Margaret Deland (born Margaretta Wade Campbell; February 23, 1857 – January 13, 1945) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. She also wrote an autobiography in two volumes. She generally is considered part of the literary realism movement.

Biography

Margaretta Wade Campbell was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania (today a part of Pittsburgh) on February 23, 1857. Her mother died due to complications from the birth, and she was left in the care of an aunt named Lois Wade and her husband Benjamin Campbell Blake.Levenson, J. C. ''Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary'' (Edward T. James, editor). Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971: Vol. I, 454. On May 12, 1880, she married

Lorin F. Deland Lorin Fuller Deland (October 11, 1855 – May 2, 1917) was head coach of the Harvard Crimson football team for three games in 1895, after having been a football "adviser" to the team beginning in 1892. He invented the "flying wedge" formation, ...

. Her husband had inherited his father's publishing company, which he sold in 1886 and worked in advertising. It was at this period she began to write, first writing verses for her husband's greeting-card business. Her first poem was published in the March 1885 issue of ''Harper's New Monthly Magazine'' and her first poetry collection, titled ''The Old Garden and Other Verses'', was published in late 1886 by Houghton Mifflin.Filer, Ruth Maxa. ''Margaret Deland Writing Toward Insight''. Bloomington, IN: Balboa Press, 2014: 6. Her novel ''John Ward, Preacher'', her first, was published in 1888. Deland and her husband moved to Boston, Massachusetts and, over a four-year span, they took in and supported unmarried mothers at their residence at 76 Mount Vernon Street on Beacon Hill. They also maintained the summer home Greywood, overlooking the Kennebunk River in Kennebunkport, Maine. It was in this home that Canadian actress Margaret Anglin visited in 1909, and the two women reviewed Deland's manuscript for ''The Awakening of Helena Richie''. Anglin reported "I never spent a pleasanter time than I did while Mrs. Deland and I chugged up and down the little Kennbunkport River in a boat, talking over the future of ''Helena Richie''." The Delands kept their summer home in Maine for about 50 years. In 1910, Deland wrote an article for the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', recognizing the ongoing struggles for women's rights in the United States: "Restlessness!" she wrote, "A prevailing discontent among women — a restlessness infinitely removed from the content of a generation ago." During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Deland did relief work in France; she was awarded a cross from the Legion of Honor for her work. "She received a

Litt.D. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

from Bates College in 1920. In 1926, she was elected to the National Institute of Arts and Letters along with

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portray ...

, Agnes Repplier and

Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman (October 31, 1852 – March 13, 1930) was an American author. Biography Freeman was born in Randolph, Massachusetts on October 31, 1852, to Eleanor Lothrop and Warren Edward Wilkins, who originally baptized her " ...

. The election of these four women to the organization was said to have "marked the letting down of the bars to women." "First Women Elected to Institute of Arts; Edith Wharton Among the Four Chosen – American Academy Makes Two Men Members,"
''New York Times.'' November 12, 1926. Deland was also a member of an informal women's social club that met regularly and included Amy Beach, Alice Howe Gibbens (wife of

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

), and Ida Agassiz (wife of Henry Lee Higginson). By 1941, Deland had published 33 books. She died in Boston at the Hotel Sheraton, where she then lived, in 1945. She is buried at Forest Hills Cemetery. Her home on Mount Vernon Street is a stop on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail.

Critical response

Deland is known principally for the novel ''John Ward, Preacher'' (1888), an indictment of

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

, which became a best-seller.Lang, Eleanor. ''Art of the Real World: Eight American Women Realists''. Rowman & Littlefield, 1979: 173. Her 'Old Chester' books, based on her early memories of the Pittsburgh communities where she grew up — including Maple Grove and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

— were also popular. She was recognized as an important and popular author of literary realism in the United States, but some of her plots and themes were shocking to some. In her lifetime, she was called the American Mrs. Humphry Ward and was compared to

Elizabeth Gaskell Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (''née'' Stevenson; 29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to as Mrs Gaskell, was an English novelist, biographer and short story writer. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many st ...

Selected works

DELAND(1886) The old garden and other verses

Poetry *''The Old Garden and other verses'' (1886)
Internet Archive e-text
*The Old Garden with illustrations by Walter Crane (1893) Novels *''John Ward, Preacher'' (1888) *''

Sidney Sidney may refer to: People * Sidney (surname), English surname * Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Sidney (footballer, born 1972), full name Sidney da Silva Souza, Brazilian football defensive midfielder * ...

'' (1890) *''The Story of a Child'' (1892) *''

Philip and His Wife ''Philip and His Wife'' is a novel by the American writer Margaret Deland (1857–1945) set in the 19th century fictional locale of Old Chester, a fictional Western Pennsylvania rural village near Pittsburgh. Overview The novel tells the story of ...

'' (1894) *''Dr. Lavendar's People'' (1903) *''

The Awakening of Helena Richie ''The Awakening of Helena Richie'' is a novel by the American writer Margaret Deland (1857 - 1945) set in the 19th century fictional locale of Old Chester, a Western Pennsylvania rural village just a few miles outside the city of Pittsburgh, then ...

'' (1906) *''The Way to Peace'' (1910) *''

The Iron Woman ''The Iron Woman'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one ...

'' (1911) *''The Voice'' (1912) *''Partners'' (1913) *''The Hands of Esau'' (1914) *'' The Rising Tide'' (1916) *''Small Things'' (1919) *''The Promises of Alice'' (1919) *''An Old Chester Secret'' (1920) *''The Vehement Flame'' (1922) *''The Kays'' (1926) *''Captain Archer's Daughter'' (1932) Short story collections *''Mr. Tommy Dove, and Other Stories'' (1893) *''The Wisdom of Fools'' (1897) *''Old Chester Tales'' (1898) *''The Common Way'' (1904) *''R.J.'s Mother and Some Other People'' (1908) *''Around Old Chester'' (1915) *''Small Things'' (1919) *''New Friends in Old Chester'' (1924) *''Old Chester Days'' (1935) Autobiography *''If This Be I, as I Suppose It Be'' (1935) *''Golden Yesterdays'' (1941) Other nonfiction *''Florida Days'' (1889)

Filmography

*''

'', directed by Carl Harbaugh (1916, based on the novel ''

'') *''

'', directed by

John W. Noble John Winthrop Noble (born Winfield Fernley Kutz; June 24, 1880 – September 10, 1946) was an American film director and screenwriter during the silent era. Career John Winthrop Noble was the professional name of Winfield Fernley Kutz (someti ...

(1916, based on the novel ''

'') *'' Smouldering Fires'', directed by Clarence Brown (1925)

References

External links

* * *
Margaret Deland
by Chloe Morse-Harding (2012) at the

Boston Athenæum The Boston Athenaeum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. It is also one of a number of subscription library, membership libraries, for which patrons pay a yearly subscription fee to use Athenaeum services. The instit ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deland, Margaret 1857 births 1945 deaths Writers from Pittsburgh 19th-century American novelists 19th-century American poets 20th-century American novelists American autobiographers American women short story writers American women in World War I American women poets Women autobiographers American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American poets 19th-century American short story writers 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from Pennsylvania American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers People from Beacon Hill, Boston Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters