Bookmark this page or copy and paste URL to Email message

Agnes Smedley Collection 1911-1981 (bulk 1938-1948)

MSS-122

Biographical Note

Agnes Smedley was born in Missouri in 1892 and lived in a number of western towns until she arrived at the Tempe Normal School in 1911. She attended the Normal School as a "Special Student" from 1911 to 1912, receiving special consideration for admission from president Arthur J. Matthews.

Sometime after her education at Tempe Normal School Smedley adopted the cause of Indian independence as a result of her acquaintance with revolutionary leader Lala Rajpat Rai. She worked for the Indian cause as a journalist first in New York and later in Germany from 1917 to 1928. After suffering a nervous breakdown and separating herself from the Indian independence movement she settled in China in 1929 serving as a foreign correspondent for a number of American and German periodicals including the Frankfurter Zeitung. During her twelve year residence in China she marched with the Red Army and became acquainted with many of China's most famous political leaders, including Mao Tse Tung and Chou En Lai.

In 1941 Smedley returned to the United States and lived at the writer's colony known as "Yaddo" through the middle forties. During this time she was a regular contributor to The Saratogian (Saratoga Springs, New York) and wrote feature articles and reviews for The New Masses, The Nation and The New Republic. Agnes Smedley was the author of a number of books including Daughter of Earth (1929), China Fights Back (1939) and Battle Hymn of China (1943).

In 1949 Smedley was accused of espionage by US Army Intelligence and spent many of her last days in political isolation. She died on May 6, 1950 and is buried at Peking, China.

Sources: "Bound Feet and Free Minds: Agnes Smedley Reclaimed", Village Voice, February 7, 1917, p.67-68 [see vol. 46]; Who Was Who in America, Vol. 3, 1960 [see vol. 44].

Scope and Content Note

The Agnes Smedley Collection contains newsclippings, photographs, speeches, lecture notes, printed matter, correspondence, and artifacts dating from 1911 to 1981. The bulk of the collection consists of newsclippings, photographs, and reprints documenting Smedley's career as a journalist in China and events in China during the Japanese conflict and World War II (1938-1948).

Arrangement

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.

Copyright

Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.

Related Material

Interested researchers may also wish to consult the Smedley-Mackinnon Collection (guide available at http://www.azarchivesonline.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/asu/smedmack.xml), which houses research source materials, notes, and correspondence regarding the life of journalist Agnes Smedley that were compiled by historian Stephen MacKinnon.

An exhibit entitled "Shelter and the Storm: Agnes Smedley at Yaddo" (description available at http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel/2009/02/03/agnes_smedley/) was shown at ASU in Spring of 2009.

Access Terms

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Agnes Smedley Collection, MSS-122, Arizona State University Library.

Provenance

The Agnes Smedley Collection was originally received from Mrs. Mildred Coy of Altamirano, Mexico (executor of the Smedley estate) in 1974 via Mrs. G.F. (Florence) Willison of Ballston Spa, New York. The Coy materials are identified in the volumes as Groups 1-13 (papers) and Groups A-H (photographs). Other materials in the collection were assembled by founding university archivist Alfred Thomas and Jan and Steven MacKinnon of the Department of History.

Other Finding Aids

A calendar describing each item in the collection can be found at http://repository.asu.edu/items/18522.

Container List