Alice May Douglas (June 28, 1865 – January 6, 1943) was an American author of poetry,

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, and non-fiction, as well as a newspaper editor.

Biography

Alice May Douglas was born in

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. Bath is included in the Brunswick, Maine, Brunswick Micropolitan statistical area, micropolitan area. Bath has a 2024 population of 8,870. It is also the county seat of Sagadahoc County ...

, June 28, 1865, which remained her residence for the remainder of her life. She had no formal training in writing, saying instead that "All my poems and stories are the result of inspiration." She began her career as an author at the age of eleven years, when her first published article appeared among the children's productions of ''

St. Nicholas Magazine ''St. Nicholas'' was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873 and named after the Christian saint. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1 ...

''. The reading of ''

Little Women ''Little Women'' is a coming-of-age novel written by American novelist Louisa May Alcott, originally published in two volumes, in 1868 and 1869. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters— Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details th ...

'' at the age of thirteen marked an epoch in her life. She determined to be an author like Jo, and, like her, send for publication a composition she wrote to test her chances of getting published. Consequently, she sent a poem pertaining to a little sister, who shortly before death was seen throwing kisses to God. The ''

Zion's Herald ''The Progressive Christian'' was an independent online magazine and social community providing news, commentary, commentary, resources, discussion forums and multimedia for and about the Progressive Christian movement. It was published by TP ...

'', to which the poem was sent, published it, and from that time, Douglas was a constant contributor to the press. Douglas was also engaged in editorial work on two monthly papers, the ''Pacific Banner'' and the ''Acorn''. Her first volume of poems was ''Phlox'' (Bath, Maine, 1888). This was followed during the same year by a second volume, ''May Flowers'' (Bath, Maine, 1888). Then she published ''Gems Without Polish'' (New York, 1890). She next wrote two juvenile books, one for boys and the other for girls, in the interest of the Lend-A-Hand Clubs. Most of her books first appeared as serials. Among them were ''Jewel Gatherers'', ''Quaker John in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

'', ''How the Little Cousins Formed a Museum'', ''The Peace-Makers'', and ''Self-exiled from Russia'', a story of the

Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

. Douglas was State superintendent of the department of peace and arbitration of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that "linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far ...

. She also assisted the national peace department of that organization, by preparing much of its necessary literature and by founding a peace band for children, which had branches in Palestine and Australia. By religion, she was

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. Douglas died January 6, 1943.

Selected works

* ''Phlox'', 1888 * ''May Flowers'', 1888 * ''Gems Without Polish'', 1890 * ''Jewel Gatherers'' * ''Quaker John in the

'' * ''How the Little Cousins Formed a Museum'' * ''The Peace-Makers'' * ''Self-exiled from Russia''

References

Attribution

Bibliography

External links