Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
Carolyn Sherwin Bailey was an influential American writer and educator, born in 1875 in Hoosick Falls, New York. She displayed her writing talent early on, winning a children's writing contest at the age of five. With a strong educational background, including graduation from Teachers College, Columbia University, Bailey worked as a teacher and principal before turning to writing full-time. Her literary career began in 1905, producing a variety of children's books, including stories, picture books, and nonfiction. Bailey is best known for her 1947 Newbery Medal-winning novel, *Miss Hickory*, which features a wooden doll navigating friendships and challenges in a whimsical narrative. Her works often reflect her interests in history and craft, as seen in her books on pioneer arts and crafts. Throughout her life, Bailey lived both in New York City and Temple, New Hampshire, where she enjoyed a pastoral lifestyle until her passing in 1961. Her contributions to children's literature continue to resonate, showcasing her dedication to engaging young readers through imaginative storytelling.
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Carolyn Sherwin Bailey
Writer
- Born: October 25, 1875
- Birthplace: Hoosick Falls, New York
- Died: December 23, 1961
- Place of death: Temple, New Hampshire
Biography
Carolyn Sherwin Bailey was born in Hoosick Falls, New York, in 1875. She exhibited talent as a writer at the age of five, when she won second place in a writing contest for children sponsored by the prestigious children’s magazine, St. Nicholas. Her father was Charles Henry Bailey, a metallurgist working on blast furnaces in far-flung parts of the world. Her mother, Emma Frances (Blanchard) Bailey, was a mathematics teacher and writer of children’s books. Bailey spent her early years in Auburn and Lansingburgh, a small town on the Hudson River. Bailey and her sister were homeschooled until the age of twelve, when she began to attend historic Lansingburgh Academy. She continued her education at Teachers College, Columbia University, graduating in 1896. She also studied at the Montessori School in Rome and at the New York School of Social Work.
Bailey’s early career found her traveling in Europe, the Caribbean, and the United States, working as a teacher in New York, and later becoming the principal of Jefferson Avenue Kindergarten in Springfield, Massachusetts. She also worked as a social worker at the Warren Goddar House in New York. From 1924 to 1935, Bailey also began a career as an editor, working in the children’s department of the New York magazine Delineator and for the magazine American Childhood in Springfield, Massachusetts. Bailey married relatively late in life, to Dr. Eben Clayton Hill, in 1936.
Bailey began writing children’s books in 1905, at the age of nineteen, with The Peter NewellMother Goose, and produced a large number of stories, picture books, nonfiction, and edited collections for children on a regular basis. Bailey’s 1913 book For the Storyteller lays out her guidelines for writing for and telling stories to children. Her best-known work, however, was published in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Most notable is the novel Miss Hickory, for which she won the 1947 Newbery award. Bailey follows in the tradition of such authors as Carlo Collodi (Pinocchio), A. A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh), and Rachel Field (Hitty) in focusing on a toy as the main character. Bailey’s Miss Hickory is a wooden doll made from an apple twig and a hickory nut who forms friendships with the animals who surround her. She must survive many near-disasters before she is transformed into the living branch of an apple tree. The doll character is modeled on a doll given to her by her grandmother, who made it from a pattern from pioneer times. The novel also notably features lithographs by Ruth Gannett.
Bailey’s series of works on pioneer arts and crafts, with such titles as Homespun Playdays, Children of the Handcrafts, and Pioneer Art in America, was also well received and provides evidence of her interest in history and material culture. Later in life, Bailey and her husband alternated living in New York City and in Temple, New Hampshire. Her home near the New Hampshire mountains had an extensive apple orchard, six fireplaces, and a secret staircase. Bailey continued to publish sporadically into the 1950’s and early 1960’s, dying in December, 1961, in Temple, New Hampshire.