1902

The Sex Question

Voltairine de Cleyre, “Some Nihilists I Have Met” (1893)

July 28, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
Some Nihilists I Have Met The word nihilist is so generally associated with darkness, secrecy, dynamite, assassination and blood, that had someone whispered five minutes before the encounter, “You are about to meet a Russian nihilist,” I should, no doubt, have hastily retreated to the shelter of law-abiding domiciles, far from the dirty, tortuous, downtown quarter, where, amidst a labyrinth of alleys and deceitful little streets that mockingly led against walls, and then turned back into one another, I found myself one snowy afternoon, picking my way somewhat disgustedly with no very clear idea concerning my exact whereabouts. One thing, […]
The Sex Question

Voltairine de Cleyre, “The Hopelessly Fallen” (1902)

July 28, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Hopelessly Fallen I generally like what Kate Austin says and always admire the spirited way she says it; but I feel move to write a word of disagreement with her and others concerning this attitude towards “fallen women.” I do not know just what class of persons are included in that category; but from K. A.’s general blunt, straightforward, non-equivocating nature, and her strong determination to apply her faith under all circumstances, I suppose she means all, beginning with the young girl who has once deviated from the rigid line of conventional morality, and been found out, to the […]
The Sex Question

Voltairine de Cleyre, “The Hopelessly Fallen” (1902)

July 28, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Hopelessly Fallen I generally like what Kate Austin says and always admire the spirited way she says it; but I feel move to write a word of disagreement with her and others concerning this attitude towards “fallen women.” I do not know just what class of persons are included in that category; but from K. A.’s general blunt, straightforward, non-equivocating nature, and her strong determination to apply her faith under all circumstances, I suppose she means all, beginning with the young girl who has once deviated from the rigid line of conventional morality, and been found out, to the […]
fiction

Lizzie M. Holmes, “A Rural Romance”(1902)

July 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
A Rural Romance. In a quiet, pleasant neighborhood in Kansas lives a good woman with whom I sometimes spend a few restful weeks in midsummer. Just up a little slope and on the opposite side of the road from her home stands a beautiful cottage with the grounds about it so well and tastefully kept that one is surprised to learn that only an ordinary farmer and his family live there; usually western farmers are too busy to keep ornamental grounds in order, or to cultivate the desire for them. It was pre-eminently a happy-looking place, from the father and […]
fiction

Lizzie M. Holmes, “The ‘Slummers’” (1902)

July 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
The “Slummers.” Three charming young ladies sat together chatting and eating bonbons and fruit in the pretty, cosy boudoir belonging to one of them, one afternoon in early spring. Some one had quoted the saying “One-half the world does not know how the other half lives,” and pretty Miss Daisy Erwin exclaimed: “Why can’t we learn? I want to know if there are people who live in so opposite a manner from ourselves—let us go and sec them.” Beautiful Miss Kate Durham, the hostess, thought favorably of the idea. The third young lady, older somewhat than her companions, sat at […]
fiction

Lizzie M. Holmes, “A Type” (1902)

July 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
“A Type.” The slaves of slaves—can there be any greater depths of misery? The story I have to tell to-day is of a commonplace little woman who would attract no one’s attention for beauty, accomplishment or ability, who is merely a type of her class, and whose sorrows illustrate a principle. Martha Westcott had once been a simple country girl, pretty in a fresh, youthful way, and was married when but sixteen to a neighboring country boy who had learned the carpenter’s trade, preferring it to his father’s occupation—farming. He had cherished some ambitions which he believed could be carried […]
fiction

Lizzie M. Holmes, “Hard Working Philander Peppers” (1902)

July 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
Hard Working Philander Peppers. Several men stood about the door way of a big stone building, an iron foundry, talking in a desultory fashion; it was nearly 1 o’clock and the whistle would soon blow, so they were lingering there to be on hand in time, though not one of. them would waste a moment in his place of work ahead of time. A man had been found dead on the railroad track that morning, and they were discussing the matter. The paper had said: “Nothing on the person of the deceased indicated his name or residence. It was decided […]
fiction

Lizzie M. Holmes, “A Gift from His Employes,” (1902)

July 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
A Gift From His Employes. The junior member of the firm of Seigel, Berkfield & Co., manufacturers of cloaks and suits, was about to be married. The employees all knew it for some weeks before the event, and that great preparations were going forward for the wedding, that the bride was an heiress, young, stylish and pretty. It was the sensation of the day among them as well as among the other circle who could see the bride and her dresses, and the presents which would be sent in. They could not hope to see so much as a white […]
fiction

Lizzie M. Holmes, “The Tyranny of Strikers” (1902)

July 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Tyranny of Strikers. Two ladies sat earnestly conversing in the little parlor belonging to one of them, in a city of the eastern middle states. “But I am so sorry for the strikers’ poor families,” said the visitor, a Mrs. Helen Hazard, who was said to be fairly well off, eccentric and somewhat imbued with some “strange socialistic notions.” “They are not to blame for their suffering and they are starving and are half clothed and sheltered. And they will soon be driven from their miserable houses by the mine owners because they cannot pay rent or keep up […]
Anarchist Beginnings

Soledad Gustavo, “Concepto de la anarquia” (1902)

January 29, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
CONCEPTO DE LA ANARQUIA Es preciso no perder de vista nunca lo que significa la palabra «anarquía», ó mejor, lo que es, lo que representa, lo que instituye esta palabra en nuestras críticas respecto á las varias fórmulas ó sistemas consecutivos al bienestar de la humanidad que se presentan en el horizonte indefinido del progreso. No podemos tener como á tales, los anarquistas, un criterio cerrado y por consecuencia limitado respecto á la manera cómo deberá regirse la sociedad del porvenir hecha que esté la revolución social; es decir, destruido que se haya el orden social existente con todo el […]