The DaD series on handwriting continues with a big brassy love letter from anarchist firebrand Emma Goldman to her longtime lover, the physician Ben Reitman, the “Hobo Doctor” known for treating venereal diseases among the poor in the early decades of the 20th century.
Written August 15, 1909, the letter is archived in the Reitman papers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. This image of it comes from an online exhibit about Goldman at Berkeley.
Three years after receiving this letter, Reitman would be beaten, tarred and feathered for his support of worker’s rights and freedom of speech, and he would face charges along with Goldman under the infamous Comstock Laws for his support of contraceptives. Goldman and Reitman split in 1917, as their “free love” policy became strained. Three years later, after decades of outspoken agitation, Goldman would be deported from the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Greater Americans than their accusers, today both Goldman and Reitman are buried – separately – in Waldheim Cemetery here in Chicago, where you’ll also find the graves of the men executed for Haymarket.
Happy Independence Day.
