Cornelia Meigs
Cornelia Lynde Meigs (1884-1973) was a prominent American author and educator, best known for her contributions to children's literature in the early to mid-20th century. Born in Rock Island, Illinois, and raised in Keokuk, she went on to earn a degree from Bryn Mawr College. Meigs spent eighteen years teaching at St. Katharine's School in Iowa, where her storytelling inspired her first book, *The Kingdom of the Winding Road* (1915). Over her prolific career, she published more than thirty children's books, including her notable biography *Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of "Little Women"*, which earned her the first Newbery Medal awarded to a biography.
In addition to her children's literature, Meigs authored several nonfiction works and played a role in academia as a professor at Bryn Mawr College. She also held a position with the War Department during World War II. Her scholarly focus included important literary figures and activists, such as Louisa May Alcott and Jane Addams. Meigs was highly regarded in her time, often recognized as one of the most respected children's authors of the 1920s and 1930s, with multiple award-winning works that have left a lasting legacy in the field of children's literature. She passed away in Maryland in 1973.
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Cornelia Meigs
Author
- Born: December 6, 1884
- Birthplace: Rock Island, Illinois
- Died: September 10, 1973
Biography
Cornelia Lynde Meigs was born on December 6, 1884, in Rock Island, Illinois, and grew up in Keokuk, Illinois, on the banks of the Mississippi River. Her parents were Montgomery Meigs, an engineer in charge of navigation improvements, and Grace Lynde Meigs. The family spent the summers in New England with relatives. Meigs attended a local private school with her sisters; she then attended Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, completing her bachelor’s degree in 1907.
After graduation, she returned to Mississippi and taught for eighteen years at St. Katharine’s School in Davenport, Iowa. Meigs often told stories to the children at the school, leading to her first book, a collection of short stories called The Kingdom of the Winding Road (1915). This was quickly followed by a long work, Master Simon’s Garden (1916), which spanned three generations of the history of one New England family. That year she also wrote a play, The Steadfast Princess. Like several of her later works, Meigs published The Steadfast Princess under the name Adair Aldon. Over the next six decades, she published more than thirty books for children and several nonfiction books for adults, many of them based on historical events or people.
Meigs cared for her ailing father until his death in 1932 and then returned to Bryn Mawr in 1932 as an English instructor, eventually being promoted to full professor. In 1933 she published her most successful book, Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of “Little Women”. The book sold well enough that she was able to purchase a small farm, Green Pastures, in Vermont, where she spent summers for the rest of her life.
She remained at Bryn Mawr until her retirement in 1950, with a stint working as a civilian for the War Department during World War II. Her scholarly work involved important literary and activist women, and she wrote books about Louisa May Alcott and Jane Addams, among others. After retirement, Meigs taught writing for a time at the New School of Social Research in New York City. She died on September 10, 1973, in Havre de Grace, Maryland. Meigs has been called the most respected children’s author of the 1920’s and 1930’s. Her crowning achievement is her biography of Louisa May Alcott, Invincible Louisa: The Story of the Author of “Little Women”, for which she won the first Newbery Medal ever awarded to a biography. Three other books of hers were named Newbery Honor Books. She was also an author and co-editor for the first comprehensive analysis about American and British children’s literature, A Critical History of Children’s Literature (1953).