What inspired you to want to write for kids? For me, it was reading Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates with my 4th graders. After reading the novel, I knew I wanted to be able to make historical figures come alive as Miss Yates did.
There were steps to the process. First, I had to convince myself I could be a writer. Then, I had to start writing, and keep writing--a lot. Eventually I sold my first book. That year, my middle child was a fifth grader. His teaching team arranged a field trip to Peterborough, NH. They would meet and talk with Elizabeth Yates and then hike through Shieling Forest, the woods Yates and her husband had purchased and given to the state of New Hampshire. I volunteered to chaperone. I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to meet my inspiration.
Miss Yates was wonderful with the kids. I got to thank her for writing the book that had helped me choose my next career and we posed together for a picture. She autographed my copy of Amos Fortune. I was so excited to tell her that I'd just sold my first book. When it was published, I sent her a copy and a thank you note for the kind words she shared in the inscription she'd written. She invited me to visit her.
By this time, Miss Yates had moved to a retirement community in Concord. She lived in a lovely little condo and kept tomato plants by her back door. The neighbors, she said, were wonderful and knew not to disturb her in the morning because that was her writing time. She was well into her 80s and still devoted her mornings to writing! I will never forget the visit. Some years later, when she passed away, I attended her memorial. Turns out there were many, many people like me who had been inspired by and encouraged by Elizabeth Yates. The woman who had no children of her own had nurtured hundreds.
Last year, I got to return the favor in a way. I wrote her profile for Women of Granite: 25 NH Women You Should Know so that others would remember her. It was a pleasure to do so.
Sister Beatrice was neither a nun nor a woman named Beatrice, but she sure could get things done. Born into poverty in 1868, Caroline Gott spent her first three years in Ohio before being adopted by the Clarks of Rochester, New York. Her singing talent was evident at an early age, and by 1890 Caroline was singing professionally.
Around 1898, Caroline married Dr. James Bartlett, a dentist some 30-years her senior. They bought a summer home in Warner, New Hampshire, and Caroline established Sunny Hill, a music school. Caroline researched voice production and even exchanged letters with Thomas Edison about voice. She developed her own way to teach singing called the natural voice method. She established such a name for herself that Lillian Nordica, the premier diva of the day, started training with Caroline in 1907. Just how much of a celebrity was Nordica? Celebrity enough to be featured in Coca-Cola advertising, that's how much.
Caroline's husband died in 1909, and Caroline did what all good widows do. She made a beeline for New York City and started another singing school. She and Lillian planned on working together, and set up a recital tour of Europe. Caroline, an eccentric who could have given P.T. Barnum lessons in self-promotion, arrived in London in 1914, but the tour was doomed before it even started. Lillian, who had just wrapped up a recital tour of Australia, never made it to London. She was shipwrecked on a coral reef à la Gilligan's Island. (Quite possibly Lillian was the inspiration for the Ginger character.) Although she was rescued, she was too weak to continue the journey and eventually died on the island of Java. Even if Lillian had found her way to London, the outbreak of World War I would have ended the tour in short order.
Not long after Lillian's death, Caroline was drinking tea with a friend when she had a vision of "Christ in the cowl." A few months later she started seeing fields of purple and eventually a purple cloak. She saw this cloak in such detail that she had a London seamstress create one for her based on sketches she had done. In an effort to determine what these visions meant, she met with an archdeacon. He told her she was being called to humanitarian work, but that ultimately she would be persecuted.
By this time, London was filled with Belgium refugees escaping the war, homeless and hungry. Moved by what she witnessed, Caroline became the Bob Geldof of her day. She walked around London asking people to help the refugees. She collected and distributed clothing, food and money. She was so good at her self-appointed relief work, that a doctor who saw what she was doing asked her to go to France to open a hospital for wounded soldiers.
Caroline went to France and saw the suffering firsthand. She traveled back and forth across the English Channel dozens of times, raising money and supplies which she brought back to France with her. She took her eccentricities to new heights when she started wearing a self-designed uniform to make herself more recognizable when traveling in a war zone. The uniform was fashioned around the purple cloak, and resembled a nun's habit. For reasons unknown, she started going by the name Sister Beatrice. Within two months, she had a hospital up and running in Yvetot and was appointed hospital director.
Caroline looked for money and resources anywhere she could find them, and her abilities as a performer served her well. She once spoke to an audience of 140,000 ship builders in Newcastle, England in her quest for funding. Attired in what had become her trademark purple cloak, Caroline raised money, supplies, and more than a few eyebrows.
Caroline was acquiring enemies along the way. For all of her media savvy, she was quite naive about the effect her strong, blunt personality had on people. Her successes as an independent relief agent were met with jealousy by officially sanctioned relief organizations. Caroline was already treading a fine line as a woman alone in a foreign country. Toss that purple cape and her unique personality into the mix and you've got a recipe for suspicion and ridicule. Rumors started swirling that she was a war profiteer and a German spy.
Caroline was accused of mishandling the monies raised for the hospital at Yvetot. In October 1915 she was dismissed as its director. On December 4, 1915 the New York Times front page headline read "'Sister Beatrice' Accused -- Mrs. Caroline Bartlett Called a German Spy."
Despite these blows, Caroline continued her relief work. Throughout 1918 she raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Serbian's Widows and Orphans fund. Caroline's relief work ended with the war in 1919. With her reputation in tatters, it was nearly impossible for her to find paying work.
Caroline returned to Warner, New Hampshire in 1929. In poor health and with few friends, she spent her last years trying to clear her name. She died in Warner on February 16, 1938. The woman who single-handedly raised hundreds of thousands of dollars and was responsible for saving countless lives bowed out of this world as poor as she was upon her debut. She died with only $59.60 cash in her estate.
Fishing stories always include tales of the “one that got away.” In our research we catch glimpses of stories that get away – interesting tidbits about women for whom there isn’t really enough information to build a whole profile, or who didn’t make the cut for the book we’re working on, because there are already “too many suffragists” or “too many authors” and the list had to be trimmed . . . .or because the lady in question is just not a suitable subject for a book for fourth-grade classrooms.
To wit – Helen Woodruff Smith, who made my original list of New Hampshire women as the founder of the first bird sanctuary in the United States. Here’s the tantalizing glimpse, courtesy of a WPA book New Hampshire: A Guide to the Granite State, which I happen to own but which you can read on Google Books (just go to Google and click the "More" drop-down arrow at the top):
“Left from Meriden about 0.5m on a dirt road to the Helen Woodruff Smith Sanctuary, the first of its kind in the country, and established in 1910 by Mr. Baynes on an abandoned farm that had been bought by Helen Woodruff Smith, who financed the project at first. The sanctuary comprises about 32 acres of sloping pasture and meadow land sheltered by deep woods. It was improved by the landscape architect and ornithologist, Frederick H. Kennard. Paths lead through the woods, bird houses of every type hang from trees, and drinking pools are numerous among the ferns. Bird baths are placed at intervals, one a boulder weighing 5 tons, another of bronze and sculptured by Annetta (Mrs. Louis) Saint-Gaudens in commemoration of the bird masque, “Sanctuary,” first performed here in 1913. The masque was written by Percy MacKaye and the cast included the Misses Eleanor and Margaret Wilson, daughters of President Woodrow Wilson, Miss Juliet Barrett Rublee, the artists Joseph Lindon Smith, the poet Witter Bynner, MacKaye and Baynes.”
Right in that one paragraph there are more than enough rabbit trails to keep me happily distracted all day long.
First I need to know if this bird sanctuary still exists? Indeed it does—and I learn from the Plainfield Historical Society that “The stone pillars and original sign were designed by Maxfield Parrish.”
And in 2006 someone waymarked this cool birdhouse there. Must put this on my to do list for the summer!
Have you read about Waymarking, by the way? It sounds like a lot of fun. . . .
Then there is the “masque” in which the daughters of the President acted. What’s a “masque”? I wonder? I thought it was a dance. This turns out to be a challenge, Wikipedia assures me that it’s a theatrical form of the middle ages but it’s clear that it was pretty popular in community theatre in the opening decades of the twentieth century. This particular masque was something of an environmental propaganda piece, apparently .
If you want to, you can read the full text of the play at Internet Archive . Type in "Sanctuary" and "Bird Masque."
And thanks to the new policy at the New York Times, you can read a review of the performance at the Hotel Astor. Just search for "Helen Woodruff Smith" and it will come right up.
I learn from the Internet Archive copy of Bird Friends; a complete bird book for Americans that the Meriden Bird Club is (or was, the book is copyright 1916) the ”best known bird club in America”! Who knew??
I know a little bit about the sculpting Saint-Gaudenses. I’m thinking of looking up Fred Kennard and I’m intrigued that Mr. Baynes (full name Ernest Harold Baynes) apparently travelled the country urging the creation of bird sanctuaries, but I finally remember that it’s Helen Woodruff Smith I’m researching.
And only then do I learn that – she wasn’t from New Hampshire, she was from Stamford, Connecticut. And she wasn’t quite the role model you’d like to offer to young women of impressionable age!
According to the New York Times, she was sued for breach of contract (marriage) by a spurned chorus-line dancer. (This was only the third time that a woman had been the defendant in such a suit.) This was quite the celebrity trial: The Gary (Indiana) Evening Post describes her as “Dashing Millionaress.” The New York Times reported that “people fought for places in the small courtroom.” The plaintiff is described as a “black-garbed, sunken-cheeked youth” while "Miss Smith" is a “small, pink-cheeked woman, with a sharp, diminutive nose.” Reference is made to Helen's 14 year old son (Dickenson Schuyler) by her former husband, ex-Mayor Cummings of Stamford. (Also available from the New York Times archive are the details of her 1907 divorce decree.)
A quick scan of some genealogy websites reveals that Helen was born in December 1869 (so she was 33 when she took up with the 18-year-old) and died in 1954 (although several listings show her death at "about 1908," unlikely since she was in divorce court in 1911 - demonstrating the importance of double-checking facts!). Helen was the daughter of the late Commodore James Smith, who had been president of the New York Stock Exchange. (And he WAS from New Hampshire. How did he earn the title of Commodore, I wonder?) Her ex-husband Homer Cummings went on to marry three more times, and was Attorney General of the United States as well as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He wrote a memoir in 1939, that might be interesting. I bet I could find a copy on addall. Or maybe Google Books or Internet Archive has digitized it.
Oh wait, Helen. Her love letters to the young dancer were published in the newspapers during the lead-up to the trial, including this map of the "Sea of Matrimony," which would certainly seem to suggest all manner of domestic bliss:
The young man admitted being responsible for her divorce, and described sneaking in by the back door of her home while supposedly working as Helen’s secretary. There are detailed descriptions of various kinds of kisses that the two shared during their nine years of intimacy, (when did the New York Times become the Old Gray Lady? Clearly sometime after October 18, 1911!) The jury found in favor of the well-heeled Miss Smith, by the way, on the grounds that no where in the many letters did she actually promise to marry her young paramour. Geesh, no wonder she’s not in the New Hampshire book!
There’s more , but this will suffice to demonstrate the risks of Research Rapture (thank you Deborah Brodie for the description diagnosis), a recognized occupational hazard of non-fiction writers.
Three of the Write Sisters managed to connect with another WOG subject. Yesterday, Muriel, my "civilian" pals Lynne Barret and Kathy Winn, and I headed into Portsmouth to hear Doris "Granny D." Haddock speak at the South Church. We hooked up with Diane on State Street at Re-Enhabit, my cousin Jodie Curtis's store. Jodie is a sales genius and shared tons of great tips for getting Women of Granite: 25 New Hampshire Women You Should Know(WOG) and the other books in Mur’s Apprentice Shop Books' catalog into stores. She pointed out that these are exactly the kinds of books (well-written, interesting subjects, relevant to the area) that do extremely well in touristy towns such as Portsmouth. We talked with her for about an hour (actually Jodie gave us a crash course in the fine art of sales), and then went to Popovers in Market Square for an outdoor dinner.
Dinner on the sidewalk in Portsmouth is a people-watching extravaganza. The Leftist Marching Band just happened to be playing at a peace rally on the corner right next to Popovers. The band was a colorful mix of old and young hippies attired appropriately and adorned with some of the best body art this side of Seattle. We arrived just in time for the don’t-shop-at Walmart sing-along. Regardless of your feelings about Walmart or your political leanings, they were fantastic. Democracy in action is a beautiful thing. Dinner was mighty tasty, too.
After the band finished, who should appear from the dispersing crowd but Doris “Granny D.” Haddock! She wore her trademark feathered hat, and the only concession to her 98 years was a pair of escorts, one on either side. Lynne snapped a couple of great pictures, and we told Granny we were looking forward to her speech that evening.
We spent the rest of our time in Market Square talking about the literary world's designated next big thing, Brunonia Barry's first novel The Lace Reader (William Morrow, 2008). This originally self-published book ended up going for better than 2 million dollars at auction. At that price, it better be the literary world’s next big thing. Anyway, both Lynne and Kathy live in Salem, Massachusetts, where The Lace Reader is set. They said that the buzz surrounding this book is phenomenal. Salem, a huge tourist town, has even added a Lace Reader Tour to the tourist trolley schedule.
After dinner we headed to the South Church, passing Granny D. and her escorts on our way. (Not much of a feat, really. The woman is 98-years old, after all.) Granny D.'s speech was absolutely inspiring! There aren’t many folks left who remember first-hand women winning the right to vote. She was 10-years old at the time, and recounted how excited and proud her mother was at the prospect of casting her first vote. She made the crowd laugh when she told how her mother turned to her father and asked, “Who should I vote for?” She was quick to point out that was the one and only election for which she sought his advice.
Granny D. remembered trying to bring her father into the Democratic Party. He was a Lincoln Republican (as in personally remembers Lincoln!) and a hard sell. Can you imagine in the year 2008 being able to say that your father was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln? It’s stunning, really.
We presented Doris with a copy of WOG, and ended up creating a little WOG buzz within the crowd. We are finding that once people learn about WOG, they always want to hear more.
Oh, and guess who else was spotted on State Street yesterday. Jeanne Shaheen, another of our WOG subjects! Diane saw the Governor and her husband strolling past Re-Enhabit shortly before Mur and I arrived.
It was a veritable WOG festival in Portsmouth yesterday!
Have you seen The Hippo? It's a local news, food, arts and entertainment weekly published out of Manchester, New Hampshire. Check out page 47 of the July 17-23, 2008 edition for a review of Women of Granite: 25 New Hampshire Women You Should Knowby Janet Buell and the rest of the Write Sisters. Here are a few snippets from Lisa Parson's review.
"For kids needing summer reading material, Women of Granite is a good one. For grownups, it's a good book to surf through -- won't take long and you'll learn something."
"It brings Harriet Wilson (the country's first published African-American novelist) to life more than anything else I've read about her, and the same goes for Granny D, the 90-some-year-old who walked across the nation encouraging people to get involved in politics."
"It lives up to its title: these are women you should know, and so the book tells you about them . . . It's just about the sheer accomplishments of women."
Hurray us, and thanks to Ms. Parson for the nod. If I didn't already own the book, I'd run right out and get it.
The review wasn't entirely a lovefest, however. Ms. Parson took exception to a few of our glossary words, including butterfly and workout. I'll give her workout. That one slipped under the radar for sure, but she can't have butterfly. That was included not because kids wouldn't be able to pronounce it without help, but because it defined a swimming stroke done by Olympian Jenny Thompson.
I also have one teeny tiny correction. Ms. Parson said our illustrator was JanetGreenleaf. It was, in fact, Lisa Greenleaf. It's just one of those crazy little things that slip under the radar. Kind of like workout.
If you just can't wait to check out our review in The Hippo, your can read it here online.
After spending a good part of the last year writing profiles for the Women of series, it was a kick to actually meet one of our subjects. Former New Hampshire governor Jeanne Shaheen was slated to march in the Amherst 4th of July parade, and we took the opportunity to connect with her. She's in the midst of her senatorial bid, but we were able to nab a few moments of her time before she lead dozens of her supporters down Main Street.
What an incredibly gracious woman! Governor Shaheen was happy to learn that the New Hampshire Center for the Book selected Women of Graniteto be the featured New Hampshire book at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. this September. This means at least seven New Hampshire women will be heading to D.C. this fall!
Pictured above from left to right are Sally Wilkins, Diane Mayr, Andy Murphy, Governor Jeanne Shaheen, Muriel Dubois, and Barbara Turner.
Fishing stories always include tales of the “one that got away.” In our research we catch glimpses of stories that get away – interesting tidbits about women for whom there isn’t really enough information to build a whole profile, or who didn’t make the cut for the book we’re working on, because there are already “too many suffragists” or “too many authors” and the list had to be trimmed . . . .or because the lady in question is just not a suitable subject for a book for fourth-grade classrooms.
