On this day, 11 February 1916, Lithuanian-born Jewish anarchist Emma Goldman was arrested in New York City for distributing information on birth control. She was technically charged with breaching the Comstock Act, which banned “obscene” material from the mail or from being transported across state lines.
Goldman’s arrest came as she was due to deliver a public lecture on family planning, which was a key concern for working class people. Radicals argued that family planning was essential for working class people to be able to have an acceptable standard of living, and believed that authorities opposed birth control so that there would be an oversupply of labour to keep down wages and fill the army.
Emma Goldman decided to defend herself in court, and used the trial to generate large amounts of publicity for her message. She was eventually convicted, and rather than pay a $100 fine she chose to serve 15 days in prison.
We have a collection of Goldman’s writings on sex and gender available here, as well as reproductions of this mugshot: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/emma-goldman https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1650011538517323/?type=3