Archives West Finding Aid

Singin' Sam Agins was born in Denver, Colorado, on June 14, 1919. He was born with a congenital paralysis of both legs and only weighed 2 lbs. at birth. Agins was limited to using crutches or a wheelchair for mobility from childhood. Despite his disability he led an active life, playing guitar, making poetry, and writing and collecting music. In addition he was a leather craftsman, stringed instruments mechanic, and a maker of hand-tooled silver buckle jewelry and violins. Agins' passion was writing, collecting and singing American folk songs, particularly of the West. During the 1940s and 1950s he entertained disabled youth, veterans, and children in hospitals, acting as an Ambassador of Goodwill Industries. In addition, he entertained prisoners in New Mexico, guests at dude ranches, and taught classes about folk singing throughout the American West. Agins was also the United States representative in 1976 at the Smithsonian Institution's Montreal Expo and also served as an expert on early American folk songs in Washington D.C. During the 1970s and 1980s he participated in the Festival of the American West and the Western Writers Conferences held in Logan, Utah. On November 19, 1957 he married Frederica Agins (born May, 1938) and they had two sons, Judd and Joseph Agins. Sam Agins died in Sun City, Arizona, on March 28, 1996.