Freda Hogan Ameringer was born on November 17th, 1892, at Huntington in Sebastian County. The daughter of a founder of the state’s Socialist party, she was a dedicated socialist by her early teens.
When her father ran for governor of Arkansas on the Socialist ticket in 1910, Freda, then seventeen, took over as editor of the Huntington Herald. She became secretary of the Socialist Party of Arkansas in 1914, essentially running the organization’s activities, and wrote articles for leftist publications across the country. She also was a leader in the state in promoting women’s suffrage, urging women to pay the poll tax in 1917 so they could vote in the next election.
Depressed by the U.S. entry into World War I and suffering from the first stages of tuberculosis, she moved to Oklahoma City that same year, becoming a prominent journalist and social activist in her new home. She died on October 4th, 1988.
To learn more, visit the Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
