Anne Virginia Culbertson (November 16, 1857 – December 7, 1918) was an American writer, known chiefly as the author of

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

poems, and as a public reader of her own productions. Culbertson attempted numerous dialects; however, her work was not confined to dialect alone; she also wrote a good deal of serious verse. Others writings included occasional short stories and articles to various publications including the ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'', '' Munsey's'', '' Pearson's'', the ''Puritan'', ''

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia Transphobia consists ...

'', ''Dixie'', the ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine that ran until 2016 and was last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th centur ...

'', and prominent newspapers, such as the ''

Boston Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published for over a century from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. History Founding ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James We ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', and ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

''.

Early life and education

Anne Virginia Culbertson was born in

Zanesville, Ohio Zanesville is a city in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Licking River (Ohio), Licking and Muskingum River, Muskingum rivers, the city is approximately east of Columbus, Ohio, Columb ...

, November 16, 1857. She came from a family prominently identified with Ohio. Her grandfather, the Rev. James Culbertson, came from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

to Zanesville in the early part of the nineteenth century and for 30 years was recognized as an eminent and scholarly divine in this section. He was popularly known all over the state as "Parson Culbertson". Her father, Capt. Howard Culbertson, M.D. (1828–1890), was a surgeon who served through the Revolutionary War and afterward in the regular army. On his retirement, he became a noted specialist in diseases of the eye and at one time occupied the chair of ophthalmology in

Columbus Medical College The Ohio State University College of Medicine (formerly known as the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health) is the medical school at Ohio State University. It is located in Columbus, Ohio. In the past, the college has been ...

. Her father being a military man, Anne's childhood was spent in going from one military post to another. Her mother, Louisa Maria (Safford) (1836–1885), was a Southener, hence Anne's interest in Southern dialects. Anne had several siblings including Herbert, Ernest, Sydney, Lewis, Cornelia, and Claude. Culbertson was educated in the common schools and Putnam Female Seminary, Zanesville, Ohio. Later, she studied in Washington.

Career

Since completing her education, Culbertson passed much of her time in

eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

cities and in the "back districts" of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, and other states, where she studied the lives and folklore of the

African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...

, poor whites, and

Native Americans Native Americans or Native American usually refers to Native Americans in the United States. Related terms and peoples include: Ethnic groups * Indigenous peoples of the Americas, the pre-Columbian peoples of North, South, and Central America ...

at first hand. She spent a summer in the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and form part of the Blue Ridg ...

of North Carolina in order to study the folklore of the Native Americans in that specific locale. Since 1893, Culbertson was engaged as a writer and author-reader, giving entertainments in which she read her own writings and poems and dialect songs. She contributed to magazines and papers in verse and dialect stories chiefly in the ''

negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

'' dialect and dialect of mountain people of the South and French

patois ''Patois'' (, same or ) is speech or language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. As such, ''patois'' can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects or vernaculars, but not commonly to jargon or sl ...

. Culbertson was the author of ''Lays of a Wandering Minstrel'' (1896), ''At the Big House'' (1904), and ''Banjo Talks'' (

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, Bobbs, Merrill Co., 1905), the latter being a popular book of dialect verse. Some of her best poems were unpublished and were written during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. She belonged to The Vigilantes, a national society of poets and writers, formed during the World War to write patriotic articles and poems to stimulate patriotism. A number of these patriotic poems were published in newspapers and magazines and reprints sent to the sick and wounded soldiers in the U.S. and Europe. She was honored by being invited to make a contribution to the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the invitation being extended through M. Rene Larvelle, a member of the

Société des gens de lettres The Société des gens de lettres de France (SGDLF; ; ) is a writers' association founded in 1838 by the notable French authors George Sand, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Alexandre Dumas. It is a private association recognised in France as ...

of France and a collector of note. She also enjoyed a wide reputation as an impersonator and was very successful as an elocutionist in parlor lectures.

Personal life

She numbered among her friends such great writers as

Joel Chandler Harris Joel Chandler Harris (December 9, 1848 – July 3, 1908) was an American journalist and folklorist best known for his collection of Uncle Remus stories. Born in Eatonton, Georgia, where he served as an apprentice on a plantation during his t ...

Ella Wheeler Wilcox Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850October 30, 1919) was an American author and poet. Her works include the collection '' Poems of Passion'' and the poem "Solitude", which contains the lines "Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you ...

, and

James Whitcomb Riley James Whitcomb Riley (October 7, 1849 – July 22, 1916) was an American writer, poet, and best-selling author. During his lifetime he was known as the "Hoosier Poet" and "Children's Poet" for his dialect works and his children's poetry. His ...

. Anne Virginia Culbertson died in

Delaware, Ohio Delaware is a city in Delaware County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located near the center of Ohio, about north of Columbus as part of the Columbus metropolitan area. The population was 41,302 at the 2020 census. Delaware ...

, December 7, 1918.

Selected works

Books

* ''Lays of a Wandering Minstrel'' (1896)
Text
* ''At the big house : where Aunt Nancy and Aunt 'Phrony held forth on the animal folks'' (1904)
Text
* ''Banjo Talks'' (1905)
Text
* ''Down in old Virginia'' (1914)

Short stories

* "How Mr. Terrapin Lost His Beard" (1924) * "The Woman Who Married an Owl" * "Mr. Hare Tries to Get a Wife"

Poems

* "Whar Dem Sinful Apples Grow" * "Quit Yo' Worryin'" * "When We Hear the Organ Down the Street"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culbertson, Anne Virginia 1857 births 1918 deaths Writers from Ohio Poets from Ohio 19th-century American writers 19th-century American short story writers 19th-century American poets 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers American women poets American women short story writers People from Zanesville, Ohio