Evelyn Reed

Evelyn Reed (31 October 1905 – 22 March 1979) was an American Marxist, Trotskyist, and women's rights activist.

Born and raised in Haledon, New Jersey along with her two sisters, Reed left for New York City while she was still a teenager, and engaged in her first overtly political act in 1934 when participating in a demonstration at Rockefeller Center against the destruction of revolutionary murals created by the renowned Mexican artist, Diego Rivera. After a brief marriage to an aspiring writer named Osborn Andreas, during which time Reed lived in Clinton, Iowa for three years with her husband before returning to New York City, a 34-year-old Reed traveled to Mexico several times from December 1939 to October 1940 to spend time with the exiled Russian Revolutionary Leon Trotsky and his wife Natalia Sedova. Reed also stayed with Natalia to give her support after Trotsky was assassinated in August 1940.

It was in January 1940 at Trotsky's house, on the Avenida Viena in Coyoacán, where Reed had also met the American Trotskyist leader James P. Cannon, who was the leader of the Socialist Workers Party. Reed then joined the Socialist Workers Party at Trotsky's urging. Reed discussed with Trotsky her personal plans, her place in the party, and her conflict with her sister who still supported her financially. Reed remained a leading party member for over 39 years, right up until her death.

As an active participant in second-wave feminism and the women's liberation movement throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Reed was a founding member of the Women's National Abortion Action Coalition in 1971. During these years, she spoke and debated on women's rights in cities throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland, the United Kingdom and France.

Inspired by the works on women and the family by Friedrich Engels and Alexandra Kollontai, Reed is the author of many books on Marxist feminism and the origin of the oppression of women and the fight for their emancipation. Some of the most notable works by Reed are: ''Problems of Women's Liberation'', ''Woman's Evolution: From Matriarchal Clan to Patriarchal Family'', ''Is Biology Woman's Destiny?'', and ''Cosmetics, Fashions, and the Exploitation of Women'' (with Joseph Hansen and Mary-Alice Waters).

She was nominated as a candidate for President of the United States for the Socialist Workers Party in the 1972 United States presidential election. On the ballot in only three states (Indiana, New York, and Wisconsin), Reed received a total of 13,878 votes. The main Socialist Workers Party presidential candidate in 1972 was Linda Jenness, who received 52,801 votes.

Reed died in New York City on March 22, 1979, aged 73. Provided by Wikipedia