Queer Places:
925 Grand Ave, Keokuk, IA 52632
Bryn Mawr College (Seven Sisters), 101 N Merion Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Sion Hill, 2026 Level Road, Havre de Grace, Maryland
Cornelia
Lynde "Nina" Meigs (December 6, 1884 - September 10, 1973) is the most notable
of the Meigs children. Cornelia, the fifth of six sisters, was born in Rock
Island, Ill. Like several of her older sisters she attended Bryn Mawr College,
where she received her A.B. degree in 1908. In 1915 she published her first
book, The Kingdom of the Winding Road, and followed it with more than
twenty-five other children's books. Later in life she wrote several books for
adults, among them The Violent Men, in 1949, and in 1953 she was part author
and editor of a comprehensive critique of children's books, A Critical History
of Children's Literature.
She was an American writer of fiction and biography for children, teacher
of English and writing, historian and critic of children's literature. She won
the Newbery Medal for her 1933 biography of Louisa
May Alcott, entitled Invincible Louisa. She also wrote three Newbery Honor
Books.[1]
Cornelia Meigs was born December 6, 1884, to civil engineer Montgomery C.
Meigs, Jr.[2] and
Grace Lynde Meigs in Rock Island, Illinois, the fifth of six daughters (one of
them was Dr. Grace Meigs). The
family moved to Keokuk, Iowa when she was one month old. After graduating from
Keokuk High School in 1901[3] she
attended Bryn Mawr College, receiving an A.B. degree in 1907.[4]
Meigs began writing children's books while an English teacher at St.
Katherine's School in Davenport, Iowa.[5] Her
first book, The Kingdom of the Winding Road, was published by Macmillan US in
1915. In 1922 she was one runner-up for the inaugural Newbery Medal from the
professional librarians, recognizing the previous year's "most distinguished
contribution to American literature for children".[1] Members
of the American Library Association were asked to nominate a book and The
Windy Hill by Meigs was the last of six that received at least two votes[6] subsequently
designated runners-up. She was one of the runners-up again in 1929 (Clearing
Weather) and 1933 (Swift Rivers). Runner-up works are now called Newbery Honor
Books, so latter-day editions are authorized to display a silver seal on the
cover.[1]
Meigs won a Little, Brown and Co. prize competition with The Trade Wind.
Little, Brown published that book in 1927 and subsequently a few more of her
works including the children's biographies of Louisa May Alcott and Jane
Addams. Meigs is best known for the Alcott biography, Invincible Louisa:
The Story of the Author of "Little Women", which won the Newbery Medal in
1934.[1] It
follows Alcott from childhood in Pennsylvania and Boston through writing the
classic novel Little Women. Kirkus Reviews called Meigs "one of the best-loved
authors of fiction for boys and girls", observed that Little Women is
"virtually autobiographical", and recommended that the books be paired.[7]
In 1932, Meigs became a professor of English at Bryn Mawr,[8] where
she remained until her retirement in 1950. During World War II she took a year
of absence for three years to work for the War Department.[9] After
leaving Bryn Mawr, Meigs taught writing at the New School of Social
Research in New York City. She was the lead editor and one writer of A
Critical History of Children's Literature, published by Macmillan in 1953,
which has been called "a landmark in the field of children's literature".[9] It
was revised under Meigs' leadership and re-issued in 1969. In her lifetime
Meigs wrote over 30 fiction books for children, as well as two plays, two
biographies, and several books and articles for adults.
Meigs lived at Sion Hill, Havre de Grace, Maryland; and Brandon, Vermont.[10] She
died at Havre de Grace, Maryland, on September 10, 1973. Most of her papers
are in the Special Collections Library at Dartmouth College.[8] Others
are in the de Grummond Collection at the University of Southern Mississippi in
Hattiesburg[11] and
at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
My published books:
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