Martha Gruening

Overview

Martha Gruening born Englewood, NJ January 22, 1889 (d. 1937). Jewish-American human rights lawyer and writer. “Brick in a Soft Hat”; arrested 1910 observing shirtwaist strike; suffragist; opposed World War I; arrested in No Conscription campaign 1917; edited pacifist magazine The Dawn; secretary and riot investigator for NAACP.

Quotations

On the massacre of blacks in East St. Louis: “I have seen this democracy at close range, and I know what it means. That is why I want the world made unsafe for it.” (“Speaking of Democracy”, Mother Earth, Aug. 1917; photo Gomez.org)