Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: The Rebel Girl, Democracy, and Revolution
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: The Rebel Girl, Democracy, and Revolution, by Mary Anne Trasciatti (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2025)
A young Socialist, raised in New York, took to the streets, mobilizing the masses for the sake of a more equitable society and civil liberties for all. No, it’s not Zohran Mamdani. It’s Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964), whose story is brilliantly captured by Mary Anne Trasciatti in Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: The Rebel Girl, Democracy and Revolution. Published in 2025, the same year when New Yorkers stood up to the establishment and elected a Democratic Socialist Mayor. Wouldn’t Flynn be so proud?
So, what better time would it be for a reader (particularly a New Yorker) to (re-)discover the story of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, who joined the Socialist Party at the age of fifteen and dedicated her remaining years to just causes? This well-written biography about the trials and tribulations, successes and stardom, heartbreaks and love affairs of the “Rebel Girl,” provides hope during this current moment in history, inspiring us to continue standing up for our beliefs, knowing that those who came before us sacrificed to pave the road on which many of us walk today.
Although she did not have faith in the ballot box, Flynn (like Mamdani) also ran for political office, campaigning for a seat on the New York City Council. At the age of 47, motivated by someone also admired by Mamdani, Flynn voted for the first time in her life, casting a ballot for a New York mayoral candidate named Fiorello La Guardia. If alive today, Flynn undoubtedly would have approved of and supported New York’s current mayor, nearly 90 years later.
Trasciatti begins the story when Flynn emerges as a teenage orator in 1906 and succinctly unfolds her courageous and bold activism, coupled with unrelenting, lifelong dedication to working people until her death in 1964.
Whether standing on a soapbox, writing from a jail cell, fighting in a courtroom, speaking in a union hall, reporting on a radio show or composing newspaper articles, this “New York girl” (as denominated by her mother) travelled throughout the world standing up for justice.
Flynn was at the forefront of the battles against injustice, defending Paterson’s silk mill workers, immigrants in the Palmer Raids, Sacco & Vanzetti, birth control and women’s rights, racial equality, Passaic’s woolen mill strikers and so much more. Her Irish wit and fiery speeches moved the crowds and enlisted their faith and trust in her words.
As her subsequent membership in the Communist Party proved detrimental to various organizations in which she sat on the board, Flynn would forge a leadership role for the cause. Her determination, experience and close allies fortified her to face political repression and condemnation for what were perceived as un-American activities. She, on the other hand, believed “the real enemy was capitalism, and the hands of the rich are stained with blood.”
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn wholeheartedly embraced Americanism and the United States Constitution. The court, on the other hand, found her guilty of violating the Smith Act by attempting to overthrow the government and sentenced her to three years in prison. Not even prison walls, however, could break her spirit. When released after 28 months for good behavior, she went back to her “little old New York” to continue her fight.
Flynn’s death came shortly after her 74th birthday and her Supreme Court case to reinstate her passport, but her legacy continues to live on today. Also regarded as “New York’s Joan of Arc”, Sister Flynn’s accomplishments reached far beyond the boundaries of this country. Her life’s work impacted the world.
At the American Labor Museum in Haledon, New Jersey, a permanent exhibit about the 1913 Paterson Silk Strike celebrates Flynn’s role as a leader in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). One glance at her images that welcome you into the museum’s library immediately reveals how determined she was when addressing the crowd of nearly 25,000 strikers and their families. Thanks to the generosity of the author, the museum can now also offer visitors this must-read, new book on an incredible and inspiring human being.
Reviewed by:
Angelica Santomauro, Director
American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark
[The views and opinions expressed in this review, and in all others posted on our website, are solely those of the reviewers and do not necessarily represent those of the New York Labor History Association.]