Amy Ella Blanchard Explained

Amy Ella Blanchard
Birth Date:June 28, 1854
Birth Place:Baltimore, Maryland
Death Place:Bailey Island, Maine
Nationality:American
Partner:Ida Waugh

Amy Ella Blanchard (June 28, 1854 – July 4, 1926) was a prolific American writer of children's literature.

Early life

Amy Ella Blanchard was born in Baltimore in 1854, the daughter of Daniel Harris Blanchard and Sarah Reynolds.[1]

She was educated in public schools and then studied art in New York City and Philadelphia.

Career

Amy Ella Blanchard was at first a teacher of art at the Woman's College in Baltimore, now Goucher College. She taught school while studying art. She then taught drawing and painting for two years in Plainfield, New Jersey.[2] [3]

Her first poem was published in a Salem newspaper when she was 16 years old. Three years later she published her first book, but it was not until 1893 that she obtained her first success with her stories.[4]

In 1888 she published her first book, and the first collaboration with Ida Waugh, Bonny Bairns, with the Worthington & Co. firm of New York. In this book the usual order was reversed, and the pictures were illustrated with verses. The combination was not only pleasant but pretty. The lithographs were beautifully executed and did full justice to the drawings, which were of a much higher quality than usually appeared in children's picture books. The verses that accompanied them made a pleasant jingle with just sense enough to make them attractive to the chubby critic.[5]

Personal life

Amy Ella Blanchard was a lifelong companion of her artist collaborator Ida Waugh (1846-1919).[6] They met when Waugh was still living with her parents and Blanchard was hired as tutor of Waugh's younger brother, future painter Frederick Judd Waugh.[7]

They lived together in Philadelphia and New York City, their homes a gathering place for authors.

In 1906 Blanchard moved to Washington, D.C. where she lived at 1080 31st Street, N.W. During this period she became a popular writer of girls' books.

Blanchard and Waugh had neighboring summer cottages at Bailey Island, Maine where they helped organize the construction of a chapel in 1916.[8] Winters were spent in Redding Ridge, Connecticut.[9]

From 1923 to 1925 Blanchard won for three successive years the first prize in a national contest promoted by the National League of American Pen Women, of which league she was a member, for the best story written by American women writers.

She died on July 4, 1926, at Bailey Island from apoplexy; she was found by her maid at the desk, a just-completed poem forecasting her own death in front of her.[10] She is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Woodlawn, Baltimore County, Maryland, at her own request.[11] [12]

Works

Her works include:

She contributed a few titles to the Camp Fire Girls series including:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Marquis Who's Who In America, 1910
  2. New International Encyclopedia
  3. Many Area Authors Listed Among State Writers - 11 Oct 1955, Tue • Main Edition • Page 6. The Courier-News. 1955. 6. 15 September 2017.
  4. Miss A. E. Blanchard to be Buried Today - 09 Jul 1926, Fri • Page 3. The Baltimore Sun. 1926. 3. 15 September 2017.
  5. 25 Dec 1888, Tue • Page 6. The Burlington Free Press. 1888. 6. 15 September 2017.
  6. Web site: Grey Heron Prints . Grey Heron Prints . 2014-01-02 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140102191816/http://www.greyheronprints.com/index.php?cPath=62_164 . 2014-01-02 .
  7. Web site: Fabrega. Meganne. Girls Together. The Paris Review. 2013. 14 September 2017.
  8. John R. Haug, "All Saints By the Sea, Bailey Island, Episcopal Diocese of Maine
  9. John William Leonard, Woman's who's who of America, Volume 1, The American Commonwealth Company, 1914. p. 107
  10. In Memoriam - 04 Feb 1927, Fri • Page 8. The Ithaca Journal. 1927. 8. 15 September 2017.
  11. 1926 . Author of Stories for Girls Forecast Her Death in Verse - 09 Jul 1926, Fri • Page 28 . The Baltimore Sun . 28 . 15 September 2017.
  12. Mrs. A. E. Blanchard - 10 Jul 1926, Sat • Page 19. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 1926. 19. 15 September 2017.
  13. New Books at the City Library - 12 Dec 1926, Sun • Page 37. The Lincoln Star. 1926. 37. 15 September 2017.
  14. 31 Mar 1914, Tue • Page 2. The Courier-News. 1914. 2. 15 September 2017.
  15. 27 Jan 1916, Thu • Page 4. Garrett Clipper. 1916. 4. 15 September 2017.
  16. Book: Shepherd. Henry Elliott. The representative authors of Maryland : from the earliest time to the present day with biographical notes and comments upon their work. 1911. Whitehall. 15 September 2017.
  17. 11 Dec 1920, Sat • Page 6. The Marshall Messenger. 1920. 6. 15 September 2017.
  18. 31 May 1900, Thu • Page 3. The Buffalo Enquirer. 1900. 3. 15 September 2017.

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