Lois Orr
Encyclopedia
Lois Orr also known as Louise Cusick, Lois Cusick and Lois Curter, born in the Jewish hospital in Louisville
, Kentucky
, lived in Barcelona
during the Spanish Civil War
, where she was a member of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM
) female militia. She and her husband, Charles Orr
, survived the Stalinist attack on the POUM in June 1937, after the fighting of the Barcelona May Days
.
They were arrested on 17 June, the day after Andrés Nin
and the POUM executive were arrested, but were released on 1 July and placed by the US consul, Mahlon Perkins
, on a ship bound for Marseilles on 3 July 1937. They were in Mexico in 1940 when Leon Trotsky
was murdered.
An edited collection of her letters home to the US from Spain were published in 2009.
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, lived in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, where she was a member of the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM
Poum
Poum is a commune in the North Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. The town of Poum is located in the far northwest, located on the southern part of Banare Bay, with Mouac Island just offshore....
) female militia. She and her husband, Charles Orr
Charles Orr (socialist)
Charles Andrew Orr was an American economist and socialist. He and his wife, Lois Orr, lived in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War, where they supported the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification ....
, survived the Stalinist attack on the POUM in June 1937, after the fighting of the Barcelona May Days
Barcelona May Days
Barcelona May Days were a period of civil violence in Catalonia, between May 3 and May 8, 1937, when factions on the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War engaged each other in street battles in the city of Barcelona.Clashes began when units of the Assault Guard – under the...
.
They were arrested on 17 June, the day after Andrés Nin
Andrés Nin
Andreu Nin i Pérez was a Spanish Communist revolutionary.- Early life :...
and the POUM executive were arrested, but were released on 1 July and placed by the US consul, Mahlon Perkins
Mahlon Perkins
Mahlon Fay Perkins was a United States diplomat. After serving in China for many years, he was consul-general in Barcelona during the Spanish Civil War. It was his intervention which saved the lives of Charles Orr and Lois Orr after they had been arrested in the Stalinist crackdown on the...
, on a ship bound for Marseilles on 3 July 1937. They were in Mexico in 1940 when Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
was murdered.
An edited collection of her letters home to the US from Spain were published in 2009.