Ross Winn

Ross Winn
Ross Winn
	Mt. Juliet, Tennessee

Ross Winn (August 25, 1871 – August 8, 1912) was an American

anarchist writer and publisher from Texas who was mostly active within the Southern United States

.

Biography

Ross Winn was born in

Boston; and Emma Goldman's Mother Earth.^[3]

Sometime in 1894, Winn began his first paper, known as Co-operative Commonwealth. He then edited and published Coming Era for a brief time in 1898 and then Winn's Freelance in 1899. Later in 1899, Winn took over publication of Free Society and discontinued Coming Era and Winn's Freelance.

Mt. Juliet), as an independent publication, the flag of revolutionary thought is planted on Southern soil, and a residence of a lifetime in this section convinces me that it will be a fruitful field for libertarian ideas, if the right methods are used to present them."^[3] Winn and his future wife Augusta "Gussie" Smith moved into her family home in Mt. Juliet, the Warner Price Mumford Smith House.^[3]

In 1899, Winn married Augusta Smith,

Joseph Labadie, a prominent writer and organizer in Michigan, was another friend to Winn, and contributed several pieces to Winn's Firebrand in its later years.^[3]

Sometime in 1909, Ross Winn contracted tuberculosis (then known as "consumption"), but continued his work on Firebrand despite his failing health. In 1910, he moved briefly to Texas with his wife, Augusta (known as "Gussie"), in search of work. Unable to find work, and having gotten himself deeper into debt, Winn sold his printing setup and moved back to Mt. Juliet.^[3]

In July 1911, Gussie wrote a letter, in secret, to Emma Goldman asking for any possible financial assistance from their allies, knowing that her husband "would rather starve than to beg".^[7] Word was sent out around the country and, all told, some $60 was raised, quite a sum for a small family at that time. Rather than spending the money on himself or his family, however, Winn spent the majority of the money on a new printing setup and began what was to be his last paper, known as The Advance. On August 8, 1912, the degenerative infection of tuberculosis finally took Winn's life. He was still setting type on the August issue of The Advance the day before he died.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b 1880 U.S. Census. District 106, Denton County, Texas.
^ Winn, Ross (January 18, 1894). "Let Us Unite". Twentieth Century.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Slifer, Shaun and Ally Reeves (Summer 2004). "Ross Winn: Digging Up a Tennessee Anarchist". Fifth Estate, pp. 55-57.
^ Page, William D. (December 19, 1899). "News". The Fort Wayne News. p. 4.
^ Marriage License. Issued July 8, 1899. Wikimedia Commons.
^ Goldman, Emma (September 1912). "Obituary for Ross Winn". The Anarchist (27). Retrieved 2007-09-02.
^ Winn, Augusta. Letter to Emma Goldman. July 12, 1911. Emma Goldman Papers. Special Collections Library - Labadie Collection, University of Michigan.

External links

Works by or about Ross Winn at Internet Archive
A collection of writings by Ross Winn
"Ross Winn in the Anarchist Universe" by Robert P. Helms
"Ross Winn: Digging Up a Tennessee Ananchist" by Nutmeg Brown and Ally Greenhead
Ross Winn’s Obituary by Emma Goldman
Ross Winn, "Let Us Unite," Twentieth Century (January 18, 1894).
Ross Winn, "Radical Reflections," Free Society IX.3 (January 19, 1902). 1-2.
Celia B. Whitehead and Ross Winn, "How Will a Free Society Come, and How Will It Operate?", Free Society IX.6 (February 9, 1902). 5.
Ross Winn, "Anarchism Exploded", Free Society IX.7 (February 16, 1902), p. 3.

[census-1] 1880 U.S. Census. District 106, Denton County, Texas.

[2] Winn, Ross (January 18, 1894). "Let Us Unite". Twentieth Century.

[digging-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Slifer, Shaun and Ally Reeves (Summer 2004). "Ross Winn: Digging Up a Tennessee Anarchist". Fifth Estate, pp. 55-57.

[4] Page, William D. (December 19, 1899). "News". The Fort Wayne News. p. 4.

[5] Marriage License. Issued July 8, 1899. Wikimedia Commons.

[6] Goldman, Emma (September 1912). "Obituary for Ross Winn". The Anarchist (27). Retrieved 2007-09-02.

[7] Winn, Augusta. Letter to Emma Goldman. July 12, 1911. Emma Goldman Papers. Special Collections Library - Labadie Collection, University of Michigan.

[3]

[7]