Mabel Louise Robinson
Mabel Louise Robinson (1874-1962) was an American author and educator, recognized for her contributions to children's literature, particularly for girls. She is best known for her Little Lucia series and the novel Bright Island (1937), which reflect themes of independence and growth. Robinson was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, and pursued a career in education after attending Radcliffe College, eventually teaching at Wellesley College and Constantinople College in Turkey. Her academic journey culminated in a master's degree and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, where she also taught writing for over twenty-five years, emphasizing her commitment to nurturing young writers.
Robinson’s literary work often features young female protagonists who embark on journeys of self-discovery, frequently set against the backdrop of Maine, where she spent significant time. She also wrote about her passion for dogs, with several stories featuring canine companions. Beyond her fiction for children, she published a biography on zoologist Louis Agassiz. Robinson's legacy includes the Mabel Louise Robinson Scholarship at Columbia University, honoring her impact on education and literature for young people, particularly girls.
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Subject Terms
Mabel Louise Robinson
Writer
- Born: July 19, 1874
- Birthplace: Waltham, Massachusetts
- Died: February 21, 1962
Biography
Mabel Louise Robinson is part of a long tradition of interesting and independent women who saw one of their primary goals in life as writing books for girls and young women, showcasing their protagonists’ worth, intelligence, and sensitivity. Coming out of the tradition pioneered by such writers as Louisa May Alcott (Little Women) and Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Robinson is probably best known for her Little Lucia series for young readers and her novel Bright Island (1937), set in Maine.
Robinson was born in Waltham, Massachusetts, in 1874 to James Frank Robinson and Mary Anna Dean Robinson. After teaching elementary school briefly, she went on to attend Radcliffe College and to teach zoology at Wellesley College from 1904 to 1906. Following this, she taught in Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey, at the Constantinople College. After she returned to the United States, she worked as a researcher for the Carnegie Foundation while she completed her master’s degree (1907) and her Ph.D. (1915) from Columbia University.
Robinson’s life and work centered on several abiding interests: writing books for young people, teaching others to write, recounting her life in Maine, and dogs. Her career managed to bring all of these interests together. Robinson considered teaching others to write one of her most important responsibilities. She taught classes at Columbia University and conducted advanced writing workshops for more than twenty-five years. Her early text on writing, Juvenile Story Writing (1922), was later revised as Writing for Young People (1950). She took great pride in her students’ accomplishments, and in 1952 the Mabel Louise Robinson Scholarship was established in her honor at Columbia University.
Her work also centered around interests in dogs, in the settings of Maine, and in creating young female characters who venture beyond their isolated childhoods into the wider world, often to return to their childhood home with renewed appreciation. The charming Little Lucia stories, written from 1922 to 1926, follow a little girl and her dog through a series of travels and vacations. Her books about dogs include Dr. Tam O’Shanter (1921), a collection of stories that first appeared in St. Nicholas Magazine. Other stories of children and their dogs included Robin and Tito (1931), Robin and Angus (1931), and Robin and Heather (1932). Robinson’s books have been illustrated by many different illustrators, including Sophie T. Balcom, Julie Brown, Eloise Burns Wilkin, Eunice Vibberts, Lynd Ward, Leonard Shortall, and Aldren Watson.
Ward and Robinson teamed up for what is probably Robinson’s best-known and most enduring work, Bright Island. The protagonist, Thankful Curtis, has led an isolated life on the coastal Bright Island, off Maine, and finds herself thrown into the alien world of a fashionable boarding school, where she encounters new people, new ideas, and new technologies. After she graduates, she returns to Bright Island with a greater appreciation of family and friends and marries her childhood friend Dave.
Robinson’s lifelong interest in animals and zoology led to a different type of project. She discovered that the pioneering Swiss-American zoologistLouis Agassiz had been a frequent visitor to her childhood home when it was the residence of the president of Harvard University. This sparked her interest in writing a biography of the scientist, Runner of the Mountain Tops: The Life of Louis Agassiz, published in 1939. Although Robinson also wrote several novels for adults, it is her work for young people, especially for girls, for which she will be best remembered. Robinson continued to publish fiction until 1956 and died in 1962.