Clara Dillingham Pierson (March 11, 1868 – 1952) was an early 20th century American children's author.
Early life and education
Clara Eleanor Dillingham was born in 1868 in
Coldwater, Michigan
Coldwater is a city in Branch County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 10,945. It is the county seat of Branch County, located in the center of the southern border of Michigan. The city is surrounded by Co ...
, the only child of Jennie Lincoln Dillingham and Captain Lucius Abell Dillingham.
[ After being mainly home-schooled, she went on to complete a training program for kindergarten teachers in Chicago, Illinois. She then taught in a similar program at ]Alma College
Alma College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan. It enrolls approximately 1,400 students and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.
Alma College is affiliat ...
for a few years, becoming superintendent of the college's Training Department.[
]
Writing career
Pierson became a successful author of children's books, with her most popular works being quasi-naturalistic stories about animals. Her "Among the People" series of animal story collections published between 1897 and 1902 placed her among the leading nature-story authors of her day.[ Due to its enduring popularity, this series is back in print. Like similar animal tales written a few years later by ]Thornton Burgess
Thornton Waldo Burgess (January 17, 1874 – June 5, 1965) was an American conservationist and author of children's stories. He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man, after his newspaper column ''Bedtime Stories''. By the time he retir ...
, her stories often carry a moral, hinted at in titles such as "The Thrifty Deer-Mouse". The "Among the People" books were illustrated by F.C. Gordon.[
Another of her series features the adventures of the three Miller children and a house called Pencroft, which was also the name of the summer home in Omena, Michigan, that Pierson built with her income as a writer.][
]
Personal life
She married hardware store owner John Williams Smith Pierson in 1894, and they resided in Stanton, Michigan, in the early 1900s.[ They had a child who died shortly after birth, and they later adopted two sons, John Howard Pierson and Harold Dillingham.][ Their home on Lincoln Street in Stanton (built in 1904) is now a church.][
Pierson and her husband moved to Grand Rapids in 1930, where she resided until her death in 1952. Her papers—including story drafts, correspondence, and an unpublished autobiography—are held by the University of Michigan.][
]
Publications
;"Among the People" series
*''Among the Meadow People'' (1897)
*''Among the Forest People'' (1898)
*''Among the Farmyard People'' (1899)
*''Among the Pond People'' (1901)
References
External links
*
Photograph of Pierson's house in Stanton, Michigan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierson, Clara Dillingham
1868 births
1952 deaths
American children's writers
Writers from Michigan
19th-century American women writers
20th-century American writers
19th-century American writers
Alma College faculty
20th-century American women writers
People from Coldwater, Michigan
American women academics