sitting-room cupboard into a temple in Central America and the stiff
doll into Mary Queen of Scots. It was the gift of imagination. How
surprised her family would have been at that time had they known that
this gift was one day to make her a famous storywriter.
In the smoky factory town of Manchester, England, Frances Eliza Hodgson
was born, November 24, 1849. When she was about four years old, her
sweet, gentle mother was left a widow.
Like other English children of families in comfortable circumstances,
the Hodgson girls had a governess at home, before they entered a near-by
private school. The lessons which interested Frances the most were those
that contained stories, such as certain parts of history. She could
never satisfy her great appetite for stories, though she read
continually.
There were not so many good books for children then as nowadays.
Frances’ relatives seemed to think that the birthday and Christmas gift
books were quite enough for a little girl. Frances, however, did not
agree with them. When she made a new acquaintance at school, she was
sure to ask her, first of all, what books she had to lend. Sometimes
when she went to visit a little friend, she forgot her manners entirely
and buried herself in a new book, so eager was she to read.
One gloomy rainy day, Frances wandered through the house looking for
something to read. She glanced at the tall secretary and wished that its
books looked more interesting. However, she decided that she might at
least try one. Accordingly, she pulled out a fat volume. It had short
lines, which, to Frances, meant conversation and a story. She opened
another book and found more stories. Delightedly, she continued to
examine the books.
Frances was so excited and happy that she forgot to go to tea. She had
discovered that there were stories enough to last her for months! It was
in this way that Frances Hodgson discovered Shakespeare’s plays, Scott’s
and Dickens’ novels, and many other interesting books.
Not content with reading stories, Frances was always telling or writing
them. On the afternoons at school when the girls were allowed to talk
quietly over their crocheting and fancy work, Frances would tell stories
in low tones to the group of girls near her. They were delighted with
her tales and continually begged her to tell more.
At home she often wrote stories on slates or in old account books. For
fear of being teased she rarely showed the stories to anyone except her
mother. Mrs. Hodgson always had an encouraging word for her little
daughter’s tales and verses. This gave Frances an added incentive to
continue writing.
Just at the close of the Civil War a great change came into the life of
the little storywriter. Mrs. Hodgson decided to leave England and move
to America. The family fortunes were impaired, and an uncle had promised
to find work for the boys in the United States.
Romantic Frances was delighted with the change. Her first American home
was in a tiny settlement in the forests of Tennessee. Everything was so
new and strange that she seemed actually to be living in a story. The
next home on the top of a hill, with mountains in the distance, was even
better. How she loved the bright sunshine, the flowers, the birds, and
her bower, a cozy retreat in the woods!
The boys had not as yet been able to add very much to the family
fortunes. Frances and her sisters did not mind worn-out frocks and
scanty meals, but they were troubled to see their dear little mother so
worried. The girls decided that something had to be done immediately.
“How wonderful it would be,” thought Frances, “if an editor would buy
one of my stories!”
She was only fifteen years old, and she did not know how to send a story
to an editor. She had read in a magazine that contributors must write
very clearly on foolscap paper, and enclose stamps.
Not having sufficient money with which to buy stamps and paper, Frances
and her sisters earned the money by selling wild grapes.
At last the story was sent, but it was done secretly, for Frances was
afraid that her brothers would tease her. What a happy day it was when,
on its second trip, the story, together with another, brought a check
for thirty-five dollars! She had found a way to help.
Frances Hodgson went on writing and selling her stories. Soon her books
became famous. When she married Dr. S. M. Burnett, she was able to help
him complete his education by her writing. Their son, Vivian, is also a
writer. He has been a journalist and is the author of several books.
Mrs. Burnett has written many novels for grown people as well as stories
that children love. _Little Lord Fauntleroy_, the tale of a lovable
little American boy who won the heart of his crusty old English
grandfather, is the best known of her books for children. Among her
other well-known books are _Editha’s Burglar_, _Sara Crewe_, _The Cozy
Lion_, _The Secret Garden_, and _Land of the Blue Flower_.
Mrs. Burnett does not preach in her delightful stories for children. One
can, however, easily see in her stories the lessons in thoughtfulness
and courtesy she had learned from her mother. Frances Hodgson Burnett’s
great gift of imagination, together with her desire to write, enabled
her to give us stories that have brought pleasure to many people.
[Illustration]
Katharine Bement Davis—
The Girl Who Has Helped To Straighten Twisted Lives
The villain had received his just deserts, but he, or rather she, was
smiling with satisfaction. Her play, for Katharine was the author as
well as a principal actor, had been a great success. Nobody had
forgotten a line, and, in addition, the scenery had added a realistic
setting. Who would ever have dreamed that the deep forest and bold
cliffs were only boughs cut from the shrubbery, and boxes covered with
mother’s old gray shawl?
The back parlor of the Davis home was crowded with a friendly audience
of girls and boys and a few mothers and fathers. This attendance was
very gratifying to Katharine, for it assured her that the receipts would
be large. With them she intended to provide a bountiful Thanksgiving
dinner for a good woman who was having difficulty in supporting her
crippled grandson.
Little did this merry eleven-year-old girl think that the work of
helping others, begun in such a small way that night, was the work that
she was to choose for her own later on. When she grew up she became a
sociologist. This is simply a long word for a person who thinks,
studies, plans, and works to help people lead happier, healthier, and
better lives.
Katharine Bement Davis was born in Buffalo, New York, January 15, 1860.
Within a short time the family moved to Dunkirk, New York. In the happy
childhood days spent in this town on Lake Erie, there was no hint of the
sorrow of life which Katharine was to cheer in later years.
Besides four younger sisters and brothers for playmates, Kitty, as she
was called, had no end of school chums. They were always welcome at her
home, for the Davis house was a sort of center of good times for the
neighborhood. In the winter the children acted plays in the house; in
the summer time they played Indian in the backyard, or built houses of
kindling wood.
Kitty was usually chief builder, because she loved to watch something
grow under her hands. Making things was always such a joy to her that
years later, when she had charge of the Bedford Reformatory, she taught
her girls how to do all sorts of useful tasks. They even laid the
concrete walks between the buildings.
This little Lake Erie girl had as great an appetite for finding out how
other people did things as for doing them herself. Once when a friend of
the family took her for a drive, she inquired the name and use of every
part of the carriage. By the time they reached home, her companion felt
as if he had been put through a severe examination; but Katharine knew
all about the carriage. This habit of going to the very bottom of things
was to be of great use to a woman who was to have hard problems to
settle in her public life.
Kitty Davis was very fond of reading. Her sisters and brothers often
found her deeply absorbed in a book. Some of Scott’s and Dickens’ novels
were among the book friends that she made at eleven and twelve years of
age.
Little Katharine Davis liked to create with her mind as well as with her
hands. When she was eleven years old, she had thought out tunes for a
number of hymns. She enjoyed her music lessons, especially the part
which showed her how music is made. The grown-up Katharine Davis
realized that music helps people to forget their troubles and to think
better thoughts. For this reason, she made sure that her girls at the
reformatory should not only hear good music but should sing it
themselves in their own glee club.
In the Davis family lived Grandmother Bement, a woman who had always had
a hand in any new movement to make the world better. Katharine and the
other children loved to hear her tell about the escape of slaves by
means of the underground railroad, the fight against drink, and the
struggle for rights for women. It was not strange that the granddaughter
of such a woman should have a desire to be of service to the world.
The years flew on until Katharine Davis was ready for college. Business
reverses had come to Mr. Davis, and he told his daughter that he could
not pay her expenses.
“Never mind,” answered Katharine, “I will earn them myself.”
She kept her word. Studying by herself while she was teaching science in
the Dunkirk High School, Katharine Davis completed two years of college
work. She then entered Vassar College as a junior. She successfully
passed the many special examinations that it was necessary for her to
take. Upon the completion of two years’ work at college Katharine Davis
was graduated with honors.
For a number of years, Miss Davis spent her time, first, in teaching;
then, in settlement work; and later, in further study. After three years
of graduate work, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with honors, was
conferred upon her by the University of Chicago. Thus she was ably
prepared to enter the field of social service.
When it was announced that a new reformatory for women was to be opened
at Bedford, New York, Dr. Davis was immediately interested. She thought
that there she might be able to carry out her ideas for helping girls
who had not had a pleasant home and wise parents like her own.
Dr. Davis received the appointment as superintendent of this
reformatory, and set about getting acquainted with her girls. She
believed that many of these lives that had been started in the wrong way
might turn out happily, if some one took the trouble to study them.
Dr. Davis endeavored really to know the girls at Bedford. She was
vitally interested in their welfare and did everything that she could to
help them. She spent many successful years as superintendent of this
reformatory.
Dr. Davis’ ability to grasp a situation and meet it was clearly
demonstrated at the time of the Messina earthquake. She was in Sicily
when the disaster occurred, and immediately set about to aid the
sufferers. Her work of rehabilitating the earthquake victims was so
important that it won for her a Red Cross Medal, presented by President
Taft.
When Dr. Davis took charge of all the prisons in the city of New York,
as Commissioner of Correction, she had another opportunity for
continuing her wonderful work. Katharine Bement Davis has served on a
number of commissions formed for the purpose of social betterment. Many
persons who desire to learn the best ways of working for humanity go to
her for advice. Because of the little girl who carried into later life
her joy of working and her habit of investigating things, many twisted
lives have been straightened.
[Illustration]
Grace Hoadley Dodge—
The Girl Who Worked For Working Girls
A group of prominent men and women were sitting in the drawing room of a
beautiful home in New York City, talking earnestly. Close by them sat a
young girl, the eldest daughter of the house. She shyly added only an
occasional word to the conversation, but she gave very careful attention
to everything that her elders said.
One member of this group was Dwight L. Moody, the famous preacher. The
girl listened to him with particular interest, and was deeply impressed
by all he had to say.
There were often such gatherings in this home. No matter with what
subject the conversation started, sooner or later came the question of
how to help men and women lead the best kind of lives. It was not
strange, then, that one day this young girl went to her mother and said,
“I have found out what there is for me to do. I am going to help
people.”
That is exactly what Grace Dodge did. She helped people. Perhaps you
will be surprised to learn that she helped each one of you girls and
boys.
Every girl who has learned in a cooking class how to bake a wholesome
loaf of bread; every boy who brings home from school a well-finished
footstool for his mother, has Grace Dodge to thank. Every one of your
older sisters who enjoys a swim or a game of basketball at the Y. W. C.
A. has her to thank too. Of course, there are others to thank as well,
for every good work needs many helpers.
When Grace Dodge was young, girls and boys in the public schools were
not taught how to work with their hands; and girls who were earning
their own living had no pleasant clubs. Grace Dodge believed strongly in
these things, and worked so earnestly all her life for them that other
people became interested too, and gladly cooperated with her in her
beloved work.
Grace Hoadley Dodge was born in New York City, May 21, 1855. The Dodge
family divided their time between their city home and their beautiful
country house at Riverdale on the banks of the Hudson. Here Grace had
many a fine gallop through the country with her brothers. Aside from
these lively rides, which she greatly enjoyed, she lived quietly.
Even as a child, Grace thought very little about her own pleasure or
herself. She liked to talk with the workmen who kept the beautiful lawns
and gardens in order, and to make friends with their children. Although
there were nurses and governesses in the family, the younger sisters and
brothers always preferred to go to sister Grace when they wanted to be
comforted; and they did not go in vain.
When Grace went shopping in the city with her mother, she used to think
that it was very hard for girls to have to stand behind the counter all
day. “I am ashamed to have so much while these girls have so little,”
she would many times say to herself, wondering what she could do about
it.
Grace Dodge attended a private school at Farmington, Connecticut. After
her school days were over, she began to do the work that had always
interested her. One of the reasons that she accomplished so much was
that, whenever she saw a need for anything, she set about to fill it.
Furthermore, she kept persistently at the work until it was done.
Miss Dodge soon discovered that many of the girls in whom she was
interested had to work long hours in factories. She began to find that
they did not know much about cooking, or sewing, or taking proper care
of their health. It was a great pity, she thought, that these girls,
many of whom would soon be having homes of their own, should know so
little about the important work of home-making.
Miss Dodge began to gather a group of these girls about her every week,
and talked to them. She told them in a friendly, simple way how to
choose their clothes, how to keep well and strong, and how to use their
money wisely. She told them, too, how to live the right kind of lives
and of the help that God would give them. Often she talked to them about
the homes that they might make some day.
The girls were eager to tell her about themselves. Each one felt that
she could consider Miss Dodge as her personal friend. “The Irene Club,”
as this group was named after a beloved member, grew until it had to be
divided. Still the girls continued to come. In this way clubs for
working girls were started. These clubs have proved to be so successful
that they have never stopped growing.
At that time, there were no places where girls who were busy all day
could learn home-making. Miss Dodge, therefore, together with several
other young women, organized classes for these girls in various
household subjects. Miss Dodge and her associates soon discovered that
there were very few teachers who had been trained to teach in this
particular field. They later found that there was a lack of highly
trained teachers in practically all of the departments of teaching.
Miss Dodge began to think that there should be a school to train
teachers in the various branches of learning. It was not Grace Dodge’s
way to stop merely with thinking. She began to work for this school,
and, largely because of her efforts, Teachers College of Columbia
University rose on Morningside Heights in New York City.
Every year this college sends out thousands of men and women prepared to
teach all the school subjects. The wonderful work that Teachers College
is accomplishing is due, in a large measure, to the inspiration and
guidance that Grace Dodge gave to the college throughout her life.
In many other ways Grace Dodge carried on her work of helpfulness. She
was the first woman to serve on the Board of Education of New York City.
Because of her pity for women and children who were unprotected and
bewildered in travel, she organized the Travelers’ Aid Society. So firm
was her belief in what the Young Women’s Christian Association does for
girls that she worked to make it a strong organization. She was the
president of its national board for eight years.
Miss Dodge often called herself “a working girl whose wages were paid in
advance.” Her money meant to her merely a means for doing good.
Grace Hoadley Dodge was unselfish and determined to fill the need that
she saw. Through her efforts, school girls and boys now have many
opportunities to use hand and brain together. It was because of her
great interest in others that she brought joy into the life of many a
wage-earning girl and helped to fit her for her work of home-making.
[Illustration]
Alice Cunningham Fletcher—
The Girl Who Befriended The Red Man
Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Alice, who loved to sit
upon the shore and listen to the song of the waves. She also liked to
climb a high hill and look far off at the blue sky and the green slopes.
At home she had plenty of good books to read, and she loved them too.
They told her delightful stories about things that had happened long
ago. Sometimes she did not quite understand all that they said, as she
read them curled up by the fire, but later, when she wandered in the
woods, their meaning became clearer.
It was the same way when she played on the piano at home. The music set
her to dreaming, and called forth puzzling thoughts. Outdoors she seemed
to understand better what the music had to tell her.
This little girl was Alice Cunningham Fletcher. She was born in Boston,
Massachusetts, in 1845. As she grew older, the thought came to her that
if she felt so happy out in the open, how must the Indians feel who had
lived a free out-of-door life for generations.
Gradually she began to think that these people, whom the world called
savages, must have learned something about how to live happily. Alice
Fletcher resolved that, if ever there came a time when it was possible,
she would go to the home of the Indians and try to discover their
secrets.
Meanwhile she studied all that books and museums could teach her of the
story of the Red Men. At last, there did come a day when she decided to
go and live among them. It meant leaving behind her, beloved libraries,
fine concerts, beautiful pictures, and even a comfortable bed and easy
chair. Miss Fletcher felt, however, that there was something that meant
more than comfort to her. It was the doing of a definite piece of work
that she believed would be useful to the world.
Therefore, she left the friends with whom she could talk of books,
pictures, and music, and went to live among the Dakota and Omaha
Indians. From the door of her rude wigwam of buffalo skins, she could
watch the little Indian children at play and see the everyday life of
the older members of the tribe.
Most people think of the American Indian as a reserved, stern sort of
person who never laughs or jokes. What Miss Fletcher saw from her wigwam
gave her an entirely different opinion. She saw the Indians enjoy fun,
and take a wide-awake interest in everything that went on around them.
She decided that the sternness of the Indian was only a kind of mask
that he wore before strangers.
Soon the New England woman ceased to be a stranger to her Indian
neighbors. The love that they both had for the sky, the wind, the
streams, and the forest helped to make them understand one another. It
was not long before these children of Nature realized that Miss Fletcher
had come to them as a friend; and that she was really interested in
them. So they dropped their mask of reserve and let her know them as
they really were.
Miss Fletcher, always a lover of music, became greatly interested in the
music of the Indians. She found, however, that it was very difficult to
study. An Indian does not sing just to be heard, but to express some
feeling. His singing is a kind of prayer. It was only stray bits of such
music that she was able to overhear and write down.
Then Miss Fletcher had a severe illness which turned out to be a
blessing, in one respect. When her Indian friends discovered that she
really wanted to hear their music, they gathered about her bed and sang
for her. To please her, they even were willing to sing into a
phonograph, which was to them a strange machine. Thus their songs were
preserved for all time. Miss Fletcher has written a book entitled
_Indian Story and Song from North America_. This book has already
suggested themes for a number of American musical compositions.
Presently a chance to prove that she was really a friend of the Indians
came to Alice Fletcher. Some greedy white men were trying to get the
good land away from the Red Men, giving them poorer land in return.
Sometimes the Indians were so enraged with their treatment that they
would rise in revolt. The situation kept growing worse and worse. Miss
Fletcher realized that it would be no better unless each Indian secured
from the government the right to hold a portion of the tribal land for
himself.
She set out for Washington to try to persuade Congress that the Indians
must hold their land just as the white man holds his. A book which had
just appeared, written by Helen Hunt Jackson, called _A Century of
Dishonor_, helped a little to make people realize the wrongs done to the
Indians. However, the congressmen were much more interested in the
affairs of their own people than in the Indians. Miss Fletcher,
therefore, had to plead their cause continually until the Indian Land
Act was finally passed.
The President asked Miss Fletcher to undertake the difficult task of
allotting the tracts of land to the Omaha Indians. He knew that they
trusted her and would be content with her judgment. Later she did the
same work for other tribes of Indians to the satisfaction of everybody.
The Girl and Boy Scouts and the Campfire Girls have interested Miss
Fletcher very much, because she believes that the outdoors can bring
health and happiness to girls and boys. She has made a collection of
Indian games for these organizations. Also, Miss Fletcher has written
books and articles about the Indians. Her writings are a great help to
those who are making a special study of the different people of the
world.
Alice Cunningham Fletcher gave up luxury and even comfort to learn about
the Indians. The work of her mind has been of great value to learned
people in their study of races; and the work of her heart will never be
forgotten by the simple folk whose wrongs she helped to right.
[Illustration]
Louise Homer—
Who Believes That Hard Work Is The Secret of Her Success as a Singer