15 Facts About Ross Winn

Ross Winn was an American anarchist writer and publisher from Texas who was mostly active within the Southern United States.

Ross Winn was born in Denton County, Texas in 1871.

Ross Winn's earliest known published writing appears in the January, 1894 issue of Twentieth Century.

Ross Winn was 23 when he wrote the piece, a plea for cooperation between socialists and anarchists.

Ross Winn wrote articles for Discontent: Mother of Progress from Home, Washington, The Firebrand, a short-lived, but renowned weekly out of Portland, Oregon; The Rebel, an anarchist journal published in Boston; and Emma Goldman's Mother Earth.

Sometime in 1894, Ross Winn began his first paper, known as Co-operative Commonwealth.

Ross Winn then edited and published Coming Era for a brief time in 1898 and then Winn's Freelance in 1899.

Later in 1899, Ross Winn took over publication of Free Society and discontinued Coming Era and Ross Winn's Freelance.

Ross Winn's vision was for a paper that would appeal to people of all classes.

Ross Winn considered the printed word as the most effective tool for social awakening, and saw the dissemination of anti-authoritarian ideals, especially in the conservative South, as his distinct calling.

In 1901, Ross Winn met Emma Goldman in Chicago, and found in her a lasting ally.

Joseph Labadie, a prominent writer and organizer in Michigan, was another friend to Ross Winn, and contributed several pieces to Ross Winn's Firebrand in its later years.

Sometime in 1909, Ross Winn contracted tuberculosis, but continued his work on Firebrand despite his failing health.

Unable to find work, and having gotten himself deeper into debt, Ross Winn sold his printing setup and moved back to Mt.

Rather than spending the money on himself or his family Ross Winn spent the majority of the money on a new printing setup and began what was to be his last paper, known as The Advance.