Bess Aldrich
Bess Genevra Streeter Aldrich, born on February 17, 1881, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, was an influential American author known for her poignant portrayals of pioneer and small-town life. Growing up in a rural environment, Aldrich was exposed to stories of her family's experiences settling the prairie, which later inspired her writing. She began her literary career in her teens, selling short stories to national publications. After marrying Captain Charles Aldrich and raising four children, she continued to write, achieving significant recognition during the 1920s.
Her first novel, *The Rim of the Prairie*, was published in 1925, followed by her most acclaimed work, *A Lantern in Her Hand*, in 1928. Aldrich's stories often highlighted the strength and resilience of Midwestern women. Despite facing personal hardships, including the loss of her husband, she remained committed to her writing, eventually publishing several novels and short stories throughout her life. Aldrich passed away on August 3, 1954, leaving behind a legacy that celebrates the experiences and contributions of women in her region. She is remembered for her ability to connect with readers through relatable characters and themes of perseverance.
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Subject Terms
Bess Aldrich
Author
- Born: February 17, 1881
- Birthplace: Cedar Falls, Iowa
- Died: August 3, 1954
- Place of death: Lincoln, Nebraska
Biography
Bess Genevra Streeter, who would be more widely known as Bess Aldrich, was born on February 17, 1881, in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Her parents, Mary and James Streeter, had lived for twenty years on a farm nearby, and had just moved into a rambling house in town when Aldrich, their eighth child, was born. She attended public schools in Cedar Falls, and years later she described the excitement of being taught to play the new game of basketball, which the girls played outside wearing bulky flannel bloomers. Cedar Falls was a small town, and young Aldrich’s life centered on school, family, and Sunday school. During high school, she also began writing short stories. At fourteen, she sold a story to the Chicago Record, and at seventeen she won a five-dollar prize in a contest for a sentimental love story. She went on to the Iowa State Teachers College, walking the two miles to classes each day, and graduated in 1901. She taught elementary school until 1907, when she married Captain Charles Aldrich, who had served in the Spanish-American War. The couple moved to Elmwood, Nebraska, where they purchased the American Exchange Bank. While Aldrich raised their four children, Mary Eleanor, James, Charles, and Robert, she kept writing short stories and sending them off. With no agent and no personal contact with editors, she managed to sell stories to national magazines, including McCall’s, Ladies Home Journal and Harpers Weekly. Her stories featured pioneer or small-town women who willingly performing heavy labors to settle new land so that their children could have better lives. Many of the plots and characters were based on family stories Aldrich had heard from her parents and grandparents about their own experiences settling the prairie. As magazine circulation increased in the 1920’s, so did her fame. She hired a housekeeper so she could reply personally to her fan mail, which reached more than a thousand letters a year. In 1925, her husband suddenly died, and Aldrich, devastated, was left to support the children and manage the bank. Publication of her first novel, The Rim of the Prairie (1925), provided enough income to keep the family stable. A few years later, in 1928, she published her most important work, A Lantern in Her Hand. When the Great Depression came, she tried without success to sell A Lantern in Her Hand to a movie studio, hoping the income could help her through lean times. Before her death in 1954, she published eight more books, several short stories, and saw one of her novels, Miss Bishop (1933) made into a movie. In 1946, Aldrich moved from Elmwood to the larger city of Lincoln, Nebraska, where she lived the rest of her life. She died of cancer on August 3, 1954, at the age of seventy-three. Aldrich is known today for one novel, and for her presentation of strong and feminine Midwestern women. In her lifetime her work was always popular, and she won the O. Henry Award for the story “The Man Who Caught the Weather.”
