Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (August 7, 1890 – September 5, 1964) was an American labor leader, activist, and feminist who played a leading role in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

She died during a visit to the Soviet Union, where she was accorded a state funeral with processions in Red Square attended by more than 25,000 people.

In 1909, Flynn participated in a free speech fight in Spokane, in which she chained herself to a lamp-post in order to delay her arrest.

According to historian Robert M. Eleff,[10] three Minnesota miners had been arrested on murder charges arising from an incident that arose when a group of deputised mine guards, including an alleged gunman named James C. Myron and a former bouncer named Nick Dillon, came to the residence of one of the miners, Philip Masonovitch, to investigate allegations of the presence of an illegal liquor still on the premises.

Haywood held Flynn and Ettor responsible for allowing the miners to plead guilty to charges that they probably did not understand.

[11] Haywood wrote in his autobiography that Flynn and Ettor's "part in the affair terminated their connection with the IWW.

"[13] A founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 1920, Flynn played a leading role in the campaign against the conviction of Sacco and Vanzetti.

[15][16] Between 1926 and 1936, Flynn lived in southwest Portland, Oregon, with birth control activist and suffragette Marie Equi.

Though Flynn was in poor health most of her time in Portland, she was an active and vocal supporter of the 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike.

[19] In 1936, Flynn joined Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and wrote a feminist column for its journal, the Daily Worker.

[18] During World War II, she played an important role in the campaign for equal economic opportunity and pay for women and the establishment of day care centers for working mothers.

In July 1948, a dozen leaders of the Communist Party were arrested and accused of violating the Smith Act by advocating the overthrow of the US government by force and violence.

Later, they were relieved by O. John Rogge, gangster Frank Costello's lawyer George Wolf, William W. Kleinman, Joseph L. Delaney, Frank Serri, Osmond K. Fraenkel, Henry G. Singer, Abraham J. Gellinoff, Raphael P. Koenig, and Nicholas Atlas.

[4] In accordance with her wishes, Flynn's remains were flown to the United States for burial in Chicago's Waldheim Cemetery, near the graves of Eugene Dennis, Bill Haywood, Emma Goldman, and the Haymarket Riot Martyrs.

[29] Flynn left her small estate (books, clothing, and furniture) to Dorothy Day's Catholic Worker house in New York city following her death.

A popular song, "The Rebel Girl", was written by labor activist and musician Joe Hill in honor of Flynn.