Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards (February 27, 1850 – January 14, 1943) was an American writer. She wrote more than 90 books including

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

, and several for children. One well-known children's poem is her

literary nonsense Literary nonsense (or nonsense literature) is a broad categorization of literature that balances elements that make sense with some that do not, with the effect of subverting language conventions or logical reasoning. Even though the most well-kn ...

verse " Eletelephony".

Biography

Laura Elizabeth Howe was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 27, 1850. Her father was Dr.

Samuel Gridley Howe Samuel Gridley Howe (November 10, 1801 – January 9, 1876) was an American physician, abolitionist, and advocate of education for the blind. He organized and was the first director of the Perkins Institution. In 1824 he had gone to Greece to ...

, an

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

and the founder of the

Perkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind. Perkins manufactures its own Perkins Br ...

. She was named after his famous deaf-blind pupil

Laura Bridgman Laura Dewey Lynn Bridgman (December 21, 1829 – May 24, 1889) was the first deaf-blind American child to gain a significant education in the English language, twenty years before the more famous Helen Keller; Laura's friend Anne Sullivan becam ...

. Her mother

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

wrote the words to "

The Battle Hymn of the Republic The "Battle Hymn of the Republic", also known as "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory" or "Glory, Glory Hallelujah" outside of the United States, is a popular American patriotic song written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe. Howe wrote her l ...

". In 1871, Laura married Henry Richards. He would accept a management position in 1876 at his family's

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt, ...

Gardiner, Maine Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,961 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Popular with tourists, Gardiner is noted for its culture and old architecture. Gardiner ...

, where the couple moved with their three children. In 1917 Laura won a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

for ''Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910'', a

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

, which she

co-author Collaborative writing, or collabwriting is a method of group work that takes place in the workplace and in the classroom. Researchers expand the idea of collaborative writing beyond groups working together to complete a writing task. Collaboration ...

ed with her sisters,

Maud Howe Elliott Maud Howe Elliott (November 9, 1854 – March 19, 1948) was an American novelist, most notable for her Pulitzer prize-winning collaboration with her sisters, Laura E. Richards and Florence Hall, on their mother's biography ''The Life of Julia W ...

and Florence Hall. She died on January 14, 1943 at

, 44 days before her 93rd birthday.

Legacy

A pre-kindergarten-to-fifth-grade elementary school in

, bears her name. Her children's book ''Tirra Lirra'' won the

Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...

in 1959. Her home in Gardiner, the Laura Richards House, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Works

Richards contributed poetry to '' St. Nicholas Magazine''.

Biographies

*''Letter and Journals of Samuel Gridley Howe'' (Vol. I: 1906, Vol. II: 1909) *''Florence Nightingale: Angel of the Crimea'' (1909) *''Two Noble Lives: Samuel Gridley Howe and Julia Ward Howe'' (1911) *''Julia Ward Howe, 1819-1910'' (1915) *''Elizabeth Fry, the Angel of the Prisons'' (1916) *''Abigail Adams and Her Times'' (1917) *''Joan of Arc'' (1919) *''Laura Bridgman: The Story of an Opened Door'' (1928) *''Stepping Westward'' (1931)

Other books

*''Baby's Rhyme Book'' (1878) *''Babyhood: Rhymes and Stories, Pictures and Silhouettes for Our Little Ones'' (1878) *''Baby's Story Book'' (1878) *''Five Mice in a Mouse Trap'' (1880) *''The Little Tyrant'' (1880) *''Our Baby's Favorite'' (1881) *''Sketches and Scraps'' (1881) *''Baby Ways'' (1881) *''The Joyous Story of Toto'' (1885) *''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

'' (retelling, 1886) *''Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet'' (1886) *''

Hop o' My Thumb Hop-o'-My-Thumb (Hop-on-My-Thumb), or Hop o' My Thumb, also known as Little Thumbling, Little Thumb, or Little Poucet (french: Le petit Poucet), is one of the eight fairytales published by Charles Perrault in ''Histoires ou Contes du temps pass� ...

'' (retelling, 1886) *''Kaspar Kroak's Kaleidoscope'' (1886) *''L.E.R.'' (privately printed, 1886) *''Tell-Tale from Hill and Dale'' (1886) *''Toto's Merry Winter'' (1887) *''Julia Ward Howe Birthday-Book'' (1889) *''In My Nursery'' (1890) *'' Captain January'' (in 1936 made into a movie with

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 ...

) (1891) *''Star Bright'' (Captain January sequel, 1927) *The Hildegarde Series **''Queen Hildegarde'' (1889) **''Hildegarde's Holiday'' (1891) **''Hildegarde's Home'' (1892) **''Hildegarde's Neighbors'' (1895) **''Hildegarde's Harvest'' (1897) *The Melody Series **''Melody'' (1893) **''Marie'' (1894) **''Bethsada Pool'' (1895) **''Rosin the Beau'' (1898) *The Margaret Series **''Three Margarets'' (1897) **''Margaret Montfort'' (1898) **''Peggy'' (1899) **''Rita'' (1900) **''Fernley House'' (1901) **''The Merryweathers'' (1904) *''Glimpses of the French Court'' (1893) *''When I Was Your Age'' (1893) *''Narcissa, or the Road to Rome'' (1894) *''Five Minute Stories'' (1895) *''Jim of Hellas, or In Durance Vile'' (1895) *''Nautilus'' (1895) *''Isla Heron'' (1896) *''"Some Say" and Neighbors in Cyrus'' (1896) *''The Social Possibilities of a Country Town'' (1897) *''Love and Rocks'' (1898) *''Chop-Chin and the Golden Dragon'' (1899) *''Quicksilver Sue'' (1899) *''The Golden-Breasted Kootoo'' (1899) *''Sundown Songs'' (1899) *''For Tommy and Other Stories'' (1900) *''Snow-White, or The House in the Wood'' (1900) *''Geoffrey Strong'' (1901) *''Mrs. Tree'' (1902) *''The Hurdy-Gurdy'' (1902) *''More Five Minute Stories'' (1903) *''The Green Satin Gown'' (1903) *''The Tree in the City'' (1903) *''Mrs. Tree's Will'' (1905) *''The Armstrongs'' (1905) *''The Piccolo'' (1906) *''The Silver Crown, Another Book of Fables'' (1906) *''At Gregory's House'' (1907) *''Grandmother, the Story of a Life that Never was Lived'' (1907) *''Ten Ghost Stories'' (1907) *''The Pig Brother, and Other Fables and Stories'' (1908) *''The Wooing of Calvin Parks'' (1908) *''A Happy Little Time'' (1910) *''Up to Calvin's'' (1910) *''On Board the Mary Sands'' (1911) *''Jolly Jingles'' (1912) *''Miss Jimmy'' (1913) *''The Little Master'' (1913) *''Three Minute Stories'' (1914) *''The Pig Brother Play-Book'' (1915) *''Fairy Operettas'' (1916) *''Pippin, a Wandering Flame'' (1917) *''A Daughter of Jehu'' (1918) *''To Arms! Songs of the Great War'' (1918) *''Honor Bright: A Story for Girls'' (1920) *''In Blessed Cyrus'' (1921) *''The Squire'' (1923) *''Acting Charades'' (1924) *''Seven Oriental Operettas'' (1924) *''Honor Bright's New Adventure'' (1925) *''Tirra Lirra: Rhymes Old and New'' (1932)archive.org
/ref> *''Merry-Go-Round: New Rhymes and Old'' (1935) *''E. A. R.'' (1936) *''Please! Rhymes of Protest'' (1936) *''Harry in England'' (1937) *''I Have a Song to Sing You'' (1938) *''The Hottentot and Other Ditties'' (1939) *''What Shall the Children Read'' (1939) *''Laura E. Richards and Gardiner'' (a compilation of poems and articles, 1939)

References

(readseries.com)

External links

audio poem * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Laura E. American children's writers American women poets Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners Writers from Maine Writers from Boston 1850 births 1943 deaths People from Gardiner, Maine American women children's writers 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American biographers American women biographers 20th-century American women writers Pulitzer Prize winners Women autobiographers