Smedley-MacKinnon Collection

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.

Stephen Mackinnon is a Professor of History at Arizona State University and holds an appointment to the Center for Asian Studies at that institution.

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].