Lucy E. Parsons

Letter to Eugene Victor Debs

March 12, 1926

Eugene Victor Debs, James Robert Constantine (editor): Letters of Eugene V. Debs, Volume 3, 1919–1926. (University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois, 1990)

March 12, 1926

Grand Old Rebel! I am writing you these few lines to express my admiration and appreciation of the grand stand that you have taken, regarding your restoration to citizenship. Why should you ask for that which you, in justice and fairness, have never forfeited? It is [thanks] to such characters as you that reaction is halted and this stupid old world moves on a little, until the time for change is reached.

I am sending you a copy of the Life of my late husband, Albert R. Parsons, also a copy of the Famous Speeches. You will observe in reading his Life that he too refused to ask for a “pardon,” stating that he would not ask for pardon for that which he had not forfeited—his life. If you mention these books in the Appeal, Life of Parsons is $3.25; Speeches, $1.25.

Hoping that your useful life may be spared for many years, I am

Sincerely yours,

Lucy E. Parsons