Born in 1866 and died in 1948, she was an American board game designer and outspoken activist for women and black people. In 1904, she invented The Landlord's Game, precursor of Monopoly, to denounce the oppression of real estate rentiers.
In the 1880s, she worked as a stenographer and secretary. She invented a device to help pass paper between the rollers of typewriters, wrote poems, short stories and performed skits on stage. In 1906, she was hired as a newspaper reporter.
Inspired by economist Henry George, who wanted to limit landowners’ power, she patented The Landlord's Game in 1903, to illustrate the anti-social nature of monopoly. The game spread on campuses among left-wing intellectuals. Her invention helped to popularize circular board games and the novel idea of a game focused on interacting both socially and competitively with the opponents. It also provided entertainment that taught about Georgist principles, such as the value in spreading wealth and the harmfulness of monopolies.
In 1931, Charles Darrow discovered the game. It inspired him to create his own, the Monopoly, entirely changing Magie's approach.
Magie also contributed to women's and black people's rights, through educating others about these concepts, inventing board games at a time when women held less than 1% of US patents, and publishing political contents in newspapers to speak out against the oppression of women and black communities in the US.
Moreover, in order to bring attention to women’s struggles and believing that they were as capable as men, she published a false wedding ad to auction herself as a "young woman American slave". She wished to show the position of women and black people, presenting marriage as their only way out and emphasizing that only white men were truly free. Her ad spread quickly and aroused the interest of the press.
It was only after her death that the impact she had on many aspects of US culture and life began to be appreciated.
@ Adama Toulon - Julie Henry Poutrel
@ Adama Toulon - Julie Henry Poutrel
