 – January 4, 1985) was an American political activist who was a leading figure in both the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA) and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). His goal was to connec ...

; Timothy Holmes; Manning Johnson; Richard B. Moore; William Taylor; Louise Thompson; Maude White;

Henry Winston Henry M. Winston (April 2, 1911December 13, 1986) was an African-American political leader and Marxist civil rights activist. Winston, committed to equal rights and communism, was an advocate of civil rights for African Americans decades before ...

; Merrill Work. New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1939.