Lucy Ella Gonzales Parsons (1853- 1942) is nationally important for her role in labor reform and the efforts for women’s rights. Born of a mixed Native American, African American, and possibly Hispanic heritage, she married Albert Parsons, a labor organizer who became one of the martyrs who was executed after the Haymarket Riot. In 1878, Lucy Parsons helped organize the Working Women’s Union No. 1 (WWU), then the only women workers unions in Chicago. She was a prolific writer on issues related to socialism and labor reform, writing for publications such as the Socialist . She also wrote about race relations in an article that appeared in Freedom . After her husband’s death, she published Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Scientific Basis, which he wrote in prison while awaiting execution. In 1905, Parsons helped to found the Industrial Workers of the World, along with Eugene Debs and Mother Jones. Though involved in anarchism and often portrayed as a “dangerous woman” she was defended by important Chicago leaders collaborated with social reformers such as Jane Addams. At the time of her death, Ms. Parsons lived at 3130 N. Troy, which is only slightly more than a mile from this park site.

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