Alice May Douglas (June 28, 1865 – January 6, 1943) was an American author of poetry,

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, and non-fiction, as well as a newspaper editor.

Biography

Alice May Douglas was born in

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

, June 28, 1865, which remained her residence for the remainder of her life. She had no formal training in writing, saying instead that "All my poems and stories are the result of inspiration." She began her career as an author at the age of eleven years, when her first published article appeared among the children's productions of '' St. Nicholas Magazine''. The reading of ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888). Alcott wrote the book, originally published in two volumes in 1868 and 1869, at the request of her publisher. The story follows the lives ...

'' at the age of thirteen marked an epoch in her life. She determined to be an author like Jo, and, like her, send for publication a composition she wrote to test her chances of getting published. Consequently, she sent a poem pertaining to a little sister, who shortly before death was seen throwing kisses to God. The '' Zion's Herald'', to which the poem was sent, published it, and from that time, Douglas was a constant contributor to the press. Douglas was also engaged in editorial work on two monthly papers, the ''Pacific Banner'' and the ''Acorn''. Her first volume of poems was ''Phlox'' (Bath, Maine, 1888). This was followed during the same year by a second volume, ''May Flowers'' (Bath, Maine, 1888). Then she published ''Gems Without Polish'' (New York, 1890). She next wrote two juvenile books, one for boys and the other for girls, in the interest of the Lend-A-Hand Clubs. Most of her books first appeared as serials. Among them were ''Jewel Gatherers'', ''Quaker John in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

'', ''How the Little Cousins Formed a Museum'', ''The Peace-Makers'', and ''Self-exiled from Russia'', a story of the

Mennonites Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

. Douglas was State superintendent of the department of peace and arbitration of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

. She also assisted the national peace department of that organization, by preparing much of its necessary literature and by founding a peace band for children, which had branches in Palestine and Australia. By religion, she was

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

. Douglas died January 6, 1943.

Selected works

* ''Phlox'', 1888 * ''May Flowers'', 1888 * ''Gems Without Polish'', 1890 * ''Jewel Gatherers'' * ''Quaker John in the

'' * ''How the Little Cousins Formed a Museum'' * ''The Peace-Makers'' * ''Self-exiled from Russia''

References

Attribution

Bibliography

External links