The Labadie Collection- Why U-M Has the Largest Collection of Anarchist Ephemera in the U.S.

From YouTube by Firelake Media

Watch on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/_TPWFyEkUk0

Did you know that the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor has the largest collection of anarchist ephemera in the United States? It also has the oldest collection of radical literature in the United States. This assortment of literature and ephemera is called The Labadie Collection, and is on the sixth floor of the Harlan Hatcher Library. It is named after a Detroit anarchist named Jo Labadie who lived from 1850-1933. Ever the pack rat and collector of radical material, Labadie donated twenty crates of goods from his attic to the University of Michigan in 1911. This small collection eventually exploded into taking up a whole floor at the U-M Graduate library, and it includes writings of the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. How has it lasted all these years? I talk with the librarian and curator of The Labadie Collection, Julie Herrada, to paint a fuller picture of the story.

Other sources besides Julie Herrada are: 
Carlotta Anderson’s book All-American Anarchist: https://wsupress.wayne.edu/9780814343...
The Burton Historical Collection: https://detroitpubliclibrary.org/rese...

Find The Labadie Collection’s digital archive and schedule appointments to view their material here: https://www.lib.umich.edu/collections...

0:00 The Rise of Radicalism 
3:49 Julie Herrada Interview
22:08 Bubbling Waters

Comments

anonymous (not verified) Sat, 06/06/2026 - 00:23

what is this marxist nonsense doing on my beloved anews... 

JayCee (not verified) Sun, 06/07/2026 - 20:36

I didn't think it was a bad video. I enjoyed it. Though two points of contention: one being the remark about the Detroit Water Board role being a strage job for an anarchist (that's not necessarily the case, though we all get those kinds of comments, I'm sure). The other was the two mentions of Labadie's wife, Sophie, being his first cousin (which adds nothing to the narrative of the video and seems a strange point to mention twice). Minor things, really, but deserve noting.

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