Thomas Nelson Page
Thomas Nelson Page was a prominent American writer and diplomat, born in 1853 in Hanover County, Virginia, on a plantation. His upbringing in the antebellum South and experiences during the Civil War significantly influenced his literary work. Page attended Washington College, now known as Washington and Lee University, where he was mentored by Robert E. Lee. Although he initially practiced law after earning his LL.B. from the University of Virginia, he transitioned to a full-time writing career, gaining recognition with his story "Marse Chan," published in Century Magazine.
For the next two decades, Page's writings focused on Southern life and the romanticized notions of the South before and during the Civil War, aiming to mend the divide between the North and South. His belief in the happiness of both slaves and masters in the antebellum South shaped his narratives and social studies. In 1913, he was appointed ambassador to Italy by President Woodrow Wilson, a role he maintained until 1919, during which he advocated for Italy's interests post-World War I. Page's health declined later in life, and he passed away in 1922, leaving behind an unfinished novel, "The Red Riders."
Subject Terms
Thomas Nelson Page
Writer
- Born: April 23, 1853
- Birthplace: Hanover County, Virginia
- Died: November 1, 1922
- Place of death: Hanover County, Virginia
American novelist, short-story writer, and essayist
Biography
Thomas Nelson Page was a product of the antebellum South, and the romance of the pre-Civil War period influenced all his thinking and his writing, as did the Civil War itself. He was born on a plantation in Hanover County, Virginia, in 1853 and lived there until he entered college. He attended Washington College (later Washington and Lee University) from 1869 to 1872 but was forced to leave before graduation because of lack of sufficient money for his expenses. An important influence on him during those undergraduate years was Robert E. Lee, president of the institution, who took a personal interest in young Page. After leaving college, Page found employment as a tutor and studied law with his father. In 1873 he entered the University of Virginia and received the LL.B. degree in 1874. During the following decade he practiced law, married, and continued the writing he had begun while at Washington College.
Page’s first fame came with the publication of a story in black dialect, “Marse Chan,” in Century Magazine. In 1893 he left the practice of law altogether and moved to Washington, D.C.; by that time he had acquired sufficient reputation as a writer and a lecturer to assure himself of an income. For the next twenty years he lectured and wrote, and his stories, novels, and social studies almost all concerned the South before, during, and immediately after the Civil War. His works reflected his own romantic and idealized notions about the South. He truly believed that the antebellum South had been a generally happy place for both slaves and masters, and he attempted in his writings to present such a sympathetic picture that the North would change its views and the breach between the North and South would be healed.
Page became a diplomat in 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson appointed him ambassador to Italy, a post he held until 1919. He was sympathetic toward the Italians and tried to support Italy’s position in the peace negotiations at Paris after World War I. Failing to be helpful that way, he wrote a highly sympathetic volume, Italy and the World War. Ill health prevented any further serious writing during the remainder of his life, and his last novel, The Red Riders, was left unfinished when he died at his Hanover County home on November 1, 1922.
Bibliography
Field, Henry. A Memoir of Thomas Nelson Page. Miami: Field Research Projects, 1978.
Gross, Theodore L. Thomas Nelson Page. New York: Twayne, 1967.
Hubbell, Jay B. The South in American Literature, 1607-1900. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1954.
Longest, George C. Three Virginia Writers: Mary Johnston, Thomas Nelson Page, and Amelia Rives Troubetzkoy—A Reference Guide. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1978.
Page, Rosewell. Thomas Nelson Page: A Memoir of a Virginia Gentleman. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923.
Romine, Scott. The Narrative Forms of Southern Community. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1999.