Emma Goldman Speaks on Strindberg's Drama

On December 15, 1916, anarchist Emma Goldman delivered a lecture at the Recital Hall of Rochester's Fine Arts Building on two famous naturalistic dramas of playwright August Strindberg (1849–1912): The Father and Countess Julia.

The night before, Goldman had delivered another lecture at the same venue, “Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts and The Enemy of Society.”

Just before the December 15 lecture, Ben Reitman (an anarchist, physician, and one of Emma Goldman’s lovers) was arrested under the Comstock Laws for distributing illegal birth control literature. Despite anarchist protests, he was imprisoned for six months.