Florence Page Jaques (March 7, 1890 – January 1, 1972) was an American author who wrote nature and travel books for adults, and short stories and poetry for children. Born in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

, she attended

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). Media Decaturian The ''Decaturian'', also known as ...

in Decatur, completing an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree there in 1911 before doing graduate work at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. She married

Francis Lee Jaques Francis Lee Jaques (September 28, 1887 - July 24, 1969) was an American wildlife painter. Jaques hunted and trapped with his father and connected with editors and writers from major hunting magazines. While still a teenager, Jacques paid ten dolla ...

, a wildlife painter for the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...

in New York, on May 12, 1927. Together they produced seven illustrated outdoor travel books, including ''Snowshoe Country,'' winner of the

John Burroughs Medal The John Burroughs Medal, named for nature writer John Burroughs (1837–1921), is awarded each year in April by the John Burroughs Association to the author of a book that the association has judged to be distinguished in the field of natural hist ...

in 1946 for distinguished work in natural history. The couple left New York for

North Oaks, Minnesota North Oaks is an exurban city north of St. Paul in Ramsey County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 4,469 at the 2010 census. Formerly a gated community that now posts private access signage, all land is owned by homeowners w ...

, a suburb of

Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, in 1953, and lived there for the rest of their lives. Francis died in 1969 and Florence in 1972.

Bibliography

* ''Canoe Country'' (1938) * ''The Geese Fly High'' (1939) * ''Birds Across the Sky'' (1942) * ''Snowshoe Country'' (1944) * ''Canadian Spring'' (1947) * ''As Far as the Yukon'' (1951) * ''There Was Once a Puffin and Other Nonsense Verse'' (1956) * ''Francis Lee Jaques: Artist of the Wilderness World'' (1973) The Florence Page Jaques papers, consisting of a

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

of ''There Once Was a Puffin'' and a typed script of a children's short story, "The Balloon Man Who Couldn't Get Home", are held in the archives of the Elmer L. Andersen Library at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

References

1890 births 1972 deaths American women children's writers American children's writers American nature writers Women science writers American travel writers American women travel writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Writers from Decatur, Illinois Millikin University alumni Columbia University alumni People from Ramsey County, Minnesota Writers from Minnesota John Burroughs Medal recipients Members of the Society of Woman Geographers {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaques, Florence