Jessie McDonald (?–?)
This article was published:
- in the Biographical Register of the Australian Labour Movement, 1788-1975
- online in 2024
Jessie McDonald (or MacDonald) (?-?), Socialist and political activist
Birth: details unknown. Death: details unknown.
- “Comrade Mrs Jessie McDonald” was a member of the Melbourne branch of the Australasian Socialist Party by 1912, when she proposed to deliver an address on the “the Evolution of the God”.
- Prominent socialist public speaker during World War I.
- Committed advocate of class struggle and trenchant opponent of socialist women forming alliances with feminist organisations.
- Opponent of racist ideas and advocate of birth control. Regarded eugenics as worthy of attention as “a necessary science for human welfare”.
- In 1919 she spoke at a meeting of the ASP Women’s League with Bella Lavender and Adela Walsh.
- Author of ‘Australia and the Political Power of its Working Class’ in International Socialist Review, June 1916, and The Love Story of Karl Marx: A Human Document of Biography and Inspiration (pamphlet, 1920).
Sources
Joy Damousi, Socialist Women in Australia, c.1890-c.1918, Ph.D thesis, ANU, 1987; information from J. Damousi, 1991; Neville Kirk, Transnational radicalism and the Connected Lives of Tom Mann and Robert Samuel Ross, OUP 2027, pp 195-196.
Additional Resources
- speaks at the Women's League, Socialist (Melbourne), 11 April 1919, p 3
- letter from Jessie about education, Socialist (Melbourne), 11 November 1921, p 3
Related Entries in NCB Sites
- Guerin, Bella (colleague)
- Baines, Sarah Jane (colleague)
- Pankhurst, Adela Constantia (colleague)
- Guerin, Bella (acquaintance)
Citation details
'McDonald, Jessie (?–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/mcdonald-jessie-34317/text43061, accessed 10 October 2024.