Agnes Smedley

Agnes Smedley was an American teacher, author, journalist, and activist. A socialist and birth control advocate, Smedley wrote for the New York Call, Birth Control Review—a journal directed by Margaret Sanger—and Cell Mates, a short story collection inspired by revolutionary women Smedley met while in prison (she was incarcerated for her opposition to British colonial rule in India). After moving to Berlin in 1920, she established the city’s first birth-control clinic. She also wrote for The Nation, The New Masses, Manchester Guardian, and China Weekly Review, and published an autobiographical novel, Daughter of Earth, in 1929.