BROWN, George.

HELMS, Robert P. George Brown, The Cobbler Anarchist of Philadelphia

États-Unis. 19e siècle* bibliographiePhiladelphia (USA) BROWN, George

Kate Sharpley Library (Anarchist library series, number 17), 2006. 60 p. pamphlet, illustrated.
ISBN-13: 9781873605349; ISBN-10: 187360534X
Leafing through newscuttings, letters and memoirs Helms
has restored Brown’s life and activism to view. But this
biograpy does more than restore the name of one militant.
Never a ‘leading light’, Brown’s story highlights the
activities of the grassroots anarchists of Philadelphia (like
Brown and his partner and comrade Mary Hansen); the
views and divisions of anarchists on sexual liberation at the
turn of the twentieth century and fractious debates within
the Arden Single-Tax colony.

‘The closer we examine this particular anarchist, the more he is his own unique self, the more fiercely determined he remains. He was somewhat wily, could be a bit pig-headed, but never for a selfish reason, never in a way that indicated even the slightest corruption. As yet another traveling anarchist noted in 1900, George’s “whole soul is in the cause. He is a most genial companion, with a warm, human heart, but rigidly uncompromising in his devotion to anarchist principles.”*’ *James F. Morton Jr. “Across the Continent III”Free Society, April 8, 1900 Robert P. Helms is a writer, historian & editor of the ‘deadanarchists.org’ website, an excellent collection of anarchist history, (mainly related to Philadelphia.)