Painting by May Stevens, inspired by a quote from Lucy Parsons, on a poster from the Images of Labor poster series.

“We are the slaves of slaves. We are exploited more ruthlessly than men.”

Lucy Parsons (1853 – 1942), a woman of color and a working-class revolutionary, was the wife of Albert Parsons, one of four anarchists executed in 1887 for inciting the Haymarket Riot.  Parsons wrote and lectured extensively in an effort not only to clear her husband’s name, but to spread the principles of socialism to American workers.

One of two women invited to speak at the founding convention of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905, Parsons urged the fledgling organization to concentrate its efforts on organizing women workers, particularly those employed in the textile industry.

Images from the Images of Labor Collection, Bread and Roses, artist May Stevens.