Wilhelmina Harper (April 21, 1884 – December 23, 1973) was a children's librarian, and a children's author. She was a supervisor of children's work for the Kern County Free Library.

Early life

Wilhelmina Harper was born on April 21, 1884, in

Farmington, Maine Farmington is a town in and the county seat of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homeste ...

, the daughter of Professor William Harper and Bertha Tauber (1853–1945). She graduated from

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties and ...

, and the New York State Library.

Career

Harper started working as a children's librarian in 1908 at the New York's Queens Borough Public Library. She conducted story hours, gave talks in public schools, instructed school classes in the use of library and organized clubs for boys and girls. In 1918 she was first assistant at Camp Library,

Pelham Bay Naval Training Station Pelham Bay Naval Training Station was a World War I-era United States Navy training facility located in Pelham Bay Park's Rodman's Neck in the Bronx. Located near City Island, and Westchester county, it was operational from 1917 to 1919. Hist ...

, in New York, and in 1919 served overseas as the library organizer for the

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

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. In 1920 she was employed by the American Red Cross in Chicago. Harper was for ten years engaged as Children's Librarian in the Greater New York area. In 1921 she moved to California and worked in the libraries in Bakersfield, California, and

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...

. She was Supervisor of children's work for the Kern County Free Library. In 1929 she taught a summer-school class in children's literature and storytelling. She retired in 1954. Harper was a successful children's author in the 1930s and 1940s, and published more than 40 compilations of children and young adult stories, including: * ''Around the hearth fire, stories of favorite holidays selected from the Youth's companion'' (1931) * ''Boys' Stories from the Youth's Companion'' * ''Down in Dixie, stories from the South Central States'' (1940) * ''Easter chimes: stories for Easter and the spring season'' (1942) * ''Fillmore Folk Tales'' * ''Ghosts and Goblins: Stories for Hallowe'en and Other Times'' (1936) * ''Girl of Tiptop: and other stories'' (1929) * ''Girls' Stories from the Youth's Companion'' * ''The Gunniwolf, and other merry tales'' Illustrated by Barbara Upton in 1918, Illustrated by

Kate Seredy Kate Seredy (November 10, 1899 – March 7, 1975) was a Hungarian-born writer and illustrator of children's books. She won the Newbery Medal once, the Newbery Honor twice, the Caldecott Honor once, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Most of her bo ...

in 1935 * ''The harvest feast: stories of Thanksgiving yesterday and today'' (1938) * ''A Little Book of Necessary Ballads'' Illustrated by Helen B. Evers (1930) * ''The Lonely Little Pig and other animal tales'' (1939) * ''The Magic Fairy Tales'' * ''Merry Christmas to you: stories for Christmas'' (1935) * ''Off Duty'' * ''The selfish giant and other stories'' (1935) * ''Stories of the old West'' (1940) * ''Story Hour Favorites'' * ''Treasure Trails'' (a series of four school readers) * ''Uncle Sam's story book : adventures of yesterday's boys and girls'' (1940) * ''Where the redbird flies: stories from the southeastern states'' (1946) * ''Winding roads'' (1928) * ''Wings of Courage: And Other Stories for Girl Scouts'' (1941) She also published articles pertaining to library work. Harper was a member of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

and the California Library Association.

Personal life

Harper lived in New York City, and moved to California in 1921, living at 2714 Chester Lane, Bakersfield, California. She died on December 23, 1973, and is buried at Alta Mesa Memorial Park,

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Wilhelmina 1884 births 1973 deaths American librarians American women librarians American children's writers American women children's writers People from Farmington, Maine People from Kern County, California 20th-century American women writers Writers from Maine Writers from California