Meridel Le Sueur
Meridel Le Sueur (1900 - 1996) of Minnesota. She was the mother of Rachel Tilsen and grandmother of David Tilsen and Mark Tilsen.
Radical family
Marian Le Sueur, a wife who was not allowed to read or get a library card, open a bank account, or be the free person she wanted to be. She wrapped up her three children and fled her husband, leaving San Antonio, Texas, in the dark of night, to her mother’s home in Oklahoma.
Marian then became involved in Chautauqua circles, met renowned socialists Eugene Debs and Helen Keller, and became a great orator. She met Arthur Le Sueur the socialist lawyer, and the two of them, along with Eugene Debs, opened the People's College. Marian was committed to literacy for working people. Eventually the college was closed down because of its opposition to World War I. It was burned to the ground and people were tarred and feathered.
Arthur and Marian moved their family to Minot, North Dakota, and Arthur became the Socialist Party USA Mayor of Minot. One year he ran for Vice President with Eugene Debs. Eventually Marian and Arthur became early activists of the Farmer Labor Party, whose commonwealth vision fit with their non-Marxist socialism.
They moved to Minneapolis in the 1920s. Arthur was on the Minneapolis School Board in 1934 and later was appointed Judge by Governor Elmer Benson. Marian was appointed to the Board of Education. When the Governor nominated her for Commissioner of Education, the Senate refused to confirm her because of her radicalism and her opposition to World War I.
Marian’s daughter Meridel, studied how to write and talk about people’s struggles. On and off during her lifetime, she was able to earn a living from her writing. She continued to write regardless, expressing the situation of working women and men. Her novel The Girl is one the top 20 American novels IMHO, up there with Moby Dick and Grapes of Wrath.[1]
Communist
According to Rebecca Pera, Etta Furlow was a member of the Communist Party USA's Bill Herron club in St. Paul, Minnesota until her passing. Comrades in the club and district have many fond memories of her. They recall how “Queen Mother” would frequently be seen with other comrades in our district—such as Rose, Meridel Le Sueur, and others, reading books and passing out party literature at the Paul Robeson Bookstore in Dinkytown, Minneapolis. In the Twin Cities club, "we are grateful to be able to stand on the shoulders of legends like Comrade Furlow, who help us continue the struggle".
Starting in her late teens, Meridel Le Sueur wrote for liberal newspapers about unemployment, migrant workers, and the Native American fight for autonomy. By 1925, she had become a member of the Communist Party USA.
She wrote many articles for the Daily Worker, LeSueur said. "Sometimes I was sent by the paper to cover a strike. I considered myself a prophetic, monstrous writer of the Depression," she said, laughing at the memory. "When the workers send for you, then you know you're really good. Sometimes they would send money to pay the bus fare."
In 1995 Tim Wheeler asked LeSueur if she is still in the Communist Party USA. Le Sueur fixed him with her dark, piercing, eyes. "Prone -- but still in," she replied.[2]
Herbert Aptheker Testimonial Dinner
On April 28, 1966 Meridel Le Sueur was a sponsor of the Herbert Aptheker Testimonial Dinner. The dinner was held on the occasion of Herbert Aptheker's 50th birthday, the publication of his 20th book, and the 2nd anniversary of the American Institute for Marxist Studies. It was held in the Sutton Ballroom, The New York Hilton, Avenue of the Americas, 53rd to 54th Street, New York City. Most speakers, organizers and sponsors were known members or supporters of the Communist Party USA.[3]
American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born
In the late 1960s Meridel LeSueur was listed as a Sponsor of American Committee for Protection of Foreign Born.[4]
CoC National Conference endorser
In 1992 Meridel LeSueur, author Hudson, Wisconsin, endorsed the Committees of Correspondence national conference Conference on Perspectives for Democracy and Socialism in the 90s held at Berkeley California July 17-19 [5]