Charles Joseph Antoine Labadie (April 18, 1850 – October 7, 1933) was an American labor organizer,

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

, Greenbacker, social activist, printer, publisher, essayist, and poet.

Biography

Early years

Jo Labadie was born on April 18, 1850, in Paw Paw, Michigan, to Anthony and Euphrosyne Labadie, both descendants of seventeenth century French immigrants of the Labadie family who had settled on both sides of the

Detroit River The Detroit River flows west and south for from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie as a strait in the Great Lakes system. The river divides the metropolitan areas of Detroit, Michigan, and Windsor, Ontario—an area collectively referred to as Detro ...

. His boyhood was a frontier existence among

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

tribes in southern Michigan, where his father served as interpreter between Jesuit missionaries and Native Americans. His only formal schooling was a few months in a parochial school. Labadie began five years of "tramp" printing and then settled in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

as a printer for the ''Detroit Post and Tribune''. He married his first cousin, Sophie Elizabeth Archambeau, in 1877, despite him being

agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...

and her being Catholic. Their children were Laura, Charlotte, and Laurance, also a prominent anarchist essayist. The family was also involved in the film and the entertainment industry in the Detroit area.

Political life

Labadie joined the newly formed

Socialist Labor Party The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

at the age of 27 and soon was distributing

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

tracts on street corners. As a printer, he was also a member of Detroit's Typographical Union 18 and was one of its two delegates to the International Typographical Union convention in Detroit in 1878. In 1878 Labadie organized Detroit's first assembly of the

Knights of Labor Knights of Labor (K of L), officially Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was an American labor federation active in the late 19th century, especially the 1880s. It operated in the United States as well in Canada, and had chapters also ...

, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor on the Greenback-Labor ticket. In 1880, he served as first president of the Detroit Trades Council, and continued issuing a succession of labor papers and columns for the national labor press, including the '' Detroit Times'', ''Advance and Labor Leaf'', ''Labor Review'', '' The Socialist'', and the ''Lansing Sentinel'', which were admired for their forthright style. His column "Cranky Notions" was widely published. In 1883 Labadie embraced

individualist anarchism Individualist anarchism is the branch of anarchism that emphasizes the individual and their will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions and ideological systems."What do I mean by individualism? I mean by individualism th ...

, a non-violent doctrine. He became closely allied with

Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and libertarian socialist.Martin, James J. (1953)''Men Against the State: The Expositers of Individualist Anarchism in America, 1827–1908''< ...

, the country's foremost exponent of that doctrine, and frequently wrote for the latter's publication, ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

''. Without the oppression of the state, Labadie believed, humans would choose to harmonize with "the great natural laws...without robbing

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offic ...

fellows through interest, profit, rent and taxes." Labadie supported localized public cooperation, and was an advocate for community control of water utilities, streets, and railroads. He also criticized

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, private ...

and said that it "has had its day" and that "it must go." Although Labadie did not support the militant anarchism of the Haymarket anarchists, he fought for the clemency of the accused because he did not believe they were the sole perpetrators of violence. He broke with the Knights of Labor when their national leader, Terence V. Powderly, repudiated the defendants completely. In 1888, Labadie organized the Michigan Federation of Labor, becoming its first president, and forged a tenuous alliance with

Samuel Gompers Samuel Gompers (; January 27, 1850December 13, 1924) was a British-born American cigar maker, labor union leader and a key figure in American labor history. Gompers founded the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and served as the organization's ...

. At age fifty he began writing verse and publishing artistic hand-crafted booklets. In 1908, the city postal inspector refused to handle his mail because it bore stickers with anarchist quotations. A month later the Detroit Water Board, where Labadie worked as a clerk, dismissed him from his post for expressing anarchist sentiments. In both cases, public officials were forced to back down in the face of mass public protests in support of Labadie, well known to Detroit citizens as its "Gentle Anarchist".

Collector of ephemera

In about 1910, when he was 60 years old, Labadie began to prepare for the preservation of the vast collection of

pamphlets A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

, newspapers, and correspondence which he had accumulated in the attic of his home.Eleanor H. Scanlan, "The Jo Labadie Collection," ''Labor History,'' vol. 6, no. 3 (Fall 1965), pg. 245. The collection was eagerly sought by the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, one of the paramount repositories of materials relating to labor and socialist history in the United States, but Labadie spurned their offer of $500 for the collection. The libraries of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, and

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

also made attempts to acquire the collection. Labadie sought instead to keep the material as near to his hometown of Detroit as possible and contacted the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

about their potential acquisition of the material. While the University of Michigan was slow to show interest in the collection, an investigator was eventually dispatched. The report returned on Labadie's collection was negative, dismissed as a great mass of "stuff."Scanlan, "The Jo Labadie Collection," pg. 246. Labadie remained persistent, however, and he eventually convinced nine Detroit residents, including several businessmen, to donate $100 each for the purchase of the collection, which was then donated to the university with requisite pomp. In 1912 twenty crates of material were moved from Labadie's attic to Ann Arbor, forming the foundation of the renowned Labadie Collection of radical literature. Labadie spent his later years soliciting donations to the collection from friends and acquaintances, donating hundreds more items himself to the library in 1926.

Agnes Inglis Agnes Inglis (1870–1952) was a Detroit, Michigan-born anarchist who became the primary architect of the Labadie Collection at the University of Michigan. Early life Agnes Inglis was born on December 3, 1870, in Detroit, Michigan, to Agnes ...

cataloged and organized the collection. The collection thus preserved is today regarded as among the finest accumulations of 19th Century radical ephemera in the United States.

Death and legacy

Joseph Labadie died on October 7, 1933, in Detroit, Michigan, at the age of 83. He donated the vast majority of manuscripts and ephemera acquired in his lifetime to the collection at the

University of Michigan Library The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the List of largest libraries in the United States#Largest research libraries ...

, a deed he viewed as his primary legacy.

Footnotes

Works

"Is Tyranny a Necessity?"
''

,'' vol. 10, no. 21, whole no. 307, (February 23, 1895), pg. 7.

"Cranky Notions" column

"Cranky Notions" (Nov. 11, 1885)
''The Labor Leaf'' (Detroit), vol. 2, no. 1 (November 11, 1885), pg. 2.
"Cranky Notions" (Jan. 14, 1888)
''

'', vol. 5, no. 12, whole no. 116. (January 14, 1888), pg. 7.
"Cranky Notions" (Jan. 28, 1888)
''

'', vol. 5, no. 13, whole no. 117. (January 28, 1888), pg. 4.
"Cranky Notions" (Feb. 25, 1888)
''

'', vol. 5, no. 15, whole no. 119. (February 25, 1888), pg. 7.
"Cranky Notions" (Mar. 31, 1888)
''

'', vol. 5, no. 17, whole no. 121. (March 31, 1888), pg. 7.
"Cranky Notions" (April 14, 1888)
''

'', vol. 5, no. 18, whole no. 122. (April 14, 1888), pg. 8.
"Cranky Notions" (May 26, 1888)
''

'', vol. 5, no. 21, whole no. 125. (May 26, 1888), pg. 5.
"Cranky Notions" (April 18, 1891)
''

'', vol. 7, no. 26, whole no. 182. (April 18, 1891), pg. 3.
"Cranky Notions" (July 1921)
''Ego'', vol. III, no. 7 (July 1921), pp. 4-5.
"Cranky Notions" (October 1925)
''The Mutualist'', vol. V, no. 1, whole no. 49 (October 1925), pg. 7.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Labadie, Joseph 1850 births 1933 deaths 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American agnostics American anarchists American anti-capitalists American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American male poets American people of French descent American social activists American socialists Anarchist writers Individualist anarchists American trade union leaders Libertarian socialists Michigan Greenbacks Mutualists People from Paw Paw, Michigan