CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A historic marker devoted to a feminist and labor activist in New Hampshire who additionally led the Communist Party was eliminated Monday simply two weeks after it was unveiled.
The inexperienced and white signal describing the lifetime of Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was put in May 1 in Concord near the place she was born in 1890. But it shortly drew criticism from two Republican members of the Executive Council, the five-member physique that approves state contracts, judicial nominees and different positions. They argued it was inappropriate given Flynn’s communist involvement. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, in the meantime, known as for a assessment of the historic marker course of.
“All polices and guidelines were followed in removing this controversial marker,” stated Sununu’s spokesperson, Ben Vihstadt. He stated Concord metropolis officers weren’t advocating to maintain it, and as soon as state officers realized it was on state property and never metropolis land as beforehand believed, the state eliminated it.
But supporters of the signal accused the state of violating its personal guidelines for the markers. They argued markers can solely be “retired” in the event that they comprise errors of truth, are in a state of disrepair or require refurbishment.
“We still say that under the department’s own guidelines, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn’s birthplace in Concord is a fitting location for a historical marker,” stated Mary Lee Sargent, a former U.S. historical past trainer and longtime labor and feminist activist.
Known as “The Rebel Girl” for her fiery speeches, Flynn was a founding father of the American Civil Liberties Union who advocated for girls’s voting rights and entry to contraception. The marker additionally says she joined the Communist Party in 1936 and was despatched to jail in 1951. She was one in every of many celebration members prosecuted “under the notorious Smith Act,” the marker says, which forbade any makes an attempt to advocate, abet or train the violent destruction of the U.S. authorities.
Flynn later chaired the Communist Party of the United States and she or he died in Moscow throughout a go to in 1964, at age 74. Her marker was one in every of 278 throughout the state that describe folks and locations – from Revolutionary War troopers to modern sports figures.
Under the present course of, any particular person, municipality or company can recommend a marker so long as they get 20 signatures from New Hampshire residents. Supporters should draft the marker’s textual content and supply footnotes and copies of supporting documentation, in line with the state Division of Historical Resources. The division and a historic sources advisory group consider the standards.
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