MacKinnon, Stephen R.

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 1911-1912, 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 1917-1928. 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.

...