Alice Balch Abbot Explained

Alice Balch Abbot
Birth Date:	11 February 1867
Birth Place:	New York City, New York, U.S.
Death Place:	New York City, New York, U.S.
Other Names:	Alice Balch Abbott (variant spelling)
Occupation:	Writer

Alice Balch Abbot (February 11, 1867 – February 23, 1937) was an American writer of fiction for young readers.

Early life and education

Alice Balch Abbot was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of Abiel Abbot and Alice March Balch Abbot. She attended the Dana Hall School and graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1889.^{[1] [2]} Her younger sister Frances Holmes Abbot followed her, and graduated from the same college in 1894.^[3]

Career

Abbot wrote short stories for the youth magazine St. Nicholas, and a novel for young readers, A Frigate's Namesake (1901). Of her story "Nan Merrifield's Choice" (1894), one reviewer commented that "Miss Abbot has constructed a stirring and touching story that whoso misses will lose the full appreciation of Abraham Lincoln that is the duty of all true Americans."^[4] Some of her published stories were illustrated by notable artists, including Francis Day^[5] and George Edmund Varian. She also contributed to a collaborative novel, A Novelty Novel (1889).^[6]

She was active in the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association in New York City.^[7]

Publications

• "Dee and Jay" (1893)^{[8] [9]}
• "Nan Merrifield's Choice" (1894)
• "A Daughter of the Revolution" (1895)^{[10] [11]}
• "How Cousin Marion Helped" (1897)^{[12] [13]}
• A Frigate's Namesake (1901)^[14]
• "By Virtue of Phebe's Wit" (1902, 1909)^{[15] [16]}

Personal life

Abbot died in 1937, at the age of 70, at her home in New Brighton, Staten Island.^[17]

Notes and References

1. Book: Leonard, John W. . Woman's who's who of America : a biographical dictionary of contemporary women of the United States and Canada, 1914–1915 . 1976 . New York, American Commonwealth Co. Detroit, Gale Research Co. . 33. Rutgers University Libraries.
2. Book: Mount Holyoke Seminary and College . Annual Catalogue of the Mt. Holyoke Seminary and College . 1888–1889 . 8 . en.
3. Book: Mount Holyoke College. Alumnae Association . One hundred year biographical directory of Mount Holyoke college, 1837–1937 .. . 1937 . [South Hadley, Mass.] Published and compiled by the Alumnae association of Mount Holyoke college. 176, 191.
4. July 1894 . Exchanges . The Railway Conductor . 11 . 7 . 374.
5. Abbot . Alice Balch . July 1894 . Nan Merrifield's Choice . St. Nicholas . 21 . 9 . 757–766 . Internet Archive.
6. Book: Ashton, S. . Collaborators in Literary America, 1870–1920 . 2003-06-27 . Springer . 978-1-4039-8257-5 . 209 . en.
7. News: 1894-11-25 . Meeting of Mount Holyoke Alumnae; Interesting Talks Before the Local Association. en-US . The New York Times . 2023-07-14 . 0362-4331.
8. News: 1893-09-03 . Literary Light . 9 . The Brooklyn Citizen . 2023-07-15 . Newspapers.com.
9. Abbot . Alice Balch . September 1893 . Dee and Jay . St. Nicholas . 20 . 2 . 830–835.
10. News: July 15, 1895 . July Magazines . 2 . Bangor Daily Whig and Courier . July 14, 2023.
11. Abbot . Alice Balch . July 1895 . A Daughter of the Revolution . St. Nicholas . 22 . 9 . 707–714.
12. Abbot . Alice Balch . May 1897 . How Cousin Marion Helped . St. Nicholas . 24 . 7 . 533–541.
13. Book: Ringel, Paul B. . Commercializing Childhood: Children's Magazines, Urban Gentility, and the Ideal of the Child Consumer in the United States, 1823-1918 . 2015 . University of Massachusetts Press . 978-1-62534-190-7 . 189. j.ctt1cx3sfs .
14. Book: Abbot, Alice Balch . A frigate's namesake . Century Company. . 1901 . The Century Co. . New York.
15. News: 1902-03-24 . Contents of the Magazines . 11 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-07-15 . Newspapers.com.
16. News: Abbot . Alice Balch . 1909-05-29 . By Virtue of Phebe's Wit . 12 . The Charlotte News . 2023-07-15 . Newspapers.com.
17. https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1937/02/25/99107872.html?pageNumber=23 "Deaths"