Our season opening musical Ragtime features Emma Goldman as one of the defining stitches in the fraying tapestry that was turn of the 20th century America. But who was she?

Well, if Buckminster Fuller was the fairy godfather of Portland, then socialist/anarchist activist Emma Goldman was DEFINITELY the fairy godmother.

Her stances on birth control, homosexuality, “free love,” labor organization and socialism still feel modern today, despite the fact that she was rousing her rabble back in at the turn of the 20th century. And, she was a huge fan of Portland, coming to speak here several times. Check this out:

The Scandinavian Hall? REALLY?!? Awesome. That place is still there- over at 4th and Yamhill. I’ve driven by there a hundred times and wondered what they get UP to in there.

And three separate lectures on the myth of monogomy… wow.

Incidentally, according to our outreach director and resident Portland history aficianado Tim duRoche, one of the times Emma Goldman spoke in Portland she was arrested for handing out birth control pamphlets, which was a violation of the Comstock Laws (which defined contraceptive information as “obscene.”)

The arrest made it to the cover of the New York Times. I think I’m developing a giant girl-crush on this woman…

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