Inez Haynes Irwin (March 2, 1873 – September 25, 1970) was an American feminist author, journalist, member of the

National Women's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...

, and president of the Authors Guild. Many of her works were published under her former name Inez Haynes Gillmore. She wrote over 40 books and was active in the

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

movement in the early 1900s. Irwin was a "rebellious and daring woman", but referred to herself as "the most timid of created beings". She died at the age of 97. Irwin was a close friend of the American feminist writer

Mary MacLane Mary MacLane (May 1, 1881 – ''c''. August 6, 1929) was a controversial Canadian-born American writer whose frank memoirs helped usher in the confessional style of autobiographical writing. MacLane was known as the "Wild Woman of Butte".Wa ...

, who included a colorful personality portrait of Irwin in her newspaper articles in Butte, Montana, in 1910.

Early years and education

Inez Haynes was born on March 2, 1873, in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, to Gideon Haynes and Emma Jane Hopkins Haynes. Her parents were from

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in the United States, but were staying in Brazil because of her father's business problems. Her mother, her father's second wife, was 24 years younger than him, and had to raise a family of 17 children (10 of whom were her own). The family returned to Boston where Inez Haynes grew up. She attended four public schools, and then Radcliffe College between 1897 and 1900. At the time Radcliffe was a "center of

sentiment", and Inez Haynes and

Maud Wood Park Maud Wood Park (January 25, 1871 – May 8, 1955) was an American suffragist and women's rights activist. Career overview She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1887 she graduated from St. Agnes School in Albany, New York, after which she ta ...

founded the College Equal Suffrage League, which later became the National College Equal Suffrage League.

Career

In August 1897, Inez Haynes married Rufus H. Gillmore, a newspaper editor, and assumed the name Inez Haynes Gillmore. The Gillmores visited pre-

War War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

Europe where she met Russian revolutionaries and French impressionist painters. While her husband supported her feminism, they later divorced. She published her first novel, ''June Jeopardy'' in 1908 and soon after became fiction editor of ''

The Masses ''The Masses'' was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the United States from 1911 until 1917, when federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was ...

'', a left-wing monthly magazine. In January 1916, she married writer William Henry Irwin, and her name changed to Inez Haynes Irwin, although she continued publishing under her former name, Inez Haynes Gillmore. The Irwins summered in Scituate, Massachusetts, during the early 1900s.Harold Howard, compiler, Towns of Scituate and Marshfield Massachusetts Directory 1918: Containing an Alphabetical List of the Inhabitants, a Summer Resident Directory … (Boston: Harold Howard, 1918), 79. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the Irwins lived in Europe where she worked as a war correspondent in England, France and Italy. Inez Haynes estimated that between 500,000 and 750,000 women were killed in the war. William Henry died in 1948 and she moved to Scituate, Massachusetts, where she remained until her death at the age of 97 on September 25, 1970. Inez Haynes was a feminist leader and a political activist. She was a member of the National Advisory Council of the

, and wrote the Party's biography, ''The Story of the Woman's Party'', in 1921. She also wrote a history of American women, ''Angels and Amazons: A Hundred Years of American Women'' (1933).

Writing career

Apart from the non-fiction works noted above, she published over 30 novels, including ''

Angel Island Angel Island may refer to: *Angel Island (California), historic site of the United States Immigration Station, Angel Island, and part of Angel Island State Park, in San Francisco Bay, California * Angel Island, Papua New Guinea * ''Angel Island'' (n ...

'' (1914), a "radical feminist Swiftian fantasy" about a group of men stranded on an island occupied by winged women. ''Angel Island'' was republished in 1988 as a "classic of early feminist literature" with an introduction by science fiction and fantasy author

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

. Her fiction often addressed feminist issues and the plight of women, including divorce, single parenthood and problems in the workplace. Her 15-book "Maida" series of children's books was written over a period of 45 years, and tells the story of a school girl whose mother has died and whose father is very wealthy. She also wrote short stories for magazines, one of which, "The Spring Flight," won her the O. Henry Memorial Prize in 1924.

Associations

*Author's Guild of America, vice-President, 1930–1931; president, 1931–1933 *National Collegiate Equal Suffrage League, co-founder *Chairman of board of directors of the World Center for Women's Archives, 1936–1938/1940. *Member of American committee of Prix Femina, 1931–1933 Source: ''Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy and Utopia''

Awards

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

, 1924 – for her short story, "The Spring Flight" Source: ''Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy and Utopia''

Selected works

Novels

*''June Jeopardy'', Huebsch, 1908 *''Phoebe and Ernest'', Holt, 1910 – illustrated by R. F. Schabelitz *''Janey: being the record of a short interval in the journey through life and the struggle with society of a little girl of nine'', Holt, 1911 *''Phoebe, Ernest, and Cupid'', Holt, 1912 – illustrated by R. F. Schabelitz *''

'', Holt, 1914 – reprinted, Arno, 1978; new edition, NAL Plume, 1988 with an introduction by

*''The Ollivant Orphans'', Holt 1915 *''The Lady of Kingdoms'', George H. Doran, 1917 *''The Happy Years'', Holt, 1919 *''Out of the Air'', Harcourt, 1921 *''The Lost Diana'' (novella), ''Everybody's Magazine'', June 1923 *''Discarded'', serialized in ''

The American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904), ' ...

'', May–November 1925 *''Gertrude Haviland's Divorce'', Harper, 1925 *''Gideon'', Harper, 1927 *''P.D.F.R.: A New Novel'', Harper, 1928 *''Family Circle'', Bobbs-Merrill, 1931 *''Youth Must Laugh'', Bobbs-Merrill, 1932 *''Strange Harvest'', Bobbs-Merrill, 1934 *''Murder Masquerade'', H. Smith & R. Haas, 1935 *''Little Miss Redhead'', Lothrop, 1936 – self-illustrated *''The Poison Cross Mystery'', H. Smith & R. Haas, 1936 *''A Body Rolled Downstairs'', Random House, 1938 *''Many Murders'', Random House, 1941 *''The Women Swore Revenge'', Random House, 1946

The Maida books

*''Maida's Little Shop'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1909 *''Maida's Little House'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1921 *''Maida's Little School'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1926 *''Maida's Little Island'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1939 *''Maida's Little Camp'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1940 *''Maida's Little Village'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1942 *''Maida's Little Houseboat'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1943 *''Maida's Little Theater'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1946 *''Maida's Little Cabins'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1947 *''Maida's Little Zoo'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1949 *''Maida's Little Lighthouse'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1951 *''Maida's Little Hospital'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1952 *''Maida's Little Farm'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1953 *''Maida's Little House Party'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1954 *''Maida's Little Treasure Hunt'', Grosset & Dunlap, 1955

Short stories

*"The Father of His Son", ''Everybody's Magazine'', July 1904 *"A Doorstep Introduction", ''

Pearson's Magazine ''Pearson's Magazine'' was a monthly periodical that first appeared in Britain in 1896. A US version began publication in 1899. It specialised in speculative literature, political discussion, often of a socialist bent, and the arts. Its contribut ...

'', November 1904 *"Love Me, Love My Dog", ''Pearson's Magazine, November 1904 *"The Start", ''Everybody's Magazine'', December 1904 *"The Matchbreakers", ''Hampton's Broadway Magazine'', November 1908 *"The Eternal Challenge", ''Everybody's Magazine'', January 1912 *"With Pitfall and With Gin", ''

Pictorial Review The ''Pictorial Review'' was an American women's magazine published from 1899 to 1939. Based in New York, the ''Pictorial Review'' was first published in September 1899. The magazine was originally designed to showcase dress patterns of German i ...

'', February 1912 *"The Woman Across the Street", '' Ladies' Home Journal'', September 1916 *"The Sixth Canvassar", ''The Century'', January 1916 *"The Last Cartridge", ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-f ...

'', October 1922 *"The Spring Flight", ''McCall's'', June 1924 – winner of the 1924 O. Henry Memorial Prize *"The Irish Language", ''Everybody's Magazine'', July 1925

Non-fiction

*''The Californiacs'', A. M. Robertson, 1916 – a travel book about California *''The Native Son'', A. M. Robertson, 1919 – a book on California *''The Story of the Women's Party'', Harcourt, 1921; published as ''Up Hill With Banners Flying'', Traversity Press, 1964 – a biography of the National Women's Party's and a history of the suffragists *''Angels and Amazons: A Hundred Years of American Women'', Doubleday, 1933 – a collection of biographical sketches *''Good Manners for Girls'', Appleton-Century, 1937 *"You Bet I Am!" (article), ''

Woman's Day ''Woman's Day'' is an American women's monthly magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters magazines. The magazine was f ...

'', October 1938 *''Adventures of Yesterday'', General Microfilm, 1973 – an autobiography Source: ''Feminist Science Fiction, Fantasy and Utopia''

References

External links

* *

at manybooks.net * Will Irwin and Inez Haynes Gillmore Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Inez Haynes Gillmore Papers, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Inez Haynes 1873 births 1970 deaths Writers from Boston Writers from Rio de Janeiro (city) American feminist writers American suffragists American science fiction writers O. Henry Award winners Women science fiction and fantasy writers National Woman's Party activists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century Brazilian women writers 20th-century Brazilian writers American women children's writers American children's writers College Equal Suffrage League