Belle Turnbull (December 9, 1881 – November 21, 1970) was an American poet from Colorado. In 1938, Turnbull received the Harriet Monroe Memorial Prize from Poetry Magazine. She published two novels, one in verse (''Goldboat'', 1940) and one in prose (''The Far Side of the Hill'', 1953), as well as two volumes of poetry, ''Tenmile Range'' in 1957 and ''Trails'' in 1968.

Biography

Turnbull was born in

Hamilton, New York Hamilton is a town in Madison County, New York, United States. The population was 6,690 at the 2010 census. The town is named after American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. The Town of Hamilton contains a village also named Hamilton, the s ...

on December 9, 1881. At the age of 9, her family moved to

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

because of her father's health. Her father, George Butler Turnbull, became the principal of Colorado Springs High School. Belle Turnbull graduated from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

in 1904. As of 1908, Turnbull was the corresponding secretary of the Kappa Sigma Society of Elmira College.Turnbull was a member of Kappa Sigma in 1907. See - Turnbull passed the board of school examiners exam in Buffalo, New York in 1908, thereby qualifying her to teach

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in the area. After a stint teaching Buffalo, New York 1909, Turnbull returned to

in 1910 to teach English at Colorado Springs High School. By 1932, Turnbull had become the head of the English department at the school. It is noteworthy that Turnbull began her writing career while teaching at the high school. By the 1930s Turnbull had poems published in prestigious newspapers and journals including the ''Saturday Review of Literature'', ''

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'' (19 November 1937) and ''Poetry''. In 1937, Turnbull retired from teaching moved to Frisco, Colorado with Helen Rich, novelist, journalist and former society editor for the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. In 1939 they moved to a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...

on French Street in

Breckenridge, Colorado The Town of Breckenridge is the home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Summit County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,078 at the 2020 United States Census. Breckenridge is the pr ...

, where they remained for the rest of their lives, eventually coming to be known as "the ladies of French Street". During World War II, Turnbull worked as a clerk typist for the War Price and Rationing Board in Breckenridge. She resigned in 1944 to devote all of her time to writing. Though she published a novel as well as volumes of verse, Turnbull's most prominent publications were in verse. ''Goldboat'' (

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, 1940) is a verse narrative of a manager who came to Colorado to build a dredge for mining gold from a lake bottom. ''The Tenmile Range'' (Prairie Press of Iowa City, 1957) is a collection of poems including her award-winning series "At That Point Mr. Probus". Both works focused on the lives of mountain folk, the harsh reality of living among the mountains they loved, and the sickness that the hunt for gold could become among prospectors. ''Tenmile'' was featured in a positive New York Times review in In 1957 written by William Meredith. Turnbull died on Friday November 21, 1970 at the age of 88 while residing in the Juliet Temple Home nursing home in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Colorado; she was cremated the day after her death. Her long time companion, Helen Rich, died the following year.

Works

* ''Goldboat'', a

novel in verse A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voi ...

, "the story of a gold dredger bent on romance but engulfed in chicanery". The novel was published by Houghton Mifflin. * ''The Far Side of the Hill'', a

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

in prose, described in one review as a "reverse Cinderella story". * Poems included in ''The Tenmile Range'' ** "In Those Rude Airs", about a

midwife A midwife is a health professional who cares for mothers and newborns around childbirth, a specialization known as midwifery. The education and training for a midwife concentrates extensively on the care of women throughout their lifespan; co ...

Summit County, Colorado Summit County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 31,055. The county seat and largest town is Breckenridge. Summit County comprises the Breckenridge, CO Micropolitan Statistical Area. ...

* "Incident of the Hawk-Watch" published in ''Poetry''. *:To one who waited thirsty *::At her door *:They whispered she had died *::The night before. *:But though their hawk-eyes swept *::His self-control, *:Exploring for the havoc *::Of his soul, *:They got no sign until *::He turned to go *:And found her lovely footprint *::In the snow. A selection of Turnbull's works was republished as ''Belle Turnbull: Voice of the Mountains, an anthology,'' by Karen Fischer and Robert D. McCracken (1996). A selection of her papers have been archived in the Denver Public Library.Archive location:

Biography

Works

Notes

References

Further reading