{{Short description|American author and socialist (1877-1964)}} {{Infobox person | image = Anna Strunsky Walling, portrait photograph LCCN2018707705.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|03|02}} | birth_place = Liona Raion, Russia, now Belarus. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1964|02|25|1877|03|02}} | resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|39.8195472|-86.1730912|type:Landmark|display=inline}} | burial_place = Crown Hill Cemetery and Arboretum, Section 1, Niche Lot 72, September 3, 1965 | education = Stanford University, 1896-1898 | occupation = Writer and Jewish Socialist | spouse = William English Walling | children = 4, 3 girls and 1 boy. }} '''Anna Strunsky Walling''' (née '''Strunsky'''; March 21, 1877 – February 25, 1964), usually known as '''Anna Strunsky''', was an American author and advocate of socialism, known for her novels and writings on social issues and the labor movement. Born in the Russian Empire, she emigrated to the United States as a child, later becoming active in socialist movements in San Francisco and New York City. While studying at Stanford University, she became friends with writer Jack London, with whom she co-authored the 1903 epistolary novel ''The Kempton-Wace Letters''. In 1906, she married American socialist William English Walling, and they remained active in socialist and progressive causes. Strunsky opposed war and advocated for the abolition of capital punishment.
==Early life and education== Strunsky was born on March 21, 1877, into a Jewish family in Babinots (now Babinovitch), in the Liozna Raion, Russian Empire (now Belarus). In 1886, she emigrated to New York City with her parents, Elias Strunsky and Anna Horowitz, at the age of nine. Her siblings included an older brother, Max, and a younger sister, Rose, to whom she was particularly close. In 1893, the family relocated to San Francisco, where they lived with her brother Max, who had established himself as a doctor in the city.
As a teenager, Strunsky joined the Socialist Labor Party and remained committed to socialism throughout her life. She attended Stanford University from 1896 to 1898, where she formed a close friendship with writer Jack London, with whom she frequently discussed social and political issues. right|thumb|Anna Strunsky (left) and her sister Rose during the time Rose attended Stanford University.
==Socialist and writer== Strunsky and her sister Rose, who also attended Stanford, became leading members of the turn-of-the-20th-century San Francisco intellectual scene, part of a radical group of young Californian writers and artists known as ''The Crowd''. It included George Sterling, Herman Whitaker, Ambrose Bierce, and others.<ref>Pratt, Norma Fain [http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/walling-anna-strunsky "Anna Strunsky Walling, 1879–1964."], in ''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia.'' 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. July 4, 2010.</ref>
With Jack London, Strunsky co-authored the epistolary novel ''The Kempton-Wace Letters'' in 1903.<ref>London, Jack and Strunsky, Anna. [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31422 ''The Kempton-Wace Letters''], Mills & Boon, London, 1903.</ref> After London's death in 1916, Strunsky published a memoir of their relationship.<ref>Walling, Anna Strunsky {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100704172419/http://www.jacklondons.net/annastrunskymemoirs.html ''Memoirs of Jack London.'']}}, ''The Masses,'' July 1917.</ref>
In 1906, Strunsky and her sister traveled to Russia as correspondents for William English Walling, whom she later married. After returning to the United States, they reported on issues like the Springfield race riot of 1908, and Walling co-founded the NAACP. They had four children before separating. Strunsky remained active in socialist causes throughout her life, including joining the War Resisters League and the American League to Abolish Capital Punishment.
==Death and legacy== Strunsky died on February 25, 1964, in New York. She was survived by her four children: Rosamond, Anna, Georgia, and Hayden Walling. Hayden, an architect known for his work on Cape Cod, died in 1981.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/05/obituaries/hayden-walling.html|title=HAYDEN WALLING|work=The New York Times|date=June 5, 1981|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref> Rosamond (1910–1999) became a painter and was married to Edward Corbett.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/edward-and-rosamond-walling-tirana-corbett-papers-7520|title=Edward and Rosamond Walling Tirana Corbett papers, 1932-1978|website=www.aaa.si.edu}}</ref>
Her papers are held by the Bancroft Library at University of California, Berkeley,<ref>Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley [http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf567nb104/ ''Guide to the Anna Strunsky Walling Papers''], 1900-1963.</ref> the Yale University Library,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collection: Anna Strunsky Walling papers {{!}} Archives at Yale |url=https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/12/resources/4483 |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=archives.yale.edu}}</ref> and the Huntington Library.<ref>Guide to literary manuscripts in the Huntington Library (San Marino, Calif.: H. E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, 1979) ''Papers of Anna Strunsky Walling, 1877-1958''.</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wikiquote}} * {{Gutenberg author | id=35217}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Anna Strunsky Walling}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strunsky, Anna}} Category:20th-century American novelists Category:20th-century American women novelists Category:American socialists Category:Jewish socialists Category:War Resisters League activists Category:20th-century Belarusian women writers Category:1877 births Category:1964 deaths