Lucy S. Furman (June 7, 1870 – August 24, 1958) was an American novelist, short story writer, and animal rights activist. Her fiction was a foundational influence on what would become Appalachian literature.

Biography

Lucy Furman was born in

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *He ...

County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

on June 7, 1869. After her parents’ death early in her life, she moved to

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. She eventually returned to Kentucky to attend

Sayre School Sayre School is an independent, private, co-educational school in Lexington, Kentucky, US. The school enrolls 610 students from age two through twelfth grade. It has 68 full-time faculty members. History David A. Sayre, a New Jersey silversmith, ...

in Lexington, graduating in 1885. Upon her graduation, she moved to

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

, before moving back to Evansville, where she would live and work independently. In 1894, ''Century Magazine'' published some of Furman's short stories. The magazine began to serialize these stories, which were based on her observations of Henderson. Then in 1896, ''Century'' collected the short stories into a book titled, ''Stories of a Sanctified Town''.(30 January 1897)
The Lounger
''The Critic'' (New York), pp. 75, 79 After this publication, Furman moved to

Hindman Settlement School Hindman Settlement School is a settlement school located in Hindman, Kentucky in Knott County, Kentucky, Knott County. Established in 1902, it was the first rural settlement school in America.

, where she became the school's first director of grounds, gardens, and livestock. During her twenty years' service there, she fictionalized her observations into stories that were published by ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and ''Century Magazine'', then later collected in best-selling novels such as ''Mothering on Perilous'' (1913), ''Sight to the Blind'' (1914), ''The Quare Women'' (1923), ''The Glass Window'' (1924), and ''The Lonesome Road'' (1927). For her work as a southern female writer, Furman earned the George Fort Milton Award in 1932. While known for her writing, Furman was also a leader in the Anti-Steel Trap League of Washington, DC, writing, publishing, and lecturing widely on the subject. In 1934, Furman proposed an anti-steel trap bill to Kentucky's General Assembly. The bill passed and took effect in 1940. In 1953, she retired and moved to

Cranford, New Jersey Cranford is a township in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located southwest of Manhattan. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 23,847, an increase of 1,222 (+5.4%) from the 2010 census count ...

, where she lived with her nephew. She died there on August 25, 1958.(26 August 1958)
Miss Lucy Furman (obituary)
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''Ballard, Sandra L. & Patricia L. Hudson (eds.
Listen Here: Women Writing in Appalachia
pp. 242-43 (2003) ()

Bibliography

* ''Stories of a Sanctified Town'' (1896) * ''Mothering on Perilous'' (1913) * ''Sight to the Blind'' (1914) * ''The Quare Women'' (1923) * ''The Glass Window'' (1925) * ''The Lonesome Road'' (1927)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Furman, Lucy 19th-century American writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers 1870 births 1958 deaths People from Henderson, Kentucky 19th-century American women writers Writers from Kentucky Kentucky women writers