Anna Hanson Dorsey (1815 – 26 December 1896) was an American author of novels and short stories. A convert to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, she was a pioneer of Catholic literature in the United States.

Family

Born Anna Hanson in

Georgetown, Washington, D.C. Georgetown is a historic neighborhood, and commercial and entertainment district located in Northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751 in the Province of Maryland, the port of Georgetown predated the establish ...

, she was the daughter of the Rev. William McKenney, a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, and Chloe Ann Lanigan McKenney. In 1837 she married Lorenzo Dorsey, a Baltimore judge. Their only son died fighting on the Union side in the American Civil War. Her daughter,

Ella Loraine Dorsey Ella Loraine Dorsey (pen name, E. L. Dorsey; March 2, 1853 – November 4, 1935) was an American author, journalist, and translator. She contributed articles to magazines and wrote many stories, among them ''Midshipman Bob'', ''Jet, the War Mule'' ...

, was an author.

Writing career

Dorsey converted to

in 1840 and thereafter devoted herself to Catholic literature, mainly in the form of stories and novels, although she wrote a small amount of poetry as well. Her more than 40 novels frequently centered on a religious conversion narrative aimed at her largely Protestant audiences, and her ''New York Times'' obituary referred to her as a pioneer of Catholic literature in the United States. Her plots tended towards melodrama, with elements such as mistaken identities, mysterious disappearances, and false accusations. Her novel ''Coaina: The Rose of the Algonquins'' was translated into both German and Hindustani and also made into a stage play. At least two of her novels — ''The Student of Blenheim Forest'' (1847) and ''The Sister of Charity'' (1850) — were still in print at the end of the century.

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

twice sent her his benediction, and the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

conferred upon her the

Laetare Medal The Laetare Medal is an annual award given by the University of Notre Dame in recognition of outstanding service to the Catholic Church and society. The award is given to an American Catholic or group of Catholics "whose genius has ennobled the a ...

.Waggaman, Mary. "Anne Hanson Dorsey." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 8 March 2019 She died in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Selected works

References

Attribution

Bibliography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dorsey, Anna Hanson 1815 births 1896 deaths 19th-century American novelists Converts to Roman Catholicism Catholics from Washington, D.C. American Roman Catholic religious writers Laetare Medal recipients American women novelists 19th-century American women writers Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century