Luella Twining (November 14, 1871 - December 22, 1939) was a journalist, labor organizer and Socialist politician. Twining presided over the ratification meeting during the first convention of the Industrial Workers of the World, representing the American Federal Union. At this convention she was a major advocate of a May 1st "labor day" holiday for workers, stating "We do not want a capitalist Labor Day. Let us have a labor day of our own. Let us have an international labor day, the first day of May."
Twining was known as "The Joan of Arc of the working class" in the early part of the 20th century, a title she shared with Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. Twining organized 18,000 women during a general strike in Philadelphia.
She was on the payroll of the Western Federation of Miners in 1907-1908 as a solicitor of the defense and frequently would speak on labor topics as their representative. She toured the country with Bill Haywood, as his manager, in 1908. She was also a sought-after public speaker on topics such as class conflict and improvement of labor conditions for women. She wrote for many labor and socialist papers including writing about the Cherry Mine Disaster and other topics for the Appeal to Reason newspaper.
Political activities
In 1906 she ran for the U.S. Congress from Colorado, as a Socialist. In 1910 she was a delegate to the International Socialist Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was elected to the Women's National Committee of the Socialist party in 1912. She ran for election in California's 6th congressional district in 1916 and 1918 as a Socialist.
In 1921 she was living in Berkeley, California and rented a room to the scholar Alfred Korzybski. By 1930 she was living in Santa Monica, California, where she would live the rest of her life. Her census profile describes her as a writer of books.
Personal life
Twining was born in 1871 in Washington, Iowa to Edward and Florence Conger Twining. She died in Santa Monica, California of cancer in 1939.
References
- Brundage, D.T. (1994). The Making of Western Labor Radicalism: Denver's Organized Workers, 1878-1905. Working class in American history. University of Illinois Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-252-02075-9. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ^ Industrial Workers of the World (1905). Proceedings of The annual Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World. p. 567. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ^ "National Socialist Lyceum Course: Luella Twining". The Commonwealth. No. 116. Everett, Washington. March 21, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- "Elizabeth Gurley Flynn". The Northwest Worker. Everett, Washington. January 18, 1917. p. 2. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- Oregon, University of; Library, Knight (1913-03-22). "Malheur enterprise. (Vale, Or.) 1909-current, March 22, 1913, Image 3". Historic Oregon Newspapers. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- Twining, Luella (October 12, 1907). "The Eastern Conferences: Progress of the Defence Work Among Unions of the East". Appeal to Reason. Girard, KS. p. 2. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- "Official Proceedings : Western Federation of Miners, Convention, Western Federation of Miners". Internet Archive. 1908. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- Haywood, W.D. (2018). Bill Haywood's Book: The Autobiography of William D. Haywood. Papamoa Press. p. 429. ISBN 978-1-78912-409-5. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- Twining, Luella (November 27, 1909). "Miners Murdered". Appeal to Reason. Girard, Kansas. p. 5. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- "Herald Democrat November 5, 1906". Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- "Luella Twining". Her Hat Was In The Ring. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- Kaneko, J.C. (1912). The Progressive Woman. Vol. 6. p. 38. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- "11-05-1918 Election". JoinCalifornia. 1918-11-05. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- "Chapter 22 - "Just Work, Work, Work": Part 3 - Down and Out". Korzybski Files: Chapter 22. 2014-09-30. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- "1930 Census, California, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, ED 1492". FamilySearch. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- "Luella Twining Death Certificate". FamilySearch. Retrieved 9 January 2020.