Annie Buller
Encyclopedia
Annie Buller was a union organizer and manager of multiple Communist Party of Canada
(CPC) publications.
Buller was born in the Ukraine and emigrated to Montreal with her parents in the early 1900s. She became politically active in socialist politics during World War I and studied Marxist thought at the Rand School of Social Science
in New York. On her return to Montreal, Buller, Becky Buhay (1896–1953), Bella Gauld (1878–1961) and others founded the Montreal Labour College.
Throughout the 1920s Buller worked as a union organizer and traveled extensively throughout Canada organizing the needle trades and supporting miners and steel workers. In 1931 she led a general strike for better wages and working conditions for dressmakers in Toronto.
Following the 1931 Estevan Coal Miners Strike
, Buller was convicted of inciting a riot. After an unsuccessful appeal in 1933, she spent a year in the North Battleford Prison. During the crackdown of Communist Party members that took place in the early part of World War II, Buller was arrested and jailed in Portage La Prairie from 1940 to 1942. Her husband Harry Guralnick (d. 1972) was also interned at that time.
Buller ran for public office several times. In 1932 she ran for a Toronto City Council position as a Workers United Front candidate. She ran as a Labour Progressive candidate in St. Paul's in 1952 and in Spadina Ward
in 1957.
After World War II Annie Buller continued to be involved in CPC activities such as the campaigns to roll back prices organized by National Women's Commission and the Housewives' Association.
She traveled to the USSR with Guralnick in 1955 and remained active in the CPC until her retirement from her publication responsibilities in the late 1950s.
Communist Party of Canada
The Communist Party of Canada is a communist political party in Canada. Although is it currently a minor or small political party without representation in the Federal Parliament or in provincial legislatures, historically the Party has elected representatives in Federal Parliament, Ontario...
(CPC) publications.
Buller was born in the Ukraine and emigrated to Montreal with her parents in the early 1900s. She became politically active in socialist politics during World War I and studied Marxist thought at the Rand School of Social Science
Rand School of Social Science
The Rand School of Social Science was formed in New York City by adherents of the Socialist Party of America in 1906. The school aimed to provide a broad education to workers, imparting a politicizing class-consciousness, and additionally served as a research bureau, a publisher, and the operator...
in New York. On her return to Montreal, Buller, Becky Buhay (1896–1953), Bella Gauld (1878–1961) and others founded the Montreal Labour College.
Throughout the 1920s Buller worked as a union organizer and traveled extensively throughout Canada organizing the needle trades and supporting miners and steel workers. In 1931 she led a general strike for better wages and working conditions for dressmakers in Toronto.
Following the 1931 Estevan Coal Miners Strike
Estevan Riot
The Estevan Riot, also known as the Black Tuesday Riot, was a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and striking coal miners from nearby Bienfait, Saskatchewan which took place in Estevan, Saskatchewan on September 29, 1931. The miners had been on strike since September 7, 1931...
, Buller was convicted of inciting a riot. After an unsuccessful appeal in 1933, she spent a year in the North Battleford Prison. During the crackdown of Communist Party members that took place in the early part of World War II, Buller was arrested and jailed in Portage La Prairie from 1940 to 1942. Her husband Harry Guralnick (d. 1972) was also interned at that time.
Buller ran for public office several times. In 1932 she ran for a Toronto City Council position as a Workers United Front candidate. She ran as a Labour Progressive candidate in St. Paul's in 1952 and in Spadina Ward
Spadina (electoral district)
Spadina was a Canadian electoral district that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1935 to 1988. It covered a portion of the western-central Toronto. Its name comes from the Spadina Avenue, which runs through the heart of the riding....
in 1957.
After World War II Annie Buller continued to be involved in CPC activities such as the campaigns to roll back prices organized by National Women's Commission and the Housewives' Association.
She traveled to the USSR with Guralnick in 1955 and remained active in the CPC until her retirement from her publication responsibilities in the late 1950s.
External links
- Progress Books Online Contains PDF version of She Never was Afraid: The Biography of Annie Buller