Agnes Christina Laut

Agnes Christina Laut (February 11, 1871 – November 14, 1936) was a Canadian journalist, novelist, historian, and social worker.  Born in Stanley Township, Huron County, Ontario,she was the daughter of John Laut, a merchant from Glasgow, and his wife Eliza George. When she was two years old, the Laut family moved to the frontier town of Winnipeg in Manitoba, where Agnes finished normal school when she was fifteen. She worked as a substitute teacher at the Carleton School in Winnipeg for several years then enrolled at the University of Manitoba.  However, she was forced to drop out after two years due to health problems. Instead, Agnes went to work as a writer, working as an editorial writer for the Manitoba Free Press during 1895–97.  She then spent two years traveling the country, while paying her way with articles contributed to periodicals. In 1900 she emigrated to the United States, moving to live in Wassaic, New York during 1901.

Beginning in 1900 she became a novelist with the publication of Lords of the North.  While researching early first novels, Agnes came to realize there was a shortage of historical information. She decided to address this need by performing research using direct sources then writing on historical subjects.  Between 1900–31 she wrote two dozen books, mainly the topics of the evolution of Canadian territory, the history of Montana, and settlers traveling the Santa Fe Trail.  Her novels sold well, so that her royalty rate from Briggs, her Toronto-based publisher, had reached 20% by 1902. Despite moving to America, she remained a Canadian nationalist and wrote works intended to teach Americans more about her home country: Canada, the Empire of the North; The Canadian Commonwealth (1909); and Canada at the Cross Roads. Her writing proved popular and she became "one of the best-known and prolific historians of her time".

In 1919, she served as secretary for the Childhood Conservation League, a philanthropic organization intended to help children left homeless following the Mexican Revolution.[1] After traveling to Mexico as a representative of the League, she testified before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about the conditions then existing in that country.

Source: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia