The official mock-up of Marie Equi’s plaque for San Francisco’s Rainbow Honor Walk was unveiled last month during a presentation by author Michael Helquist (Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions). The rendering reveals Equi’s likeness, her signature, and a description of her efforts to achieve a more just society. In spring 2018 the 3’ by 3’ bronze plaque will be installed in the sidewalk along Market Street, San Francisco’s primary thoroughfare, as part of a tribute to deceased LGBTQ individuals worldwide who made significant contributions to their fields.
Equi will join a stellar group of nearly three dozen individuals who have already been recognized with plaques, ranging from activists Bayard Rustin, Harry Hay, and Jane Addams; artists Frida Kahlo and Keith Haring, authors Virginia Woolf, Yukio Mishima, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Tennessee Williams, and Federico Garcia Lorca; scientist Alan Turing, singer Sylvester James, and Jose Sarria, founder of the Imperial Court System. The Rainbow Honor Walk is an all-volunteer project based in San Francisco’s LGBTQ community. Begun in 2011, the organization funds production and placement of the bronze plaques through community outreach and private donations. (Each plaque costs about $5000). The City and County of San Francisco collaborates with planning and installation and the city’s art commission approved the design. Artist Carlos Casuso of Madrid, Spain was selected to design the plaques following an international design competition. The first 24 plaques were installed mostly along Castro Street in the city’s LGBTQ neighborhood, then organizers extended the route on either side of Market Street with the next batch of twenty-four plaques. In November 2017 Helquist and historian Paula Lichtenberg presented a talk at the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco that illustrated the shift in the general public’s attitudes toward same-sex intimate relationships from the late 1890s to the 1920s. Helquist referred to the Oregon public’s general acceptance of Marie Equi’s relationship with her companion Bessie Holcomb in the mid-1890s contrasted with the harsh disapproval she encountered during a public inheritance dispute involving her intimate companion in Portland in 1906. Although Marie Equi’s reputation extends far beyond the Pacific Northwest, she was not particularly well-known in San Francisco’s activist, women’s and LGBTQ communities. Her recent biography significantly changed that. For more information on Marie Equi see michaelhelquist.com and for the Rainbow Honor Walk (including bios of the first round of honorees) see rainbowhonorwalk.org, |
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Actor and author Jeffrey Tambor recently exalted the effect of authors reading their books out loud in a bookstore. “It’s theater,” he remarked in a New York Times interview. “Different venues – same goal – as E.M. Forster wrote, ‘Connect! …Only connect.’” The connection between author and readers can be powerful and transformative. I’ve presented my biography of the early woman physician and political radical Marie Equi for dozens of gatherings. Each time I feel that I’m performing with the words, phrases and rhythms that survived a steady stream of revisions. I get an extra charge from knowing I’m presenting the life of a remarkable but little-known woman. Audiences often allow me privileged access to their own inner lives – their appreciation for my protagonist or their disinterest, their sharing a laugh with the person next to them or their close following of the obstacles my character encountered. Sometimes I witness eyes widening, smiles broadening, and heads nodding with affirmation. Often the Q and A is the best part of an author event. This is a time when the connection between author and reader becomes more immediate, spontaneous, and personal. I can embellish my story-telling, and I gain insight into what intrigued listeners. I often wait for a question never before asked. At my most recent reading, an older woman inquired how I felt as a man writing the biography of a woman and why I was drawn to do so. In my response, I disclosed more about myself, how I identified with Marie Equi’s outsider status and her overcoming many obstacles. My connection with listeners and readers became more intimate and powerful. I look forward to more book readings with their draw of theater and performance and the chance to connect.
For the first time, these sedition arrests have been documented and compiled as part of my research into the WWI experience in Oregon. The data reflect published reports in the Oregonian newspaper, the state’s largest. The editors were diligent in reporting every seditious incident that came to public notice throughout the state.
More findings are posted on my website: http://www.michaelhelquist.com/wwi-sedition-project.html ----------------- Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions, Michael Helquist, Oregon State University Press. Available online and in bookstores. Paperback. Coming Soon: eBook edition. Note: Marie Equi was the only Oregon woman convicted of sedition. Mother Jones just published a lengthy profile of the most senior member of the Senate (and the second wealthiest), Dianne Feinstein. The article is titled, "The Lioness in Winter." (Feinstein is 83 years old or is the reference to OUR Winter of Discontent?) The piece is definitely timely what with the calls to "primary her" for a more progressive, more Trump-resisting replacement. The story is also provocative with details on the challenges in her personal life, but the third paragraph stopped me:
"I am old enough to remember what it was like before" Roe v. Wade, she said, recalling how, as a member of the California Women's Parole Board in the 1960s, she had sent women to prison for 10-year sentences for terminating pregnancies. "And they still went back to it because the need was so great." Granted the times were different, very different, but still. The interviewer did not record whether Feinstein expressed regrets now or debated whether to protest then. Feinstein's work on the CIA's torture methods might have changed the future of the country if the details from her Senate Intelligence Committee discoveries were ever fully revealed. The take-away question for me is what political and personal risks is she willing to take before she faces voters in 2018? More specifically, what can the resistance movement do to encourage,or demand, Senator Feinstein to be not just the most senior and 2nd-most wealthy but to be the most powerful member determined to rescue the nation from the existential threat of Trump and his cronies? Mother Jones just published a lengthy profile of the most senior member of the Senate (and the second wealthiest), Diane Feinstein. The article is titled, "The Lioness in Winter." (Feinstein is 83 years old or is the reference to OUR Winter of Discontent?) The piece is definitely timely what with the calls to "primary her" for a more progressive, more Trump-resisting replacement. The story is also provocative with details on the challenges in her personal life, but the third paragraph stopped me: "I am old enough to remember what it was like before" Roe v. Wade, she said, recalling how, as a member of the California Women's Parole Board in the 1960s, she had sent women to prison for 10-year sentences for terminating pregnancies. "And they still went back to it because the need was so great." Granted the times were different, very different, but still. The interviewer did not record whether Feinstein expressed regrets now or debated whether to protest then. Feinstein's work on the CIA's torture methods might have changed the future of the country if the details from her Senate Intelligence Committee discoveries were ever fully revealed. The take-away question for me is what political and personal risks is she willing to take before she faces voters in 2018? More specifically, what can the resistance movement do to encourage,or demand, Senator Feinstein to be not just the most senior and 2nd-most wealthy but to be the most powerful member determined to rescue the nation from the existential threat of Trump and his cronies? http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/04/dianne-feinstein-versus-donald-trump On June 3, 1916, Portland, Oregon observed National Preparedness Day with the largest parade in the city’s history. Fifteen thousand people marched along forty blocks downtown with their shoulders squared, heads held high, and spirits soaring. Hundreds carried banners with a one-word message – Prepare – while brass bands played martial airs and a dozen divisions marched in formation, group by profession and interest. A contingent of four hundred doctors and medical students, three hundred young men of the Athletic League, and five hundred suffragists – all stepped out for patriotism and readiness. It was a time of unit with the thrill of shared purpose and resolve. Equi was of a different mind. Earlier that day, she had motored around the city with an opposite message, daring for its difference. Then she steered her way in to the parade route and approached the jubilant, patriotic crowd. She had mounted an American flag at the front of her automobile, but strapped on the side was a white banner that warned,” Prepare to Die, Workingman – J.P. Morgan & Co. Want Preparedness for Profit – Thou Shalt Not Kill.” With brazen courage, she rolled into the march behind the Knights of Columbus and the local bar association, two contingents known for their preparedness fervor. Quick and fierce, the marchers attacked. According to Equi, the attorneys struck first, yanking the banner from her and striking her with it. A mob of 50 angry men surrounded and taunted her “I was scratched and bruised, and my hand bled,” she said. “They tore the banner to shreds and stomped on it.” At one point, a mob of fifty angry men surrounded and taunted her, yelling, “That’s what we do to your banner, now here’s ours.” The men thrust the American flag into her hands, daring her to rip it. Equi later admitted to tearing two strips from it saying, “Your flag is no protection to me.” She put up a fight until the police intervened and arrested her and two of the men. Excerpted from MARIE EQUI: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions, available at bookstores and online. For more info: michaelhelquist.com -------------- Author’s Note: What impresses and inspires me about this incident is Marie Equi’s courage and passion. Three years earlier police arrested her for protesting in a labor strike. At the station, the police brutally interrogated her. She knew she could not count of police to protect her in another street fight. She knew men might beat her up again. But she pushed her way into the parade, one dissenter among 15,000, because she believed strongly in the anti-war cause. From the blog of the Oregon State University Press: The centennial observance of the United States' joining World War I gets underway this month, and Michael Helquist, author of Marie Equi, will participate in the World War I Centennial Series, sponsored by the Oregon Historical Society. On April 19, Helquist will present his current research on how Oregon aggressively embraced the Espionage and Sedition Acts during the war years. His research presents for the first time a tally of Oregonians arrested for disloyalty and a description of their cases. "Dissent and World War I in the United States and Oregon" Wednesday, April 19, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oregon Historical Society 1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR This event is free and open to the public. See Helquist's website for more information on Dissent and Resistance and Marie Equi. On this night 100 years ago Americans knew global war was imminent and that it would change everything The specter of the European War had darkened everyday life in the United States for many months. Americans had marched in Preparedness Day extravaganzas a year earlier. A minority of dissenters had rallied to protest what they regarded as an imperialistic adventure of capitalists who were ready to carve out spheres of influence with the bodies of working-class soldiers and sailors. A coalition of peace organizations had struggled to halt the false notion of “preparedness,” believing war-readiness would demand engagement in the conflict. But war now seemed inexorable. The day before, April 4, 1917, the U.S. Senate ended twelve hours of debate to adopt a resolution that a state of war exists between the U.S. and Germany. The final vote was 82 to 6, with 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats opposing the measure. Crowds crammed into the Senate galleries, and US House members stood in the rear of the room witnessing the event. After the decision was announced, senators and spectators emptied the chambers in a somber silence. On April 5, 1917 the U.S. House of Representatives voted 373 to 50 in favor of the war resolution. Their debate continued for 17 hours, with a decision coming shortly after 3 am in the morning. The only woman serving in the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin of Montana, reluctantly voiced her opposition. She was quoted saying,” I want to stand by my country but I cannot vote for war.”
For the first time, a comprehensive list of Oregonians arrested for Sedition during the World War One era has been compiled. It will appear here at michaelhelquist.com in mid-April 2017.
My research into how Oregon aggressively embraced the federal Espionage and Sedition Acts documents the individuals who were charged, their alleged offenses, and the outcome of their prosecutions. Who were the two physicians arrested for sedition and why? How many women were arrested and who was the one woman convicted? You might expect political radicals to be under suspicion but the postmaster of the small town of Ten-Mile in Oregon? Was the University of Oregon in Eugene a hotbed of dissension and resistance? On Wednesday, April 19, 2017 from 7pm – 8:30 pm I will present my research at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland. It’s free and open to the public. The program includes Michael Kazin, a professor of history at Georgetown University and award-winning author, will discuss his new book War Against War: The American Fight for Peace 1914-1918. More information at the OHS website I hope you can join us. Also check here for summaries of the OHS presentations. Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions, Michael Helquist, Oregon State University Press. How do you stay committed to the struggle when political assaults occur almost daily? Marie Equi kept up a steady stream of dissent and protests for seven years. During strikes, free speech fights, demands for women’s rights, and peace, she persisted and fought for justice. How did she manage to stay engaged maintaining a profession and a personal life?
“Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions” tells it all. Selected as a 2016 Stonewall Honor Book for Nonfiction by the American Library Association. Available at bookstores and online. I wrote the biography of Marie Equi because I was drawn to her passion for justice, her status as an outsider (she was working class and a lesbian), and her determination to live independently. If you’re new to her story, check out the book video and my website, www.MichaelHelquist.com. |
Michael HelquistAuthor Historian Activist Archives
October 2020
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