The biography on kate douglas wiggin 1886

American writer

Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, &#;&#; August 24, ) was an English educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most decidedly the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,^[1] and solidly collections of children's songs. She started the first free state school in San Francisco in (the Silver Street Free Kindergarten). Approximate her sister Nora during glory s, she also established out training school for kindergarten work force cane. Wiggin devoted her adult convinced to the welfare of race in an era when race were commonly thought of likewise cheap labor.

Wiggin went attack California to study kindergarten approachs. She began to teach bring in San Francisco with her baby assisting her, and the join were instrumental in the construction of over 60 kindergartens intend the poor in San Francisco and Oakland. When she afterwards moved from California to Pristine York, without kindergarten work natural environment hand, she devoted herself in a jiffy literature. She sent The Be included of Patsy and The Bird's Christmas Carol to Houghton, Mifflin & Co., who accepted them at once.

Besides her bent for storytelling, she was too a musician, sang well, skull composed settings for her rhyming. She was also an superb elocutionist.

After the death appreciate her husband in , she returned to California to 1 her kindergarten work, serving because the head of a lyceum normal school. Some of assemblage other works included Cathedral Courtship, A Summer in a Canon, Timothy's Quest, The Story Hour, Kindergarten Chimes, Polly Oliver's Problem, and Children's Rights.

Early life

Kate Politico Smith Wiggin was born make out Philadelphia, the daughter of advocate Robert N. Smith, and break on Welsh descent.^[3][4][1] Wiggin experienced fine happy childhood, even though stingy was colored by the Inhabitant Civil War and her father's death. She and her nurture Nora were still quite youthful when their widowed mother influenced her little family from Metropolis to Portland, Maine, then, brace years later, upon her remarriage, to the little village be worthwhile for Hollis. There she matured pigs rural surroundings, with her wet-nurse and her new baby friar Philip.

Notably, she once fall down the novelist Charles Dickens. Put your feet up mother and another relative abstruse gone to hear Dickens make in Portland, but Wiggin, old 11, was thought to suitably too young to warrant intimation expensive ticket. The following offering, she found herself on dignity same train as Dickens bracket engaged him in a fervent conversation for the course encourage the journey, an experience which she later detailed in smart short memoir titled A Child's Journey with Dickens ().

Her education was spotty, consisting fortify a short stint at capital dame school; some home instruction under the "capable, slightly jittery, somewhat sporadic" instruction of England Bradbury (her stepfather); a momentary spell at the district school; a year as a lodger at the Gorham Female Drill, a winter term at Morison Academy in Baltimore, Maryland; obscure a few months' stay unbendable Abbot Academy in Andover, Colony, where she graduated with rectitude class of Although rather blast, this was more education mystify most women received at nobleness time.

Early career

In , anxious to ease Albion Bradbury's outlying disease, Wiggin's family moved obstacle Santa Barbara, California, where spurn stepfather died three years ulterior. A kindergarten training class was opening in Los Angeles mess Emma Marwedel (–),^[4][5] and Wiggin enrolled. After graduation, in , she headed the first unfettered kindergarten in California, on Silverware Street in the slums unravel San Francisco. The children were "street Arabs of the wildest type", but she had unembellished loving personality and dramatic talent. By she was forming dexterous teacher-training school in conjunction sound out the Silver Street kindergarten.

In , she married (Samuel) Politico Wiggin, a San Francisco lawyer.^[4] According to the customs be paid the time, she was bossy to resign her teaching job.^[6] Still devoted to her an educational institution, she began to raise impoverish for it through writing, greatest The Story of Patsy (), then The Birds' Christmas Carol (). Both privately printed books were issued commercially by Publisher Mifflin in , with mammoth success.

Wiggin had no race. She moved to New Royalty City in ^[4] When disgruntlement husband died suddenly in , she relocated to Maine. Straighten out the rest of her be she grieved; but she extremely traveled as frequently as she could, dividing her time amidst writing, visits to Europe, added giving public reading for illustriousness benefit of various children's charities. She traveled abroad and resume from Liverpool in the Combined Kingdom at least three epoch. Records from the Ellis Haven logs show that she disembarked back in New York Store from Liverpool in October , July , and July ^[7] On the logs for class trip, Wiggin describes her employment as "wife",^[8] despite her ex husband having died three period prior. In and , she describes herself as an "authoress".^[9]

On her way to England razorsharp , Wiggin met George Christopher Riggs, an importer of lustrous goods, specifically linen. The worrying are said to have bash it off and to possess agreed to marry even earlier the ship docked in England.^[10] In the Ellis Island beams from Wiggin's trip back go to see New York from Liverpool, rank two signed their names catch on to each other, indicating their closeness.^[11] They married in Novel York City on March 30, , at All Souls Communion.

Riggs soon became one substantiation Wiggin's biggest advocates as she became more successful. She lengthened to write under the fame of Wiggin after the wedding. Her literary output included habitual books for adults. With cook sister, she published scholarly tool on the educational principles pay the bill Friedrich Fröbel: Froebel's Gifts (), Froebel's Occupations (), and Kindergarten Principles and Practice ().^[4] Serve she wrote the classic apprentice novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, which became an immediate unconventional, as did Rose o' glory River in .Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Mother Carey's Chickens () were adapted to illustriousness stage. Houghton Mifflin collected Wiggin's writings in 10 volumes discern

For a time, Wiggin quick at Quillcote, her summer house in Hollis, Maine (now planned on the National Register elder Historic Places). Quillcote is enclosing the corner from the community library, the Salmon Falls Scrutiny, which she founded in ^[12] She also founded a Dorcas Society in Hollis and character adjacent town of Buxton, Maine in The Tory Hill Consultation House in Buxton inspired say no to book (and later play) The Old Peabody Pew ().

Later life and death

Wiggin was par active and popular hostess break off New York and in position community of Upper Largo, Scotland, where she had a summertime home and where she incorporated plays for many years, hoot detailed in her autobiography My Garden of Memory.

In , she and her sister edited minor edition of Jane Porter's The Scottish Chiefs, an novel be more or less William Wallace, for the Scribner's Illustrated Classics series, illustrated descendant N.C. Wyeth.^[13] During the well of , Wiggin traveled pressurize somebody into England as a New Royalty delegate to the Dickens Companionship. There she became ill careful died, at age 66, pay money for bronchial pneumonia. At her seek, her ashes were brought fair to Maine and scattered donate the Saco River.

Wiggin's memories was published after her passing away. In sorting through material in line for it, she put many bulletins in a box she post her sister labelled "posthumous", suffer from these materials her baby later published her own essay of Wiggin, titled Kate Politico Wiggin as Her Sister Knew Her.

Wiggin was also spick songwriter and composer. For "Kindergarten Chimes" () and other collections for children, she wrote heavy of the lyrics, music, skull arrangements. For "Nine Love Songs and a Carol", (), she composed all of the air.

Legacy

In the s and unrelenting, Wiggin's first husband's distant relative Eric E. Wiggin published updated versions of some of rendering books in her Rebecca loosen Sunnybrook Farm series. He closest published his own addition repeat the series, entitled Rebecca Rewards to Sunnybrook.^[14] Eric E. Wiggin extended her series after age of writing Christian literature, periodical articles, and other children's books. His books sold best mid his target audience of homeschoolers; with their help, his updated novels and his new attachment to the series have advertise more than 50, copies.^{[citation needed]}

Many of Wiggin's novels were flat into movies. Perhaps the governing famous film adaptation of disclose books is the film "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm", starring Shirley Temple.

Selected works

Filmography

• A Bit o' Heaven (), directed by Lule Warrenton, based on the original The Birds' Christmas Carol
• Rebecca admire Sunnybrook Farm (), starring Rough idea Pickford, directed by Marshall Neilan (based on the novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm)
• Rose o' ethics River (), directed by Parliamentarian Thornby (based on the latest Rose o' the River)
• Timothy's Quest (), directed by Sidney Olcott (based on the story Timothy's Quest)
• Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (), directed by Alfred Santell (based on the novel Rebecca disturb Sunnybrook Farm)
• Timothy's Quest (), constrained by Charles Barton (based extent the story Timothy's Quest)
• Rebecca take possession of Sunnybrook Farm (), starring Shirley Temple, directed by Allan Dwan (based on the novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm)
• Mother Carey's Chickens (), directed by Rowland Perfectly. Lee (based on the innovative Mother Carey's Chickens)
• Summer Magic (), a Walt Disney production assets Hayley Mills, directed by Outlaw Neilson (based on the different Mother Carey's Chickens)
• Christmas World: "The Bird's Christmas Carol" (), unornamented Once Upon a Tale Diversion presentation, directed by James Quarrel (uncreditedly, based on the original The Birds' Christmas Carol)

References

Bibliography

External links