Anne Hobbs
Anne Hobbs was an American educator and author, born in the early 1900s in Brownington, Missouri, before moving to Colorado with her family. After training to become a teacher, she briefly taught in Oregon before taking a significant position with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Alaska in 1928. Throughout her teaching career, she worked in various Alaskan locations, including Franklin Creek, Chenin, the Tetlin Indian Reservation, and Eagle, and she also reportedly taught in California for a time. In 1940, Hobbs married local gold miner Fred Purdy, and together they adopted ten children.
Hobbs was not only an educator but also a prolific writer, publishing her first novel, *Dark Boundary*, in 1954. Her most well-known work, *Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness*, published in 1976, recounts her experiences teaching Alaskan Indian children and gained significant popularity. Additionally, she contributed to newspapers and magazines and played a role in establishing a public library in Eagle, Alaska. Following the death of her husband in 1965, Hobbs continued her work until her passing in 1987 in Dot Lake, Alaska.
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Anne Hobbs
Writer
- Born: c. 1902
- Birthplace: Prownington, Missouri
- Died: April 15, 1987
- Place of death: Dot Lake, Alaska
Biography
Anne Hobbs was born in the early 1900’s in Prownington, Missouri. A few years after her birth, her family relocated to Colorado. After going to school to become a teacher, Hobbs took a position teaching in Oregon for a short period of time. While teaching in Oregon, Hobbs was offered a job teaching in Alaska for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 1928. While in Alaska she taught in a number of different locations, including Franklin Creek, Chenin, the Tetlin Indian Reservation, and also the town of Eagle. At some time during her career, Hobbs is said to have taught children in California for a short period of time as well. However, she spent the majority of her life in Alaska.
In 1940, while teaching in Chicken, Alaska, Hobbs met Fred Purdy, a local gold miner. The two were married, and in the time following the marriage the couple adopted ten children. In 1954, Hobbs published her first novel, Dark Boundary. Aside from teaching, she wrote numerous articles for newspapers and magazines, worked as an assistant to the postmaster, managed a road house in Eagle, Alaska, and helped to found and establish a public library in Eagle.
In 1976, she wrote and published Tisha: The Story of a Young Teacher in the Alaska Wilderness, an account of her life as a teacher of Alaskan Indian children. The novel became popular in the 1970’s and attracted a lot of attention.
Fred Purdy died in 1965, and Hobbs was left a widow. Hobbs herself died in 1987 while living in Dot Lake, Alaska.