smedlife

Photographs of Agnes Smedley: Fragments of Her Life

From the Tempe Normal Student to The New Republic

In 1911 Agnes Smedley entered the Tempe Normal School as a "special" student. As the editor and a contributor to the Tempe Normal Student she wrote four articles, "Tascosa," "The Magazine Agent," "The Romance," and "The Yellow Man" for the student publication. She continued her career as a writer embracing issues of oppressed people as in India's independence, birth control, and China's Communist Revolution. Smedley wrote eight books and published numerous articles in periodicals including Asia, The New Republic, Nation, Vogue and Life.

Smedley family
Left to right: Myrtle, John, Sam; back, left to right: Charles, Agnes, Nellie, and Sarah Lydia.
1899
Agnes Smedley Collection
Acc. #93.1116

"Buck who first sought my hand in marriage. 'Buck', three donkeys packed with pack boxes and water barrels. Cabins in background appear to be same as the Ludlow cabins, but this was near Clifton, AZ." (Buck gave Smedley tuition for Tempe Normal School. She carried this photo with her the rest of her life).
1911
Agnes Smedley Collection
Volume 42 MSS 122

Agnes Smedley, third from the left in the
front row, organized the Horace Greeley
Club at Tempe Normal School
1911
Agnes Smedley Collection
Acc. # 93-1116

Agnes Smedley, seated at the far left
with umbrella, attends a Tempe Normal
School track meet.
1911-12
Agnes Smedley Collection
Acc. #93-1116

East Hall Women's Dormitory Residents.
Agnes Smedley 4th from the left on upper porch.
1911-12
Agnes Smedley Collection
Acc. #93-1116

Agnes Smedley, seated third from the
left with Tempe Normal Student staff
1911-12
Agnes Smedley Collection
Acc. #93-1116

Agnes Smedley in San Diego
1914
Agnes Smedley Collection
Acc. # 93-1116

Kalakagathea Literary Society
Tempe Normal School
Agnes Smedley second on far right
1912
University Archives Collection
MSS-122 Vol. 46/OV3

Agnes Smedley talking to wounded U.S. soldiers,
Halloran Base Hospital. Staten Island, New York
Photograph: The Halloran Beacon
1940s
Agnes Smedley Collection
MSS-122 Vol. 25

"In Hong Kong; left to right: myself; Emily Hahn;
Mrs. Hilda Selwyn-Clarke and her daughter
Mary; Miss Margaret Watson [Sloss], head
social worker of Queen Mary Hospital."
1940
Agnes Smedley Collection
MSS-122 Vol. 39

Snapshots of Agnes Smedley in garden
at Yaddo Estate, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
1949
Agnes Smedley Collection
MSS-122 Vol. 25

Photography window display by Scribner's
Publishing firm advertising Agnes Smedley's
Battle Hymn of China.
1940s
Photographer: Worsinger Photography
Agnes Smedley Collection
Acc. #931116