Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, 1856August 24, 1923) was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel ''

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's joy ...

,'' and composed collections of children's songs. She started the first free

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1878 (the Silver Street Free Kindergarten). With her sister during the 1880s, she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Kate Wiggin devoted her adult life to the welfare of children in an era when children were commonly thought of as cheap labor. Wiggin went to California to study kindergarten methods. She began to teach in San Francisco with her sister

Nora Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to: * Nora (name), a feminine given name People with the surname * Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer * Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian Places Australia * Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...

assisting her, and the two were instrumental in the establishment of over 60 kindergartens for the poor in San Francisco and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. She moved from California to New York, and having no kindergarten work on hand, devoted herself to literature. She sent ''The Story of Patsy'' and ''The Bird's Christmas Carol'' to Houghton, Mifflin & Co. who accepted them at once. Besides the talent for story-telling, she was a musician, sang well, and composed settings for her poems. She was also an excellent elocutionist. Her first literary work was ''Half a Dozen Housekeepers'', a serial story which she sent to ''St. Nicholas''. After the death of her husband in 1889, she returned to California to resume her kindergarten work, serving as the head of a Kindergarten Normal School. Some of her other works included ''Cathedral Courtship'', ''A Summer in a Canon'', ''Timothy's Quest'', ''The Story Hour'', ''Kindergarten Chimes'', ''Polly Oliver's Problem'', and ''Children's Rights''.

Early life

PostcardSalmonFallsMEHomeOfKateDouglasWiggin1916

Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of lawyer Robert N. Smith, and of

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

descent. Kate experienced a happy childhood, even though it was colored by the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

and her father's death. Kate and her sister Nora were still quite young when their widowed mother moved her little family from Philadelphia to

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

, then, three years later, upon her remarriage, to the little village of

Hollis Hollis may refer to: *Hollis (singer) *Hollis (name) Places * Hollis, Alaska * Hollis, Kansas * Hollis, Maine * Hollis, Missouri * Hollis, New Hampshire * Hollis, Oklahoma * Hollis, Queens, neighborhood in New York **Hollis (LIRR station), its Lon ...

. There Kate matured in rural surroundings, with her sister and her new baby brother Philip. Notably, she once met the novelist

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

. Her mother and another relative had gone to hear Dickens read in Portland, but Wiggin, aged 11, was thought to be too young to warrant an expensive ticket. The following day, she found herself on the same train as Dickens and engaged him in a lively conversation for the course of the journey, an experience which she later detailed in a short memoir titled ''A Child's Journey with Dickens'' (1912). Her education was spotty, consisting of a short stint at a

dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for young children that emerged in the British Isles and its colonies during the early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate children f ...

, some home schooling under the "capable, slightly impatient, somewhat sporadic" instruction of Albion Bradbury (her stepfather), a brief spell at the district school, a year as a boarder at the Gorham Female Seminary, a winter term at Morison Academy in

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, and a few months' stay at

Abbot Academy Abbot Academy (also known as Abbot Female Seminary and AA) was an University-preparatory school, independent boarding preparatory school for women boarding and day students in grades 9–12 from 1828 to 1973. Located in Andover, Massachusetts, Abb ...

in Andover, Massachusetts, where she graduated with the class of 1873. Although rather casual, this was more education than most women received at the time.

Early career

In 1873, hoping to ease Albion Bradbury's lung disease, Kate's family moved to

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, where Kate's stepfather died three years later. A kindergarten training class was opening in Los Angeles under Emma Marwedel (1818–1893), and Kate enrolled. After graduation, in 1878, she headed the first free kindergarten in California, on Silver Street in the slums of San Francisco. The children were "street Arabs of the wildest type", but Kate had a loving personality and dramatic flair. By 1880 she was forming a teacher-training school in conjunction with the Silver Street kindergarten. In 1881, Kate married (Samuel) Bradley Wiggin, a San Francisco lawyer. According to the customs of the time, she was required to resign her teaching job. Still devoted to her school, she began to raise money for it through writing, first '' The Story of Patsy'' (1883), then ''

The Birds' Christmas Carol ''The Birds' Christmas Carol'' is a novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, 1856August 24, 1923) was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel ''Re ...

'' (1887). Both privately printed books were issued commercially 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 1889, with enormous success. Kate Wiggin had no children. She moved to New York City in 1888. When her husband died suddenly in 1889, Kate relocated to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. For the rest of her life she grieved, but she also traveled as frequently as she could, dividing her time between writing, visits to Europe, and giving public reading for the benefit of various children's charities. Wiggin traveled abroad and back from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the

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at least three times. Records from the

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

logs show that she arrived back in

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from

in October 1892, July 1893, and July 1894. On the logs for the 1892 trip, Wiggin describes her occupation as "Wife", despite her former husband dying three years prior. In 1893 and 1894, she describes herself as an "Authoress". Wiggin met dry goods (specifically, linen) importer George Christopher Riggs on her way to England in 1894. The pair are said to have hit it off and had agreed to marry even before the ship docked in England. In the

logs from Wiggin's 1894 trip back to

from

, the two sign their names next to each other, indicating their closeness. The pair married in

on March 30, 1895, at All Souls Church. George Riggs soon became one of Wiggin's biggest advocates as she became more successful. Kate Douglas Wiggin

After the marriage she continued to write under the name of Wiggin. Her literary output included popular books for adults; with her sister, Nora A. Smith, she published scholarly work on the educational principles of

Friedrich Fröbel Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel or Froebel (; 21 April 1782 – 21 June 1852) was a German pedagogue, a student of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique need ...

: ''Froebel's Gifts'' (1895), ''Froebel's Occupations'' (1896), and ''Kindergarten Principles and Practice'' (1896); and she wrote the classic children's novel ''

'' (1903), as well as the 1905 best-seller ''Rose o' the River.'' ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' became an immediate bestseller; both it and '' Mother Carey's Chickens'' (1911) were adapted to the stage. Houghton Mifflin collected her writings in 10 volumes in 1917. Picture of Kate Douglas Wiggin

For a time, she lived at Quillcote, her summer home in Hollis, Maine (now listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

). Quillcote is around the corner from the town's library, the Salmon Falls Library, which Wiggin founded in 1911. Wiggin founded the Dorcas Society of Hollis & Buxton, Maine in 1897. The Tory Hill Meeting House in the adjacent town of

Buxton, Maine Buxton is a town in York County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Portland metropolitan area. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. Buxton includes the villages of Salmon Falls/Tory Hill, Chicopee, Groveville, Bar Mills, West Buxton, ...

inspired her book (and later play) '' The Old Peabody Pew'' (1907).

Later life and death

Wiggin was an active and popular hostess in New York and in the community of Upper Largo, Scotland, where she had a summer home and where she organized plays for many years, as detailed in her memoir ''My Garden of Memory.'' In 1921, Wiggin and her sister

Nora Archibald Smith From the cover of Nora Archibald Smith's book ''Boys and Girls of Bookland'' (1923), illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith Nora Archibald Smith (1859–1934) was an American children's author of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and sis ...

edited an edition of

Jane Porter Jane Porter (3 December 1775 – 24 May 1850) was an English historical novelist, dramatist and literary figure. Her bestselling novels, ''Thaddeus of Warsaw'' (1803) and ''The Scottish Chiefs'' (1810) are seen as among the earliest historical ...

's '' The Scottish Chiefs'', an 1809 novel of

William Wallace Sir William Wallace ( gd, Uilleam Uallas, ; Norman French: ; 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight who became one of the main leaders during the First War of Scottish Independence. Along with Andrew Moray, Wallace defeated an English army a ...

, for the Scribner's Illustrated Classics series, illustrated by

N.C. Wyeth Newell Convers Wyeth (October 22, 1882 – October 19, 1945), known as N. C. Wyeth, was an American painter and illustrator. He was the pupil of Howard Pyle and became one of America's most well-known illustrators. Wyeth created more than 3,000 ...

. During the spring of 1923, Kate Wiggin traveled to England as a New York delegate to the

Dickens Fellowship The Dickens Fellowship was founded in 1902, and is an international association of people from all walks of life who share an interest in the life and works of Victorian era novelist Charles Dickens. The Dickens Fellowship's head office is based ...

. There she became ill and died, at age 66, of bronchial pneumonia. At her request, her ashes were brought home to Maine and scattered over the Saco River. Her autobiography, ''My Garden of Memory'', was published after her death. In sorting through material for her autobiography, she put many items in a box she and her sister labelled "posthumous". Her sister Nora A. Smith later published her own reminiscences, titled ''Kate Douglas Wiggin as her Sister Knew Her'', from these materials. Wiggin was also a songwriter and composer. For "Kindergarten Chimes" (1885) and other collections for children, she wrote some of the lyrics, music, and arrangements. For "Nine Love Songs and a Carol" (1896), she composed all of the music.

Legacy

In the 1980s and 1990s, Wiggin's first husband's distant cousin, Eric E. Wiggin, published updated versions of some books in Kate Douglas Wiggin's

series. He later published his own addition to the series, entitled, ''Rebecca Returns to Sunnybrook''. Eric E. Wiggin extended Kate Douglas Wiggin's series after years of writing Christian literature, newspaper articles, and other children's books. Eric E. Wiggin's books sold best among his target audience of homeschoolers; with their help, his updated novels and his new addition to the series have sold more than 50,000 copies. Many of Kate Douglas Wiggin's novels were made into movies. Perhaps the most famous film adaptation of her books is the 1938 film, which stars

Shirley Temple Shirley Temple Black (born Shirley Jane Temple;While Temple occasionally used "Jane" as a middle name, her birth certificate reads "Shirley Temple". Her birth certificate was altered to prolong her babyhood shortly after she signed with Fox in ...

Selected works

The Romance of a Christmas Card - Cover - Project Gutenberg eText 17456

* ''The Story of Patsy'' (1883) * ''

'' (1887) * ''Timothy's Quest'' (1890), illustrated by

Oliver Herford Oliver Herford (2 December 1860 – 5 July 1935) was an Anglo-American writer, artist, and illustrator known for his pithy ''bon mots'' and skewed sense of humor. He was born in Sheffield, England on 2 December 1860 to Rev. Brooke Herford a ...

* ''Polly Oliver's Problem'' (1893) * ''A Cathedral Courtship, and Penelope's English Experiences'' (1893) * ''The Village Watch-Tower'' (1895) * ''Penelope's Progress'' (1898) * ''Penelope's Travels in Scotland'' (1898) * ''Penelope's Irish Experiences'' (1901)
''The Diary of a Goose Girl''
(1902), illus. Claude A. Shepperson * ''

'' (1903) * ''Half-a-Dozen Housekeepers'' (1903) * ''Rose o' the River'' (1905) * ''New Chronicles of Rebecca'' (1907) * ''Homespun Tales'' (1907) * ''The Old Peabody Pew'' (1907) * ''Susanna and Sue'' (1909) * '' Mother Carey's Chickens'' (1911) * ''Robinetta'' (1911) * ''A Child's Journey with Dickens'' (1912) * ''The Story of Waitstill Baxter'' (1913) * ''The Romance of a Christmas Card'' (1916) * ''A Summer in a Canyon: A California Story'' (1893) * ''Marm Lisa'' * ''My Garden of Memory'' (autobiography, published posthumously in 1923) ; With Nora A. Smith * ''The Story Hour: a book for the home and kindergarten'' (1890),

LCCN The Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) is a serially based system of numbering cataloged records in the Library of Congress, in the United States. It is not related to the contents of any book, and should not be confused with Library of ...

br>14-19353
* ''Golden Numbers: a book of verse for youth'', eds. (1902),

br>02-27230
* ''The Posy Ring: a book of verse for children'', eds. (1903) – "companion volume",

br>03-5775
* ''The Fairy Ring'', eds. (1906); truncated as ''Fairy Stories Every Child Should Know'' (1942), illus. Elizabeth MacKinstry * ''Magic Casements: A Second Fairy Book'', eds. (1907) * ''Pinafore Palace: a book of rhymes for the nursery'', eds. (1907) * ''Tales of Laughter: A Third Fairy Book'', eds. (1908) * ''The Arabian Nights: their best-known tales'', eds. (1909), illus.

Maxfield Parrish Maxfield Parrish (July 25, 1870 – March 30, 1966) was an American painter and illustration, illustrator active in the first half of the 20th century. He is known for his distinctive saturated hues and idealized neo-classical imagery. His ...

* ''Tales of Wonder: A Fourth Fairy Book'', eds. (1909) * ''The Talking Beasts: a book of fable wisdom'', eds. (1911) * ''An Hour with the Fairies'' (1911) * ''Twilight Stories: more tales for the story hour'', eds. (1925),

br>25-17938
* ''The Story Hour. A Book for the Home and Kingergarten'' * ''Children's Rights'' * ''The Republic of Childhood'' (3 volumes) * ''Marm Lisa'' ;About Kate Douglas Wiggin * ''Kate Douglas Wiggin as Her Sister Knew Her'' (1925)

Filmography

*''A Bit o' Heaven'' (1917), directed by

Lule Warrenton Lule Warrenton (June 22, 1862 – May 14, 1932) was an American actress, director, and producer during the silent film era. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1913 and 1922. She was born in Flint, Michigan and died in Laguna Beach, C ...

, based on the novel ''

'' *''

'' (1917), starring

Mary Pickford Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...

, directed by

Marshall Neilan Marshall Ambrose "Mickey" Neilan (April 11, 1891 – October 27, 1958) was an American actor. Early life Born in San Bernardino, California, Neilan was known by most as "Mickey." Following the death of his father, the eleven-year-old Mickey N ...

(based on the novel ''

'') *''

Rose o' the River ''Rose o' the River'' is a 1919 American drama silent film directed by Robert Thornby and written by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Will M. Ritchey. The film stars Lila Lee, Darrell Foss, George Fisher, Robert Brower, Josephine Crowell, and Sylvia Asht ...

'' (1919), directed by

Robert Thornby Robert Thornby (March 27, 1888 – March 6, 1953) was an American director and actor of the silent era. He directed 75 films between 1913 and 1927. He also appeared in 48 films between 1911 and 1930. He was born in New York, New York, and d ...

(based on the novel ''Rose o' the River'') *''

Timothy's Quest ''Timothy's Quest'' is a 1922 American silent drama film produced by Dirigo Films and distributed by American Releasing. It was directed by Sidney Olcott based on a story written by Kate Douglas Wiggin and starred the child actor Joseph Depew. ...

'' (1922), directed by

Sidney Olcott Sidney Olcott (born John Sidney Allcott, September 20, 1872 – December 16, 1949) was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter. Biography Born John Sidney Allcott in Toronto, he became one of the first great direc ...

(based on the story ''Timothy's Quest'') *''

'' (1932), directed by

Alfred Santell Alfred Allen Santell (1895–1981), was an American film director and film producer. Santell directed over 60 films, beginning in 1917, most of which were two-reel comedy short subjects for Hal Roach and other productions companies. Taking up f ...

(based on the novel ''

'') *''

'' (1936), directed by Charles Barton (based on the story ''Timothy's Quest'') *''

'' (1938), starring

, directed by

Allan Dwan Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter. Early life Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...

(based on the novel ''

'') *'' Mother Carey's Chickens'' (1938), directed by Rowland V. Lee (based on the novel '' Mother Carey's Chickens'') *'' Summer Magic'' (1963), a

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

production starring

Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...

, directed by James Neilson (based on the novel '' Mother Carey's Chickens'') *''Christmas World'': "The Bird's Christmas Carol" (2019), a Once Upon a Tale Entertainment presentation, directed by James Arrow (uncreditedly, based on the novel ''

'')

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * * * * *
Bowdoin collection and brief biography

The Dorcas Society of Hollis & Buxton, Maine

free online sheet music of ''Nine Love Songs and a Carol'' by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Full text of ''The Diary of a Goose Girl''
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1902.
Kate Wiggin Papers
Dartmouth College Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiggin, Kate Douglas 1856 births 1923 deaths Writers from Philadelphia American children's writers People from Hollis, Maine Schoolteachers from California American women educators American people of Welsh descent 19th-century American women writers American women children's writers 20th-century American women writers 19th-century American writers 20th-century American writers Abbot Academy alumni Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century Elocutionists