Rebellious Daughters of History #23 by Judy Cox Labour Movement Martyrs and their Stories: Ella May Wiggins (1900 – 1929) and Mary Heaton (1874-1966) Ella May was born Sevierville, Tennessee, in 1900 and by 1926 she had settled in an African-American neighbourhood in Gaston County. Her neighbours looked after her nine children as she worked […]

Rebellious Daughters of History #22 by Judy Cox The most dangerous woman in America: Mary ‘Mother’ Jones (1837-1933) Mary Harris was born in 1837 in County Cork, Ireland. Her father Robert fled to Canada after taking part in a revolt against the landowners. Mary became a schoolteacher but was barred from most schools because she […]

Rebellious Daughters of History #20 by Judy Cox From Celebrity Cinderella to Communist: Rose Pastor Stokes (1879-1933) Rose Pastor Stokes was born into poverty, ‘I slipped into the world while my mother was on her knees, scrubbing the floor’, she later recalled. Born Rose Harriet Wieslander in Poland, 1879, and moved to England with her […]

Rebellious Daughters of History #19 by Judy Cox Suffragist, Socialist, Republican, Communist: Charlotte Despard (1844-1939) Charlotte French was born in Kent in 1844. When she was ten her father died and her mother was committed to an asylum. In 1870, Charlotte met Maximilian Carden Despard, a wealthy businessman. When he died in 1890, Charlotte dedicated […]

Rebellious Daughters of History #18 by Judy Cox Racism, Riot and Unceasing Revolt: Lucy Parsons (1851-1942) Lucy Parsons was born in Virginia in 1851, the daughter of a slave. In 1863, she was moved to Texas where she worked as a seamstress and a cook for white families. In 1870, Lucy was living with a […]