Lucy Robins Lang

==Biography==

==Biography==

Lang was born on March 30, 1884, in [[Kyiv]], Ukraine and grew up in [[Korostyshiv|Korostyshev]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Lang-Lucy-Fox-Robins|title=Lucy Fox Robins Lang|last=Shapiro|first=Linn|website=Jewish Women's Archive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802130721/https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Lang-Lucy-Fox-Robins|archive-date=2 August 2016|access-date=2019-03-08}}</ref> Lang's paternal grandfather was a [[rabbi]] in Kyiv and was known as [[Reb (Yiddish)|Reb]] Chiam the Hospitable.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29216728/the_gastonia_gazette/|title='Tomorrow is Beautiful' Stirring Story of Immigrant Girl's Life|last=Mark|first=Jerome|date=1950-08-19|work=The Gastonia Gazette|access-date=2019-03-06|pages=9|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Lang's father went to America ahead of the family.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/worldofourmother00wein_0|url-access=registration|title=The World of Our Mothers|last=Weinberg|first=Sydney Stahl|publisher=Schocken Books|year=1988|isbn=0805209670|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldofourmother00wein_0/page/57 57]}}</ref> The family moved to the [[United States]] when Lang was nine and they lived for a short time in the [[Lower East Side]] of [[New York City]] before settling in [[Chicago]].<ref name=":2" /> She began to work in a [[cigar]] factory, where she was a good enough worker to make $20 a week.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sbU4vZoWF60C&q=%22lucy+robins+lang%22&pg=PA111|title=The American Jewish Woman, 1654-1980|last=Marcus|first=Jacob Rader|publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc.|year=1981|isbn=9780870687518|location=New York|pages=111|language=en}}</ref> She also helped take care of her four younger siblings after work.<ref name=":2" /> Lang learned [[English language|English]] at [[night school]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djn.1949.12.31.001/17|title=Lucy Robin Lang's Autobiography Tells of Rise of Labor Movement|date=31 December 1949|work=The Detroit Jewish News|access-date=6 March 2019}}</ref> She was also invited to start attending an [[Anarchism|anarchist]] study group.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} Lang also attended programs at [[Hull House]] and [[Jane Addams]] was a big influence on her life.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} Addams even asked her to work as an assistant dance instructor for Hull House.<ref name=":2" />

Lang was born on March 30, 1884, in [[Kyiv]], Ukraine and grew up in [[Korostyshiv|Korostyshev]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Lang-Lucy-Fox-Robins|title=Lucy Fox Robins Lang|last=Shapiro|first=Linn|website=Jewish Women's Archive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160802130721/https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/Lang-Lucy-Fox-Robins|archive-date=2 August 2016|access-date=2019-03-08}}</ref> Lang's paternal grandfather was a [[rabbi]] in Kyiv and was known as [[Reb (Yiddish)|Reb]] Chiam the Hospitable.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29216728/the_gastonia_gazette/|title='Tomorrow is Beautiful' Stirring Story of Immigrant Girl's Life|last=Mark|first=Jerome|date=1950-08-19|work=The Gastonia Gazette|access-date=2019-03-06|pages=9|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Lang's father went to America ahead of the family.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/worldofourmother00wein_0|url-access=registration|title=The World of Our Mothers|last=Weinberg|first=Sydney Stahl|publisher=Schocken Books|year=1988|isbn=0805209670|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/worldofourmother00wein_0/page/57 57]}}</ref> The family moved to the [[United States]] when Lang was nine and they lived for a short time on the [[Lower East Side]] of [[New York City]] before settling in [[Chicago]]. She began to work in a [[cigar]] factory, where she was a good enough worker to make $20 a week.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sbU4vZoWF60C&q=%22lucy+robins+lang%22&pg=PA111|title=The American Jewish Woman, 1654-1980|last=Marcus|first=Jacob Rader|publisher=KTAV Publishing House, Inc.|year=1981|isbn=9780870687518|location=New York|pages=111|language=en}}</ref> She also helped take care of her four younger siblings after work. Lang learned [[English language|English]] at [[night school]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/djnews/djn.1949.12.31.001/17|title=Lucy Robin Lang's Autobiography Tells of Rise of Labor Movement|date=31 December 1949|work=The Detroit Jewish News|access-date=6 March 2019}}</ref> She was also invited to start attending an [[Anarchism|anarchist]] study group.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} Lang also attended programs at [[Hull House]] and [[Jane Addams]] was a big influence on her life.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} Addams even asked her to work as an assistant dance instructor for Hull House.<ref name=":2" />

When she was 16, she married Bob Robins and the couple set up their marriage as a "limited contract that either party could renew or break."{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} The couple moved to [[New York City]], partly because Lang's family strongly disapproved of the marriage.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} She and her husband met [[Emma Goldman]] in 1905 and both were involved in helping create the [[Free Speech League]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} The couple would also follow Goldman to California, where they lived in an anarchist [[Intentional community|commune]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=26}} They also opened a [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] restaurant.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29178817/the_cincinnati_enquirer/|title=Friendship Her Chief Asset to the Labor Movement|last=Green|first=Elizabeth R.|date=18 December 1948|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|access-date=8 March 2019|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Lang and her husband briefly separated, still viewing their marriage as a limited contract.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1363318|title=Trying Home: The Rise and Fall of an Anarchist Utopia on Puget Sound|last=Wadland|first=Justin|publisher=Oregon State University Press|year=2014|isbn=9780870717437|location=Corvallis|pages=66–67|language=en|url-access=subscription |via=Project MUSE}}</ref> The separation was considered "scandalous" and there was gossip printed about them in the newspapers in San Francisco.<ref name=":3" /> They stayed married for twenty years after their short separation.<ref name=":2" /> Lang also designed and used an "auto-house" which combined a portable [[printing press]] with a [[Mobile home|house trailer]].{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=173}} Lang and her husband would travel the United States using the auto-house and complete printing jobs wherever they stopped.{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=173}} Lang, who was "mechanically inclined," drove the vehicle, which they called the Adventurer.<ref name=":2" />

When she was 16, she married Bob Robins and the couple set up their marriage as a "limited contract that either party could renew or break."{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} The couple moved to [[New York City]], partly because Lang's family strongly disapproved of the marriage.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} She and her husband met [[Emma Goldman]] in 1905 and both were involved in helping create the [[Free Speech League]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=25}} The couple would also follow Goldman to California, where they lived in an anarchist [[Intentional community|commune]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=26}} They also opened a [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] restaurant.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29178817/the_cincinnati_enquirer/|title=Friendship Her Chief Asset to the Labor Movement|last=Green|first=Elizabeth R.|date=18 December 1948|work=The Cincinnati Enquirer|access-date=8 March 2019|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Lang and her husband briefly separated, still viewing their marriage as a limited contract.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/1363318|title=Trying Home: The Rise and Fall of an Anarchist Utopia on Puget Sound|last=Wadland|first=Justin|publisher=Oregon State University Press|year=2014|isbn=9780870717437|location=Corvallis|pages=66–67|language=en|url-access=subscription |via=Project MUSE}}</ref> The separation was considered "scandalous" and there was gossip printed about them in the newspapers in San Francisco.<ref name=":3" /> They stayed married for twenty years after their short separation.<ref name=":2" /> Lang also designed and used an "auto-house" which combined a portable [[printing press]] with a [[Mobile home|house trailer]].{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=173}} Lang and her husband would travel the United States using the auto-house and complete printing jobs wherever they stopped.{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=173}} Lang, who was "mechanically inclined," drove the vehicle, which they called the Adventurer.<ref name=":2" />

In 1916, Lang was involved in working on [[Thomas Mooney|Tom Mooney]]'s case to support his innocence.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=26}} She was very involved in his defense case and used her connections with the Chicago labor movement to build political clout to secure Mooney's freedom.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=26}} Lang and others created a labor defense committee to petition New York Governor [[Charles Seymour Whitman]] to stop the extradition of [[Alexander Berkman]].{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=225}} It was believed that Berkman would not get a fair trial if he was extradited to San Francisco.{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=225}} In the end, the efforts of Lang and more than 200 labor leaders who helped petition Whitman ensured that Berkman was not extradited.{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=230-231}}

In 1916, Lang was involved in working on [[Thomas Mooney|Tom Mooney]]'s case to support his innocence.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=26}} She was very involved in his defense case and used her connections with the Chicago labor movement to build political clout to secure Mooney's freedom.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=26}} Lang and others created a labor defense committee to petition New York Governor [[Charles Seymour Whitman]] to stop the extradition of [[Alexander Berkman]].{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=225}} It was believed that Berkman would not get a fair trial if he was extradited to San Francisco.{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=225}} In the end, the efforts of Lang and more than 200 labor leaders who helped petition Whitman ensured that Berkman was not extradited.{{Sfn|Gentry|1962|p=230-231}}

Goldman later asked Lang and another friend, [[Eleanor Fitzgerald]], to organize a campaign for [[Amnesty|general amnesty]] for those who were convicted under [[Wartime Emergency Laws]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=22}} Goldman herself was about to be imprisoned for a violation of the [[Selective Service Act of 1917]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=22}} Together, Lang and Fitzgerald founded the [[League for Amnesty for Political Prisoners]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=22}} Lang would eventually start working for amnesty for [[political prisoner]]s through the [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL).{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=23}} In 1919, Lang approached [[Samuel Gompers]] to encourage him to support amnesty.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=28}} During their work, she and Gompers became friends.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=41}} The first time the national convention of the AFL tried to pass an amnesty resolution, it failed.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} Lang asked a [[Socialism|socialist]] lawyer, [[Morris Hillquit]], to help her create a new resolution.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} By 1920, the AFL, through Lang's efforts, endorsed an amnesty resolution for political prisoners.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=27-28}} The AFL's endorsement was a "major lift" for the amnesty movement.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kosek|first=Joseph Kip|date=2009-03-06|title=Prisoner of War |journal=Reviews in American History|language=en|volume=37|issue=1|pages=81–82|doi=10.1353/rah.0.0071|s2cid=143682665|issn=1080-6628}}</ref> Lang differentiated her amnesty campaigns from other contemporary ones, by calling hers "constructive" as opposed to the others, which she considered "radical."{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} She also believed that other campaigns for amnesty existed more to raise money than to provide actual aid.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} Lang ensured that her campaigns were funded by unions, not individual laborers.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} Lang worked as a [[Mediation|mediator]] between the labor unions and [[Washington, D.C.]], officials.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=30}} Her position at AFL was executive secretary of the amnesty committee.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29171054/abilene_daily_chronicle/|title=Free Disloyalists|date=9 October 1920|work=The Abilene Daily Chronicle|access-date=8 March 2019|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1921, Lang focused her energy on amnesty for [[Eugene V. Debs|Eugene Debs]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=37}}

Goldman later asked Lang and another friend, [[Eleanor Fitzgerald]], to organize a campaign for [[Amnesty|general amnesty]] for those who were convicted under [[Wartime Emergency Laws]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=22}} Goldman herself was about to be imprisoned for a violation of the [[Selective Service Act of 1917]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=22}} Together, Lang and Fitzgerald founded the [[League for Amnesty for Political Prisoners]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=22}} Lang would eventually start working for amnesty for [[political prisoner]]s through the [[American Federation of Labor]] (AFL).{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=23}} In 1919, Lang approached [[Samuel Gompers]] to encourage him to support amnesty.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=28}} During their work, she and Gompers became friends.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=41}} The first time the national convention of the AFL tried to pass an amnesty resolution, it failed.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} Lang asked a [[Socialism|socialist]] lawyer, [[Morris Hillquit]], to help her create a new resolution.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} By 1920, the AFL, through Lang's efforts, endorsed an amnesty resolution for political prisoners.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=27-28}} The AFL's endorsement was a "major lift" for the amnesty movement.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kosek|first=Joseph Kip|date=2009-03-06|title=Prisoner of War |journal=Reviews in American History|language=en|volume=37|issue=1|pages=81–82|doi=10.1353/rah.0.0071|s2cid=143682665|issn=1080-6628}}</ref> Lang differentiated her amnesty campaigns from other contemporary ones, by calling hers "constructive" as opposed to the others, which she considered "radical."{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} She also believed that other campaigns for amnesty existed more to raise money than to provide actual aid.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} Lang ensured that her campaigns were funded by unions, not individual laborers.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=29}} Lang worked as a [[Mediation|mediator]] between the labor unions and [[Washington, D.C.]], officials.{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=30}} Her position at AFL was executive secretary of the amnesty committee.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29171054/abilene_daily_chronicle/|title=Free Disloyalists|date=9 October 1920|work=The Abilene Daily Chronicle|access-date=8 March 2019|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1921, Lang focused her energy on amnesty for [[Eugene V. Debs|Eugene Debs]].{{Sfn|Kennedy|2000|p=37}}

Lang and her husband began to have differences over her work for AFL and split up in the mid-1920s.<ref name=":2" /> On behalf of the AFL, Lang investigated working conditions for laborers in the South.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/womenamericantra00kenn|url-access=registration|title=Women and American Trade Unions|last=Keanneally|first=James J.|publisher=Eden Press Women's Publications|year=1981|isbn=0920792103|location=Montreal|pages=[https://archive.org/details/womenamericantra00kenn/page/141 141]–142}}</ref> She was also involved in helping during the 1927 Mine Workers Strike.<ref name=":0" /> Lang married [[Harry Lang (activist)|Harry Lang]], who was editor of the ''[[The Forward|Jewish Daily Forward]]''.<ref name=":2" /> The couple visited [[Europe]], the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Middle East]] all between 1928 and 1937.<ref name=":2" /> Lang became interested in Zionism and became the head of a group which raised funds to establish [[Kfar Blum]], a [[kibbutz]] where [[Germany|German]] and [[Austrians|Austrian]] refugees could safely emigrate.<ref name=":2" />

Lang and her husband began to have differences over her work for AFL and split up in the mid-1920s.<ref name=":2" /> On behalf of the AFL, Lang investigated working conditions for laborers in the South.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/womenamericantra00kenn|url-access=registration|title=Women and American Trade Unions|last=Keanneally|first=James J.|publisher=Eden Press Women's Publications|year=1981|isbn=0920792103|location=Montreal|pages=[https://archive.org/details/womenamericantra00kenn/page/141 141]–142}}</ref> She was also involved in helping during the 1927 Mine Workers Strike.<ref name=":0" /> Lang married [[Harry Lang (activist)|Harry Lang]], who was editor of the ''[[The Forward|Jewish Daily Forward]]''.<ref name=":2" /> The couple visited [[Europe]], the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Middle East]] all between 1928 and 1937.<ref name=":2" /> Lang became interested in Zionism and became the head of a group which raised funds to establish [[Kfar Blum]], a [[kibbutz]] where [[Germany|German]] and [[Austrians|Austrian]] refugees could safely emigrate.<ref name=":2" />

Lang and her husband settled for a while in [[Croton-on-Hudson, New York|Croton, New York]], in the mid-1940s, where Lang worked on her [[autobiography]].<ref name=":2" /> They moved to [[Los Angeles]] later on and eventually lived in [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=29170965#spot=29170965|title=Lucy Robins Lang, Early Chicago Labor Leader, Dies|date=27 January 1962|work=Palladium-Item|access-date=8 March 2019|page=7|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Lang died at Mt. Sinai hospital on January 25, 1962.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs. Lucy Robins Lang |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99648135/lucy-robins-lang-1884-1962/ |work=Daily News |date=January 27, 1962 |location=New York, NY |page=12 |accessdate=April 13, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Lang and her husband settled for a while in [[Croton-on-Hudson, New York|Croton, New York]], in the mid-1940s, where Lang worked on her [[autobiography]].<ref name=":2" /> They moved to [[Los Angeles]] later on and eventually lived in [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]].<ref name=":2" /> Lang died at Mt. Sinai hospital on January 25, 1962.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=27 January 1962 |title=Lucy Robins Lang, Early Chicago Labor Leader, Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/?spot=29170965#spot=29170965 |access-date=8 March 2019 |work=Palladium-Item |page=7 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mrs. Lucy Robins Lang |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/99648135/lucy-robins-lang-1884-1962/ |work=Daily News |date=January 27, 1962 |location=New York, NY |page=12 |accessdate=April 13, 2022 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==''Tomorrow is Beautiful''==

==''Tomorrow is Beautiful''==