Crystal Catherine Eastman, born on this day in 1881, was a socialist lawyer, journalist, anti-militarist, and feminist who co-founded "The Liberator" and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Crystal and her brother, Max Eastman, were influenced by the Second Great Awakening, a Protestant religious festival with humanitarian values. The siblings lived together for several years on 11th Street in Greenwich Village among other radical activists, such as Ida Rauh, Inez Milholland, and Floyd Dell.

When the United States entered World War I, Eastman, along with Roger Baldwin and Norman Thomas, organized the National Civil Liberties Bureau to protect conscientious objectors, in her words "to maintain something over here that will be worth coming back to when the weary war is over". The NCLB later grew into the ACLU, with Baldwin at the head and Eastman functioning as attorney-in-charge.

"The last thing a man becomes progressive about is the activities of his own wife."

- Crystal Eastman