Michael Helquist - Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions

Michael Helquist has written a marvelous biography of Marie Equi. With meticulous archival research and access to oral histories, he has told the story of this generous, passionate, and complicated woman in a respectful and dignified way that Dr. Equi herself would undoubtedly have appreciated. She contributed to the well-being of so many as a doctor, a supporter of workers especially those in the IWW, an advocate of woman suffrage, and an opponent of World War I, for which she paid dearly when she was incarcerated at San Quentin. She was an out lesbian at a time when few were. In this well-written, accessible biography of so extraordinary a personage Helquist has made a splendid contribution to both feminist and lesbian history.

Bettina Aptheker, Professor, Feminist Studies Department, University of California, Santa Cruz

Michael Helquists compelling biography of lesbian activist Marie Equi, MD, creates an indisputable place in our collective history for this fearless advocate for workers, women, reproductive rights, and civil liberties, a political individualist jailed at the close of the First World War for challenging limits to free speech and powerful negative cultural views about same-sex relationships. Helquist navigates the personal and political aspects of Equis life and career to present her distinctive story. A must read for those who wish to understand more about womens history, LGBTQ studies, the history of medicine, radical history, and Oregon and Pacific Northwest history.

Kimberly Jensen, Professor of History & Gender Studies, Western Oregon University

Marie Equi, stormy petrel of the Pacific Northwest, has found her harbor in Helquists richly detailed and enthralling book. He vividly narrates how, a century ago, this passionate, keen, and caring woman dared to live openly as a lesbian and to fight fiercely for social justice, as a physician, suffragist, abortionist, Wobbly, anti-imperialist, and self-named Queen of the Bolsheviksenjoy!

Nancy Krieger, Professor of Social Epidemiology, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health

Marie Equi has long intrigued students of radicalism. A defender of womens and workers rights, an opponent of the First World War, a committed medical professional who provided her patients with treatments that included abortion, Equi emerges in this well-researched biography as a generous, strong-willed, and committed individual who enjoyed professional success, but openly flouted bourgeois conventions in her politics and her personal life, which was characterized by a series of same-sex relationships. In putting together her fascinating life and placing it in historical context, Michael Helquist has done great service to those interested in Progressive Era radicalism in Portland.

Larry Lipin, Professor, US History, Pacific University

The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources and the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48-1984.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Helquist, Michael, 1949, author.
Marie Equi : radical politics and outlaw passions / Michael Helquist.

p. ; cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87071-595-2 (original trade pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-87071-815-1 (e-book)
I. Title.

[DNLM: 1. Equi, Marie, 1872-1952. 2. Physicians, WomenOregonBiography. 3. FeminismhistoryOregon. 4. History, 19th CenturyOregon. 5. History, 20th CenturyOregon. 6. Homosexuality, FemaleOregonBiography. 7. PoliticsOregonBiography. WZ 100]
610.92dc23
[B]

2015021431

2015 Michael J. Helquist
All rights reserved. First published in 2015 by Oregon State University Press
Printed in the United States of America

Oregon State University Press
121 The Valley Library
Corvallis OR 97331-4501
541-737-3166 fax 541-737-3170
www.osupress.oregonstate.edu

To Dale, with awe and appreciation