Helen Gray Cone (March 8, 1859 – January 31, 1934) was a poet and professor of English literature. She spent her entire career at
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
in
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 ...
.
Early life and education
Cone was born in New York and attended the Normal College of the City of New York, later renamed Hunter College. She graduated in 1876 as a member of
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
, and became an instructor in the Normal College English department.
In the 1880s she served as president of the Associate Alumnae of the Normal College.
Career and writings
![CONE(1891) The ride to the lady and other poems](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/CONE%281891%29_The_ride_to_the_lady_and_other_poems.jpg)
Her first book, ''Oberon and Puck: Verses Grave and Gay'' was published by Cassell, New York, in 1885. The ''New York Times'' received it well, saying, "Miss Cone has the rare talent of compression and the wit not to attempt too high a flight at first." The book was reprinted by
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
in 1893, after that press released her ''The Ride to the Lady'' in 1891. She wrote fiction as well in this period, publishing a short story in ''
Harper's Magazine'' in 1886.
In 1899, she was elected to the Professorship in English after the death of her predecessor in the position. Though the Normal College admitted only female students at the time, Cone was the first woman to hold a professorship there. As sole holder of the title, she was considered department head, a title she retained as the department grew.
Her ''Soldiers of the Light'' was published by Richard G. Badger of Boston in 1910. Stephenson Browne commented in the ''New York Times'': "Miss Cone refrains so steadfastly from the arts of the self-advertiser that only those who read all the magazines know how large is the volume of genuine poetry she annually presents in the best of them." A poem from the book, "The Common Street," was published in the ''Times'' the following year; it praises the sunset which bursts suddenly into the New York landscape, turning the common street and its denizens, "Each with his sordid burden trudging by," into "A golden highway into golden heaven, / With the dark shapes of men ascending still." Poetry collections ''A Chant of Love for England'' (New York: Dutton, 1915) and ''The Coat Without a Seam'' (New York: Dutton, 1919) followed.
In addition to poetry and fiction, she wrote literary criticism (her 1890 history of American literature was republished in a 2000 anthology), co-edited ''Pen-Portraits of Literary Women'' with Jeanette L. Gilder (New York: Cassell, 1887) and provided notes for Houghton Mifflin's Riverside editions of Shakespeare's ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' (1897), ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' (1897), ''
Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as a ...
'' (1900), and ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'' (1901). A volume of her selected poems was published as ''Harvest Home'' (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1930). She was awarded
honorary degree
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
s by
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
in 1908 and Hunter in 1920.
Legacy at Hunter
Cone was frequently called upon to read
occasional poems
Occasional poetry is poetry composed for a particular occasion. In the history of literature, it is often studied in connection with orality, performance, and patronage.
Term
As a term of literary criticism, "occasional poetry" describes the work ...
at college functions, from her student days into her retirement.
She wrote the college's
alma mater.
She retired in 1926, replaced as department head by fiction writer
Blanche Colton Williams
Blanche Colton Williams (February 10, 1879 – August 9, 1944) was an American author, editor, department head and professor of English literature, and pioneer in women’s higher education. She was known for her “groundbreaking work on str ...
. In 1927 a fellowship was created in Cone's honor, through donations from students, faculty, and alumni. As of 2020, the Helen Gray Cone Fellowship is still awarded.
References
External links
Finding Aid for Helen Gray Cone Collection, 1859-1934 Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...
*
The Ride to the Lady*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cone, Helen Gray
1859 births
1934 deaths
American women poets
Hunter College faculty
Hunter College alumni
Writers from New York City