- Agnes Inglis
Agnes Inglis (1870–1952) was a
Detroit ,Michigan -bornanarchist who became the primary architect of theLabadie Collection at theUniversity of Michigan .She was the youngest child in a conservative, religious family, and educated at a
Massachusetts girls' academy. Her father died in 1874, her sister died of cancer sometime later, and her mother died when she was roughly thirty years old.After her mother's death, Inglis studied
history andliterature atUniversity of Michigan , receiving an allowance from her extended family. She left the university before graduating, and spent several years as a social worker at Chicago'sHull House , theFranklin Street Settlement House inDetroit , and theAnn Arbor YWCA . While working in these settings, she became sympathetic to the condition ofimmigrant laborers in theUnited States , ultimately developing strong political convictions from the experiences.In 1915 Inglis met and befriended
Emma Goldman , and shortly thereafter, Goldman's lover and comradeAlexander Berkman . She increased her radical activities with the onset ofWorld War I , and used much of her time and family's money for legal support, particularly during the Red Scare of 1919–1920.She befriended
Joseph Labadie and in 1924 discovered the materials on radical movements he donated toUniversity of Michigan had hardly been cared for. She began volunteering full-time, carefully organizing and cataloguing what would be known as the Labadie Collection. After a few years, Inglis and Labadie sent letters to 400 radicals soliciting contributions on their personal experiences and organizing efforts. While the initial response was weak, over the next 28 years anarchists would donate an enormous volume of publications, writings, and documentary material to her collection. Inglis' work was known around the U.S., and after many anarchists died decades later, their families would donate their collections to the Labadie Collection.Inglis died in 1952, leaving an expansive and comprehensive library on radical social movements. With her death, however, some of the nuances of the collection's organization were lost.
References
* [http://libr.org/PL/16_Herrada.html Agnes Inglis: Anarchist Librarian] (Originally published in "Progressive Librarian", Issue 16, Fall 1999)
*Avrich, Paul. "Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism In America". Princeton University Press, 1995. Princeton, NJ.
* [http://www.lib.umich.edu/spec-coll/jlabexhibit/22.html Jo Labadie and His Gift to Michigan]
* [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?type=simple;c=sclead;cc=sclead;sid=89230ade9a0efc5927dc4b9fe4e4317c;q1=agnes%20inglis;rgn=Entire%20Finding%20Aid;Search=Search;view=reslist;subview=standard;sort=occur;start=1;size=25;didno=umich-scl-inglisa Agnes Inglis Papers 1909 - 1952]
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