Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: The Rebel Girl, Democracy, and Revolution

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? 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.