Mary Wells Knight Ashworth (May 28, 1903 — September 12, 1992) was an American historian who wrote for

Douglas Southall Freeman Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington, for both ...

between 1945 to 1953. With Freeman, Ashworth worked on his seven volume biography on

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

. After Freeman died before his biography was completed, Ashworth continued completing the biography as a member of

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City, known for publishing American authors including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjorie Kinnan Rawli ...

from 1954 to 1957. With the George Washington biography, Ashworth was a bibliographer before she co-wrote the seventh volume with

John Alexander Carroll John Alexander Carroll (died 17 December 2000) was an American history professor who primarily taught at the University of Arizona from 1958 to 1967, and Troy University from 1974 to 1989. While at Arizona, Carroll founded ''Arizona and the West'' i ...

. Apart from Washington, Ashworth's entries appeared in '' Notable American Women 1607-1950'' and the ''

World Book Encyclopedia The ''World Book Encyclopedia'' is an American encyclopedia. The encyclopedia is designed to cover major areas of knowledge uniformly, but it shows particular strength in scientific, technical, historical and medical subjects. ''World Book'' wa ...

''. Between the late 1950s to 1ate 1960s, Ashworth held executive positions for the

English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organistation. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skill ...

and

Hollins College Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in the United States ...

. She was granted a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

for biography in 1955 and was a co-winner of the 1958

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography, autobiography or memoir by an American author o ...

with ''George Washington, Volumes I-VII''.

Biography

Ashworth was born in

Plant City, Florida Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon, Florida, Brandon and Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland along Interstate 4. The population was 39,764 at ...

on May 28, 1903. She went to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

to complete a

Bachelor of Arts 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 years ...

in 1924. From 1945 to 1953, Ashworth worked as a historian for

while he wrote his biography ''George Washington''. Throughout her time on Freeman's biography, Ashworth was initially a bibliographer for the seven volume Washington biography. When Freeman died after writing Volume VI of his biography, Ashworth continued working on the Washington biography with

from 1954 to 1957. For the final volumes of the Washington biography, Ashworth was involved in the publication stages of Volume VI and co-wrote Volume VII alongside

. ''George Washington, Volume VII'' was Ashworth's first and only book as an author. Apart from writing, Ashworth's entries were featured in '' Notable American Women 1607-1950'' and the ''

''. From 1957 to 1967, Ashworth held multiple executive roles for organizations in Virginia. These included the

and the Richmond Woman's Club. With Hollins College, Ashworth worked as a trustee from the early 1960s to late 1960s. On September 12, 1992, Ashworth died of an

aortic rupture Aortic rupture is the rupture or breakage of the aorta, the largest artery in the body. Aortic rupture is a rare, extremely dangerous condition. The most common cause is an abdominal aortic aneurysm that has ruptured spontaneously. Aortic rupture ...

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

. She was married with two children.

Awards and honors

In 1954, Ashworth was awarded a

in biography. In 1958, she was a co-winner of the

for ''George Washington, Volumes I-VII''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashworth, Mary Wells 1903 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American women writers Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Women autobiographers