Myra Sturtevant Nye (May 12, 1875 – January 28, 1955) was a writer, journalist, and clubwoman based in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

. She was the women's club editor and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

columnist at the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' from 1919 to 1934.

Early life

Myra Bell Sturtevant was born in 1875, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Her parents were William Sturtevant and Mary Davis Sturtevant. Myra Sturtevant graduated from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

in 1896.

Career

Myra Sturtevant first moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1896 with her father, and returned with husband and her first two children in 1901. She helped to organize the Glendora Women's Club, and was the group's first vice president."Talented Pioneer Woman Has Rich Memories of

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...

" ''Covina Argus'' (June 18, 1953): 18. via

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

From 1919 to 1934, she was the women's club editor at the ''Los Angeles Times''. She also wrote the column "Society of Cinemaland". She covered other events as well, including a lecture on quantum theory by

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

's grandson at the

Ebell Club The Ebell Society was a woman's club with its first chapter in Oakland, California. It was founded in 1876 and was originally called the International Academy for the Advancement of Women. The club's purpose was the advancement of women in cultural ...

, of which she wrote, "When Charles Darwin, long ago, advanced his evolution theory he could have created no greater bewilderment than did his grandson yesterday." She served a term as president of the Southern California Women's Press Club. Myra Nye wrote a historical novel, ''Heart of Gold'' (1912), and forty short stories, most of them with California historical settings. She taught evening writing classes in

Covina Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles, in the San Gabriel Valley. The population was 51,268 according to the 2020 census, up from 47,796 at the 2010 census. The city's slogan, "On ...

after she retired from newspaper work.

Personal life

Myra Sturtevant married William Putnam Nye, a druggist, in Oberlin, Ohio in 1898. They had four children. Their son

Carroll Nye Robert Carroll Nye (October 4, 1901 – March 17, 1974) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1925 and 1944. His most memorable role was Frank Kennedy, Scarlett's second husband, in ''Gone with the Wind''. ...

had a notable career in Hollywood. Another son, Wilbur S. Nye, was a writer. She was also active with the Covina chapter of the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

, and in local theatrical productions. She and her son Ralph Nye also made and marketed several flavors of

marmalade Marmalade is a fruit preserve made from the juice and peel of citrus fruits boiled with sugar and water. The well-known version is made from bitter orange. It is also made from lemons, limes, grapefruits, mandarins, sweet oranges, bergamo ...

as "Myra Nye Marmalade", in the 1940s. Myra Nye was widowed in 1947, and died in

Glendora, California Glendora is a city in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, California, east of Los Angeles. As of the 2020 census, the population of Glendora was 52,558. Known as the "Pride of the Foothills", Glendora is nestled in the foothills o ...

in 1955, aged 79 years."Myra Nye, Former Times Woman's Editor, Dies"
''Los Angeles Times'' (January 30, 1955): 4.

References

External links

*Myra Nye
"Spirit of California"
a poem published in the 1922 edition of ''Who's Who Among the Women of California'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nye, Myra 1875 births 1955 deaths American women journalists Journalists from Ohio Writers from Cleveland 20th-century American journalists Journalists from California Los Angeles Times people People from Covina, California Oberlin College alumni American women short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers Clubwomen