Ethel Johnston Phelps
Ethel Johnston Phelps, born on March 8, 1914, in Long Island City, New York, was an influential author and feminist advocate known for reshaping children's literature. From a young age, she demonstrated a passion for storytelling, contributing to school and local publications. Phelps graduated from Adelphi University in 1934 and had her first one-act play produced shortly thereafter. After marrying Richard J. Phelps in 1937 and raising three children, she became active in local theater during the 1950s, furthering her writing aspirations. Notably, she earned a master's degree in medieval literature in 1973 and became marketing manager for the Feminist Press, which bolstered her confidence as a writer.
Phelps observed the lack of strong female characters in children's literature and sought to address this gap by gathering and retelling folk tales featuring adventurous girls, resulting in her acclaimed collections, *Tatterhood, and Other Tales* (1978) and *The Maid of the North* (1981). These works gained popularity and sparked discussions among feminist critics regarding their entertainment value versus their role as feminist propaganda. Beyond her writing, Phelps was active in her community, supporting local libraries and storytelling initiatives. She passed away in 1984 while working on new novels, leaving behind a legacy that continues to inspire discussions about gender representation in children's literature.
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Ethel Johnston Phelps
Author
- Born: March 8, 1914
- Birthplace: Long Island City, New York
- Died: November 1, 1984
- Place of death: Rockville Center, New York
Biography
Ethel Johnston was born on March 8, 1914, in Long Island City, New York. Her father, John Alexander Johnston, was an engineer, and her mother, Frances Curran Johnston, was a teacher. From an early age, Johnston wrote stories for her family, published a weekly newspaper for her Girl Scout troop, wrote a weekly column called “Southside School News” about high school for the Rockville Center News-Owl, and edited her high-school magazine. She graduated from Adelphi University in 1934, the year she saw her one-act Christmas play produced by the Adelphi College Theater, and found various jobs to support herself. Johnston attempted writing in the evenings after work, but did not seriously consider that writing might be part of her career.
In 1937 she married Richard J. Phelps, who worked in data processing, and changed her name to Ethel Johnston Phelps. The couple had three children: John, Richard, and Kevin. During the 1950’s, Phelps became involved with local theater, and had two of her original one-act plays produced. In 1969, she returned to school, earning a master’s degree in medieval literature from Adelphi in 1973. That year, she became marketing manager for the Feminist Press, which had been founded in 1970. She reported later that her newfound feminism gave her the confidence she had lacked to take her writing seriously.
Observing that few books for children featured strong girls as lead characters, Phelps gathered and retold a collection of folk tales about adventurous and intelligent girls. For her research, she read thousands of folktales and fairy tales. The resulting anthology was Tatterhood, and Other Tales (1978), a collection of twenty-five traditional tales from around the world, followed by The Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tales from Around the World (1981). Both were popular and critical successes, and led to sharp dispute among feminist critics over the ultimate success of the stories as entertainment and as propaganda.
In addition to writing and publishing, Phelps was active in her local community in Rockville Center, New York, serving on the board of trustees for the public library and judging storytelling contests there. Phelps died in 1984, as she was working on a novel about Regency England and a young adult novel set in the eleventh century.
Tatterhood was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and remained in print into the twenty-first century. Maid of the North was named a Children’s Book Council notable book. Both are still recognized for their entertaining and imaginative stories, as well as for their historical role in helping launch a wave of books for children with characters that break from traditional gender roles.