Eastman, Crystal (1881–1928)

American social activist and feminist. Name variations: Crystal Eastman Benedict. Born Catherine Crystal Eastman, June 25, 1881, in Marlborough, Massachusetts; died July 8, 1928, in Erie, Pennsylvania; dau. of Samuel Elijah Eastman and Annis Ford Eastman (both ordained Congregational ministers); sister of Morgan Eastman, Anstice Ford Eastman and Max Eastman (socialist, writer, editor); Vassar College, BA, 1903; Columbia University, MA, 1904; New York University Law School, LLB, 1907; m. Wallace Benedict (insurance agent), 1911 (div. 1916); m. Walter Fuller (English folk musician manager), 1916 (died 1927); children: Jeffery Eastman Fuller (active in American Civil Liberties Union), Annis Fuller.

Social activist, joined Paul Kellogg in "Pittsburgh Survey," the 1st attempt in US to study effects of industrialism on urban workers; investigated over 1,000 industrial accidents, publishing findings in Work Accidents and the Law (1910); as secretary and only female member of New York State Employer's Liability Commission (1909–11), helped to secure passage of worker's compensation laws in NY; with Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and others, co-founded Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (which later became National Woman's Party) and served as its delegate to International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Budapest (1913); became chair of NY state branch of Woman's Peace Party and member of executive committee of American Union against Militarism, campaigning against impending National Defense Bill and arguing against US entry into WWI in series of articles published in Survey and The New Republic; was one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); joined brother Max on radical journal Liberator (1917), acting as managing editor and writing on labor issues and feminism; helped organize Feminist Congress in New York City (1919), calling for voting rights along with equal employment opportunities, birth control, economic independence and sex-blind moral standards; resigned from Liberator (1921) and moved to England with 2nd husband; helped found London branch of Woman's Party; active in Conference on Labour Women in Birmingham (1925); returned to US (1927) and continued reform activities despite poor health and news of husband's death. Inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame at Seneca Falls (2000).