Florence Converse Explained

Florence Converse
Birth Date:April 30, 1871
Birth Place:New Orleans, Louisiana
Death Date:February 13, 1967
Occupation:Writer
Partner:Vida Dutton Scudder

Florence Converse (April 30, 1871 – February 13, 1967) was an American author. Throughout her career, she wrote a variety of pieces spanning many genres, including historical novels, mysteries, religious plays, and poetry. Converse had a Boston marriage with Vida Dutton Scudder.

Early life and education

Florence Converse was born in New Orleans in 1871. She attended Mrs. Charles's School in New Orleans,[1] and graduated from Wellesley College in 1893, and completed a master's degree at Wellesley in 1903.[2]

Career

Converse gave a series of lectures on Percy Bysshe Shelley in New Orleans in 1896.[3] She taught English at Wellesley after graduating from the college,[4] and lived in Denison House, a Boston settlement house.[5] She was a member of the editorial staff of The Churchman from 1900 to 1908, when she joined the staff of the Atlantic Monthly.[6]

Converse wrote plays, poems, and several novels. These included Long Will, a novel about the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.[7] She also edited children's books at E. P. Dutton.[8] "Miss Converse is doubtless one of the most interesting of the minor poets," wrote a reviewer in 1937.[9]

Personal life and legacy

Converse was in a lesbian relationship known as a Boston marriage with Vida Dutton Scudder.[10] The couple lived together from 1912 until Scudder died in 1954.[11] Converse died in 1967, at the age of 95. Scudder and Converse are buried alongside each other at Newton Cemetery, Newton, Massachusetts.[12]

Publications

Converse wrote in various genres, including historical novels, mysteries, religious plays, and poetry. She also translated works from French, including Birds of a Feather (1919) by Marcel Nadaud.[13]

References

Attribution

Notes and References

  1. News: 1883-05-30 . Mrs. Charles's School; Annual Commencement and Graduation Exercises . 8 . The Times-Picayune . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: 1913-11-14 . Mrs. Friedewald Here Next Saturday . 4 . The Citizen . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  3. News: 1896-02-25 . Shelley as Interpreted by Miss Florence Converse . 3 . The Times-Picayune . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  4. News: 1906-02-08 . Labor Problem Presented in Play at Hull House . 3 . Chicago Tribune . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  5. Book: Winslow, Helen M. (Helen Maria) . Literary Boston of to-day . 1902 . Boston : L.C. Page & Company . Internet Archive . 353–354.
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=_MYEAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Florence%20Converse%22%20Wellesley&pg=RA9-PA19 "Wellesley in the World of Letters, Part 1"
  7. Ortenberg, Veronica (1981). In Search of the Holy Grail: the Quest for the Middle Ages. London: Hambledon Continuum. (p.79) . (p. 79).
  8. News: 1915-11-28 . Save This List for Christmas Shopping (advertisement) . 72 . The New York Times . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Rochelle . W. R. . 1937-04-25 . Collected Poems of Miss Converse Fit Into Trends . 54 . Nashville Banner . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  10. Book: Bosmajian, Haig A. . Anita Whitney, Louis Brandeis, and the First Amendment . 2010 . Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press . 978-0-8386-4267-2 . 41 . en.
  11. News: 1954-12-03 . Wellesley Friend is Left $90,000 by Vida Scudder . 3 . The Boston Globe . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  12. [Lillian Faderman]
  13. Book: Nadaud . Marcel . Birds of a feather . Converse . Florence . 1919 . Doubleday, Page & Company . Garden City, New York.
  14. McCullough . Kate . 1997 . The Boston Marriage as the Future of the Nation: Queerly Regional Sexuality in Diana Victrix . American Literature . 69 . 1 . 67–103 . 10.2307/2928169 . 2928169 . 0002-9831.
  15. Book: Converse, Florence . Diana Victrix . 1897 . Houghton, Mifflin and company . Boston, New York.
  16. Book: Converse, Florence . The burden of Christopher . 1900 . Houghton . Boston.
  17. Book: Converse, Florence . Long Will, a romance . 1903 . Houghton, Mifflin and company . Boston, New York.
  18. Book: Converse, Florence . A masque of sibyls . 1910 . Houghton Mifflin Co. . Boston.
  19. Book: Converse, Florence, b. 1871 . The Children of Light. . 1912 . J. M. Dent & Sons . London.
  20. Book: Converse, Florence . The story of Wellesley. . 1919 . Little, Brown . Boston.
  21. Book: Converse, Florence . The blessed birthday, a Christmas miracle play . 1917 . E. P. Dutton & company . New York.
  22. Book: Converse, Florence . Garments of praise; a miracle cycle . 1921 . E.P. Dutton & Company . New York.
  23. Book: Converse, Florence . The Holy night . 1922 . The Atlantic Monthly Press, Inc. . Boston.
  24. Book: Converse, Florence . Into the void: a bookshop mystery . 1926 . Little, Brown & Company . Boston.
  25. News: 1931-06-21 . New Books at the Library . 17 . The Honolulu Advertiser . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  26. News: Sherwood . Margaret . 1931-03-07 . Lost--a Sphinx; Florence Converse Writes a Mystery without Blood and Thunder . 14 . The Morning Post . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.
  27. Book: Converse, Florence . Efficiency expert: a poem . 1934 . J. Day . New York.
  28. Book: Converse, Florence . Collected poems of Florence Converse. . 1937 . E.P. Dutton & co., inc. . New York.
  29. News: Converse . Florence . 1956-04-01 . Pasquale's Easter Moon . 123 . The Boston Globe . 2023-06-12 . Newspapers.com.

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