The Emma Goldman Papers

The Birth of Mother Earth Magazine

The Emma Goldman Papers at UC Berkeley collects, organizes, edits, and publishes tens of thousands of documents from around the world written by and about Emma Goldman (1869-1940), a leading figure in international anarchism and feminism, an early advocate of free speech, and a passionate supporter of workers' rights. Goldman dedicated her life to the creation of a radically new social order rooted in absolute freedom, grounded in social and economic justice.

Emma Goldman’s political and cultural magazine, Mother Earth, first hit newsstands in March 1906. The magazine, which became a mouthpiece for the radical left, published articles on anarchism, labor, education, women’s rights, progressive literature, and more. In August 1917, Mother Earth openly opposed U.S. entry into World War I and supported anti-conscription. Goldman and fellow editor, Alexander Berkman, were charged under the Espionage Act and later deported, thus ending Mother Earth’s eleven year run.

Here is an excerpt from the first volume, establishing Mother Earth’s anti-establishment stance, decrying state corruption, and calling for rising consciousness and action against restraints on freedom:

During the last few years, American journalists have had much to say about the terrible conditions in Russia and the supremacy of the Russian censor. Have they forgotten the censor here? a censor far more powerful than him of Russia. Have they forgotten that every line they write is dictated by the political color of the paper they write for; by the advertising firms; by the money power; by the power of respectability; by Comstock? Have they forgotten that the literary taste and critical judgment of the mass of the people have been successfully moulded to suit the will of these dictators, and to serve as a good business basis for shrewd literary speculators? The number of Rip Van Winkles in life, science, morality, art, and literature is very large. Innumerable ghosts, such as Ibsen saw when he analyzed the moral and social conditions of our life, still keep the majority of the human race in awe.

MOTHER EARTH will endeavor to attract and appeal to all those who oppose encroachment on public and individual life. It will appeal to those who strive for something higher, weary of the commonplace; to those who feel that stagnation is a deadweight on the firm and elastic step of progress; to those who breathe freely only in limitless space; to those who long for the tender shade of a new dawn for a humanity free from the dread of want, the dread of starvation in the face of mountains of riches. The Earth free for the free individual!

Mar. 11 2015

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