Alice B. Curtis

Alice Bertha Curtis (January 1, 1874–April 19, 1956) was an American suffragist active with the National American Woman's Suffrage Association,[1] a college professor, author of two fictionalized childhood memoirs, Children of the Prairie (1938) and Winter on the Prairie (1945), and the writer of the short story "Wings of Mercy" that was adapted for the 1937 RKO movie The Man Who Found Himself.

Alice B. Curtis c. 1935

Life and work

Educated at Iowa State Normal School,[2] University of Iowa,[3] and University of Chicago,[4] Curtis taught at small Midwestern colleges in the early 1900s[1] and was associate professor of English at Colorado A. & M. College from 1922 to 1942.[5]

Curtis was involved in political action for women's suffrage in four states: Iowa, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.[6] She worked as private secretary to Carrie Chapman Catt during the Iowa campaign,[1] as a salaried suffrage worker in Wisconsin,[7] and on a petition signature drive in Oklahoma.[6]

Curtis was the author of magazine articles and short stories, verse, and two novels dealing with pioneer life in Iowa.[8] She is featured on the Literary Map of Iowa produced in 1952 by the Iowa Association of Teachers of English.[9] Her story "Wings of Mercy" was the source material for the 1937 RKO Radio movie starring Joan Fontaine.[10]

The pioneer novels for children are set in Iowa and were likely based on her childhood in that state.[1] Winter on the Prairie is in the public domain;[11] the copyright for Children of the Prairie was renewed in the 1960s by Curtis' literary executors.[12] Alice Dalgliesh writing in Parents magazine called Children "real and friendly."[13] Children of the Prairie was recommended for purchase by Indiana school libraries[14] and was suggested reading for a fifth-grade unit study on "pioneers of the west."[15] Child Life magazine called Winter on the Prairie an "excellent story"[16] and excerpt from Winter called "The Blizzard" was included in a Canadian elementary-school reader.[17] Winter on the Prairie was illustrated by Grace Paull.[11]

Curtis lived in Fort Collins, Colorado until her death in 1956.[18]

References
  1. Barco, Brenden (May 2022). Dublin, Thomas; Sklar, Kathryn Kish (eds.). "Biographical Sketch of Alice Bertha Curtis, Included in Part III: Mainstream Suffragists—National American Woman Suffrage Association". Online Biographical Dictionary of the Women Suffrage Movement of the United States. Alexander Street. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  2. McClelland, Thomas; Iowa State Normal School (1904). Triennial catalog of graduates ; Historical account of the several societies ; The addresses given at the Bartlett anniversary. Cedar Falls, Iowa: The Normal School.
  3. The Iowa Alumnus. State University of Iowa. May 1917. p. 251.
  4. University of Chicago Alumni Council (1913). Alumni Directory. University of Chicago Press.
  5. "Alice Curtis". IndexUNI: Database of University Articles. Retrieved 2023-01-30.
  6. Harper, Ida Husted; Gage, Matilda Joslyn; Anthony, Susan B.; Stanton, Elizabeth Cady (1922). History of woman suffrage. Salem, NH: Ayer Co.
  7. McBride, Genevieve G. (1993). On Wisconsin Women: Working for Their Rights from Settlement to Suffrage. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-14004-5.
  8. Iowa State Teachers College (1956-09-01). "The Alumnus, v40n3, September 1956". The Alumnus. 40 (3).
  9. Hopkins, Martha E.; Buscher, Michael; Library of Congress (1999). Language of the land: The Library of Congress book of literary maps. Washington : Pittsburgh, Pa.: Library of Congress ; For sale by the U.S. G.P.O., Supt. of Docs. ISBN 978-0-8444-0963-4.
  10. "The Man Who Found Himself - RKO Radio - Romantic Drama". Motion Picture Herald. Vol. 126, no. 11. 1937-03-13. p. 46. Retrieved 2023-01-30 – via lantern.mediahist.org.
  11. Curtis, Alice Bertha; Paull, Grace (1945). Winter on the prairie. May G. Quigley collection. New York: Crowell.
  12. Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1968). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Third Series: 1966: January-June. Copyright Office, Library of Congress.
  13. Parents' Magazine 1939-03: Vol 14 Iss 3. Internet Archive. Gruner + Jahr USA Publishing. March 1939.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. Indiana (1911). A library manual for Indiana schools. Prepared under direction of state Department of public instruction. Clement T. Malan, state superintendent of public instruction. Bulletin no.128. Indiana. [Dept. of education]. Indianapolis.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  15. Long Beach City Schools; Thompson, Anastasia (1947). Pioneers of the West: a fifth grade unit. Long Beach: Office of Curriculum Development.
  16. Child Life 1945-06: Vol 24 Iss 6. Internet Archive. Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society. June 1945.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  17. Dickie, D. J. (1947). Canadian Parade Readers: Proud Procession. University of Alberta Libraries. Toronto, Dent.
  18. "Historic Homes Tour". City of Fort Collins. 2002.
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