Julia Burnelle Smade Babcock (born April 28, 1868,

Union, Ohio Union is a city in Montgomery and Miami Counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 6,419 at the time of the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography The coordinates for The City of Union are (3 ...

- June 14, 1962 Petit Jean, Arkansas) was an American writer who wrote over 40 novels, as well as numerous essays and newspaper articles.

Biography

After being widowed at age 29 with five children to support, she began working as a writer. Her first book, the pro-

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

''The Daughter of the Republican'' (1900), sold over 100,000 copies in six months. Babcock was society page editor of the ''

Arkansas Democrat The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas' counties. By virtue of one of i ...

'' and later owned and edited ''The Arkansas Sketch Book'', the first venture of its kind in the state. She wrote ''Mammy'', a drama read at Chautauqua and on lyceum circuits. She is also the author of, ''Yesterday and To-Day in Arkansas'' (1917), ''The Coming of the King'' (1921), ''The Soul of

Ann Rutledge Ann Mayes Rutledge (January 7, 1813 – August 25, 1835) was allegedly Abraham Lincoln's first love. Early life Born near Henderson, Kentucky, Ann Mayes Rutledge was the third of 10 children born to Mary Ann Miller Rutledge and James Rutledge ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...

's Romance'' (1919), and ''The Soul of

'' (1923). For her novels she was paid $300 to $500 each. In May 1927, she wrote, “no money in sight to pay bills due June One . . . Well — there’s nothing to do but keep trying. Who wants an easy job anyway.” The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

found her almost destitute. In 1927 Babcock founded The Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities, financed with donations from friends, in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

as a response to H. L. Mencken’s derision of Arkansas. She worked as a folklore editor for the

Federal Writers' Project The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a federal government project in the United States created to provide jobs for out-of-work writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a New Deal program. It ...

. In 1953, she retired to a home on

Petit Jean Mountain Petit Jean State Park is a park in Conway County, Arkansas managed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism. It is located atop Petit Jean Mountain adjacent to the Arkansas River in the area between the Ouachita Mountains and Ozark Platea ...

, where she continued to write, publishing a volume of poetry, ''The Marble Woman'', at age 91 in 1959. She died at her home on June 14, 1962; a neighbor found her with a manuscript still in her hand.

References

;Attribution *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Babcock, Bernie 1868 births 1962 deaths 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers Writers from Ohio Writers from Arkansas People from Conway County, Arkansas American women novelists Novelists from Arkansas Novelists from Ohio People from Union, Ohio Suffragists from Arkansas

Biography

See also

References

External links