Timothy Leary

Greenwich Village

New York City

History

Where Communism and Counterculture collide with The FBI!

About Timothy Leary

& why it made the Carpe City list

#11 St. Luke’s Place was raided at least twice in its history.
The first time was in 1920 when the home belonged to Max Eastman, the writer, philosopher,and social activist. He was also a doctoral candidate in philosophy at Columbia, a founding member of the Men’s League for Women’s Suffrage.
- In 1912, Eastman became editor of The Masses, the leading socialist publication in America.
- He was informed of his editorship by the magazine’s art director, who wrote him thefollowing note: “You are elected editor of the Masses! No Pay!”
- Under Eastman’s leadership, The Masses became an extraordinary magazine. It published art by John Sloan, poetry by Carl Sandburg, reporting by Jack Reed, essays on feminism by Margaret Sanger, Anarchist arguments by Emma Goldman, drawings by Picasso, and some of the most incredible cover art anywhere!
- By 1917 the magazine published numerous articles decrying the United State’sparticipation in WWI. As a result, the magazine was forced to shut down under the Espionage Act of 1917, which prohibited any attempt to interfere with military operations.
- However, Eastman continued writing political pieces and in 1920, the FBI raided this home looking for incriminating communist literature.
The second raid was in the 1960s, caused by the famous This time, the raid was due to the famous “turn on, tune in, drop out” psychedelic king Timothy Leary.
- In 1965, the FBI raided the home looking for the “acid” that Leary reportedly manufactured in the basement.

Carpe City Trivia

If you think Max Eastman was an interesting dude, you should hear about his sister, Crystal Eastman.

Her name is relatively unknown, but she was one of the most extraordinary people in American history.
Crystal Eastman graduated second in her class from New York University Law School in 1907.
She became the first female commissioner in New York State, selected by the Governor to sit on the unemployment commission. Her report for that commission, “Work Accidents and the Law,” led to the first workers’ compensation legislation in the United States, passed in 1910.
During WWI, she co-founded the ACLU with Rodger Baldwin.
- The organization was originally to protect Conscientious Objectors, so that she said, “there will be something worth coming back to when this weary war is over.”
She also helped found the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage and the Women’s Peace Party.
After The Masses folded, she and Max founded The Liberator, a Magazine of “Revolutionary Progress,” for which she was both an editor and reporter.
Finally, she was one of the original writers of the Equal Rights Amendment, first passed in 1923.