Almeda Sperry was a prostitute and anarchist writer and organizer in the early 20th century. She was a good friend of Emma Goldman. Some speculate that they were lovers. Sperry certainly wrote tormented, romantic letters to Goldman, some of which are reproduced in Gay American History, which I bought a used copy of once upon a time just because it had a short chapter on the relationship between these two women.
The thing is, I don’t care that much about the “did they or didn’t they?” angle. I’m up for some historic queer anarchist soap opera action as much as the next activist, but I’m way less interested in Almeda Sperry’s crush on Emma Goldman than I am in her work. I’m interested in her as a radical figure in ho history. Sadly, whenever I have tried to research her, all I find is stuff about her possibly romantic relationship with Goldman, analysis of that. No reproductions of her writings, no chronicles of her activism or organizing efforts. It seems like her titillating connection to Goldman is the only reason why history remembers her. It seems to be just the queer and anarchist history buffs who discuss her at all, and even they are all up on the drama angle and I find that really…depressing.
I had this idea that I could write a post about Almeda Sperry, maybe introduce those of you who aren’t familiar to someone who I think is an interesting historical figure. At least one I’m interested in. The sad thing is, I really don’t have much to share with you unless I’m gonna get into dissecting her love letters.
Here’s what I know about Almeda Sperry:
-She was born on July 13, 1879 in New Kensignton, PA
-When she was young her parents physically abused her, often in connection with trying to force her to attend church. This contributed to her dislike and distrust of organized religion.
-She began working as a prostitute at the age of 21 and continued to do so off and on for more than a decade. She did not seem to feel very positively about her work or the men who patronized her.
-She worked to establish a socialist reading room in her town, have streets paved, and bring sex education lecturers to local schools. She was also supposedly involved in union organizing, but I don’t know the specifics. By 1912 she identified politically with anarchism.
And that’s about it. All that comes from New Gay America, but if memory serves me there isn’t much more in any of the books I used to have by or about Emma Goldman that mention her. I can’t check right now cuz my Emma Goldman collection was largely lost during a bed bug infestation a couple years ago. Memories.
Anyway.
I can’t be the only person who became intrigued when I came across Sperry in my reading about early 20th century anarchism and radical politics. I wish she was written about as a part of a movement rather than as a love interest. And if some of you are like, “pshaw, there’s this great biographical sketch in _____” Or “silly rabbit, why have you not checked [blankety-blank blank]” please do share!
Her letters are out there somewhere. Surely someone who wants to get a PhD in History/Queer/Gender Studies could write something. . . right?
Thanks for posting this!
Ugh.
I know nothing, but now my interest is piqued as well.
Thanks for posting this. I’ll be portraying Almeda Sperry from Howard Zinn’s Emma in a local production. I’ve been trying to research her to get into character however, as you’ve mentioned, it’s very hard to find info on her.
Thanks again!!
As jake says, this sounds like a perfect subject for a History/Gender Studies PhD. I’m guessing that an activist involved in road-paving, reading room building and such, not to mention identifying as an anarchist, would probably have had some kind of exposure in at least the local press, so if there are archives kept somewhere then that would be a line for a researcher to follow. But I’m also guessing that that would involve physically going there and looking either at the original printed version, or a microfiche, in order to uncover those stories.
Did you just give me a possible topic for my next project? I am totally intrigued. Beginning of the semester right now, so I’m swamped, but I can start looking into finding info about her later this year, ok? You can e-mail me, if you’d like!
And here I am acting like I’m Howard Zinn or somebody. Sorry, Constintina; I’m elle and I’m a historian who specializes in women’s, labor, and African American history.
e:
Break a leg (is it too early for that?) in Emma! That’s awesome, and good luck with researching the part! Hopefully someday it will be easier for people in that role to get a better sense of the person behind it.
elle:
That’s awesome! I will drop you an email…I’ve had the thought of wanting to do the legwork myself, but being out of school and in no way connected to academia (or being in a position to do much traveling), the whole thing feels daunting to the point of impossible, or at least another project to put off for that magical point in the future when I’m more economically flexible. Or something. Point being, if you want to pursue this, do it! Someone should! You’d be doing a great service, at least for me!
Since I’m a history prof., I’ll ask the same question I ask my students — where have you looked? A quick search of Google Scholar brings up a bunch of scholarly books and articles, including Lillian Faderman’s book, Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers.
It could very well be that no one has tackled this particular topic. Also, there’s a tendency in scholarship on sex workers to see them as victims rather than as historical agents in their own right.
@Knitting Clio:
I’ve used The Google and actual, physical libraries, albeit only sporadically over the years. I’ve found references to Sperry in a lot of places, but again, it’s always the same limited amount of historical information recycled. The variety is all in how Sperry is plugged into someone’s thesis. I haven’t done an extensive search in awhile though, so I suppose there could be something new under the sun, despite my most recently, cursory googling indicating otherwise.
It could very well be that no one has tackled this particular topic.
Yes, it appears that way, with the exception of Sperry’s correspondence with Goldman insofar as it illuminates their relationship (or doesn’t.)
Also, there’s a tendency in scholarship on sex workers to see them as victims rather than as historical agents in their own right.
Yup.
Here’s what I wrote when I linked to this post on facebook:
Love it when social worlds collide–my brilliant ex Melissa brought my attention to this excellent post on Emma Goldman’s ho friend/possible lover and the lack of any documentation of her life by my (equally brilliant) good internet acquaintance… Constantina.&yeah, there is quite a dearth of ho history. We can talk about Ms Goldman’s one legendary act of solicitation, but that always seems like a story of sacrifice…..we can stutter about how courtesans funded 18th century salons with their earnings, etc. But beyond that, really, where is our history? Even the famous in our ranks have their membership in our profession obscured. The fact that Joan Crawford, Rudolph Valentino & Marilyn Munroe all made their living through commercial sex at one point is seen as at one point is seen as a testament to their sluttiness, not to their pluck, if it’s brought up at all. We need to start keeping records of our accomplishments as out, active sex workers now so this doesn’t happen in the next generation.