workingclasshistory:

On this day, 7 April 1872, radical doctor, women’s rights advocate, anti-war prisoner and lesbian from a working class background Marie Diana Equi was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Moving to Portland, Oregon, she was one of the first women doctors in the state, who provided birth control information and abortions when both were illegal. She was clubbed by police while supporting a strike of women cannery workers, which led her to become an anarchist and to get involved with the Industrial Workers of the World union. In 1918 she was sentenced to 3 years in prison at San Quentin for opposing US involvement in World War I, but maintained her activism after her release.
Learn more about her in our podcast about women in the IWW: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/12/02/e16-women-in-the-early-iww/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1689370394581437/?type=3