May Alden Ward (March 1, 1853 - January 14, 1918) was an American author known for her biographies of such writers as Petrarch and Dante.

Biography

She was born May Alden in

Mechanicsburg, Ohio Mechanicsburg is a village in Champaign County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,644 at the 2010 census. History Mechanicsburg was platted in 1814. The village was so named for the fact a large share of its settlers worked as mechan ...

, one of three children of Prince William Alden (a merchant and banker) and Rebecca (Neal) Alden. She was a descendant of Captain John Alden, who came to America on the Mayflower. She early developed an interest in literature and languages and by the age of 16 was contributing articles to a Cincinnati periodical. She graduated from

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

in 1872 at the age of 19 and a year later married William G. Ward, who held various academic positions over his career including history professor at

Baldwin University The history of Baldwin Wallace University dates back to 1828, when co-founder John Baldwin settled in present-day Berea, Ohio. His founding eventually established Baldwin–Wallace College. This founding of present-day Baldwin Wallace Universit ...

near Cleveland and later English literature professor at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in New York and at

Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...

in Boston. Ward traveled for two years in Europe to continue her study of Italian, French, and German literature. In 1887, she published a life of Dante, followed four years later by a life of Petrarch. Reviewers praised these books for their skillful synthesis of the existing scholarship, and the ''New York Times'' singled out Ward's lively, clear prose style and historian's instinct. Author William Dean Howells commented that her work removed "the stain and whitewash of centuries" to reveal the underlying historical truth. Her subsequent book on John Ruskin, Leo Tolstoy, and Thomas Carlyle, ''Prophets of the Nineteenth Century'', was hailed as masterly. Ward also lectured on French and German literature and became a popular speaker on the women's club circuit. In the late 1890s, Ward and her family moved to Massachusetts, where she served as president of various organizations including the

New England Women's Club The New England Women's Club (est. May 1868) of Boston, Massachusetts, was one of the two earliest women's clubs in the United States, having been founded a couple of months after Sorosis in New York City.''The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of U ...

(succeeding the poet Julia Ward Howe in that role), the New England Woman's Press Association, and the Cantabrigia women's club. She was also a charter member of the Authors' Club of Boston and one of the Massachusetts state commissioners for the

St. Louis World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

of 1904. She was killed in an accident when the car she was riding in on her way home from an evening lecture collided with an electric streetcar in Boston.

Books

* ''Dante: A Sketch of His Life and Works'' (1887) * ''Petrarch: A Sketch of His Life and Works'' (1891) * ''Old Colony Days'' (1897) * ''Prophets of the Nineteenth Century: Carlyle, Ruskin, Tolstoi'' (1900)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, May Alden 1853 births 1918 deaths Ohio Wesleyan University alumni 19th-century American women writers People from Mechanicsburg, Ohio Road incident deaths in Massachusetts Wikipedia articles incorporating text from A Woman of the Century