More Dangerous than a Thousand Rioters: Lucy Parsons, the Lost Voice of An American
This study examines the historical and current portrayal of Lucy Parsons, a Mexican, Native, and African-American labor rights activist of the late 19th and early 20th century. Lucy Parsons is often represented exclusively as the wife of Albert Parsons who was found guilty and executed because of the events in the Haymarket riots of 1886, despite the lack of credible evidence connecting him with the bombing. In 2004, the Chicago Park District proposed to name a park after Lucy Parsons in an effort to recognize her achievements as a women’s, labor and minority activist. The nomination stirred protests by the Fraternal Order of Police No.7, which objected to Parsons’ election on the grounds of her marital ties to Albert Parsons. This research explores the long-lasting repercussions of the Haymarket Affair and its relation to the historical misrepresentations of Lucy Parsons’ accomplishments as a person of interest for Mexican, Native, and African American scholars. This study identifies how the Haymarket Affair of 1886, has had long lasting repercussions that go beyond Parsons’ death by surveying the inherent tensions between primary and secondary sources of information regarding Parsons’ persona. In essence, this research proves that Lucy Parsons’ memory has continued to be misrepresented and contradicted.