Ben Reitman
Encyclopedia
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
and physician to the poor ("the hobo doctor"). He is best remembered today as radical Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
's lover.
Reitman was a flamboyant, eccentric character. Goldman conveys a sense of this when she describes first meeting Reitman in her autobiography, Living My Life
Living My Life
Living My Life is the 993-page autobiography of Lithuanian-born anarchist Emma Goldman, published in two volumes in 1931 and 1934 . Goldman wrote it in Saint-Tropez, France, following her disillusionment with the Bolshevik role in the Russian revolution...
:
He arrived in the afternoon, an exotic, picturesque figure with a large black cowboy hat, flowing silk tie, and huge cane. "So this is the little lady, Emma Goldman," he greeted me; "I have always wanted to know you." His voice was deep, soft, and ingratiating. I replied that I also wanted to meet the curiosity who believed enough in free speech to help Emma Goldman. My visitor was a tall man with a finely shaped head, covered with a mass of black curly hair, which evidently had not been washed for some time. His eyes were brown, large, and dreamy. His lips, disclosing beautiful teeth when he smiled, were full and passionate. He looked a handsome brute. His hands, narrow and white, exerted a peculiar fascination. His finger-nails, like his hair, seemed to be on strike against soap and brush. I could not take my eyes off his hands. A strange charm seemed to emanate from them, caressing and stirring...
Biography
Reitman was born in St. Paul, Minnesota to poor Russian Jewish immigrants in 1879, but grew up in Chicago. At the age of ten, he became a hoboHobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
, but returned to Chicago and worked in the Polyclinic Laboratory as a "laboratory boy". In 1900, he entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Chicago, completing his medical studies in 1904. During this time he was briefly married; he and his wife had a daughter together.
He worked as a physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
in Chicago, choosing to offer services to hobos, prostitutes, the poor, and other outcasts of capitalist society. Notably, he performed abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s, which were illegal at the time.
Reitman met Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
in 1908, and the two began a passionate love affair, which Goldman described as the "Great Grand Passion" of her life. The two traveled together for almost eight years, working for the cause of birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
, free speech, worker's rights, and anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
.
During this time, the couple became involved in the San Diego Free Speech Fight
San Diego Free Speech Fight
The San Diego Free Speech Fight in San Diego, California in 1912–1913 was one of the most famous of the "free speech fights", class conflicts over the free speech rights of labor unions.-Introduction:...
in 1912-13. Reitman was kidnapped by a reactionary mob, severely beaten, tarred and feathered, branded with "I.W.W.," and his rectum and testicles were abused. Several years later, the couple were arrested in 1916 under the Comstock laws for advocating birth control, and Reitman served six months in prison.
Both believed in free love
Free love
The term free love has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery...
, but Reitman's practice incited feelings of jealousy in Goldman. He remarried when one of his lovers became pregnant, and Reitman and his wife's son was born while he was in prison. Goldman and Reitman ended their relationship in 1917, after Reitman was released from prison.
Reitman returned to Chicago, ultimately working with the City of Chicago, establishing the Chicago Society for the Prevention of Venereal Disease in the 1930s. His second wife died in 1930, and Reitman married a third time, to Rose Siegal. Reitman later became seriously involved with Medina Oliver, and the couple had four daughters — Mecca, Medina, Victoria, and Olive.
Reitman died in Chicago of a heart attack at the age of sixty-three. He was buried at the Waldheim Cemetery
German Waldheim Cemetery
German Waldheim Cemetery, also known as Waldheim Cemetery, was a cemetery in Forest Park, a suburb of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. It was originally founded in 1873 as a non-religion specific cemetery, where Freemasons, Roma, and German-speaking immigrants to Chicago could be buried without...
(now Forest Home Cemetery), in Forest Park
Forest Park, Illinois
Forest Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago in the United States. The population was 15,688 at the 2000 census...
, Chicago.
See also
- Birth control movement in the United StatesBirth control movement in the United StatesThe birth control movement in the United States was a social reform campaign to make contraception legal in America. The movement began in 1914 when a group of radicals in New York City, led by Emma Goldman, Mary Dennett, and Margaret Sanger, became concerned about the plight of poor women, who...
- Boxcar BettyBoxcar BettyBoxcar Betty was a fictional hobo and IWW organizer in the early 20th century, popularized by a Great Depression-era book by Ben Reitman. The IWW were among the first to organize itinerant workers, and some of their most dedicated organizers were homeless themselves...
External links
- The More Things Stay the Same [Documentary on Ben Reitman]
- PBS American Experience
- Emma Goldman Ephéméride Anarchiste
- Anarchist Encyclopedia cited
- Ben Lewis Reitman Papers, University of Illinois at Chicago (letters and papers from 1907 to 1989)