Eunice Putnam Blake Bohanon (April 19, 1904 – February 16, 1997) was an American children's book editor and vice-president of J. B. Lippincott & Co. and president of the Children's Book Council.

Early life and education

Eunice Putnam Blake was born in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, the daughter of James Kingsley Blake and Helen Langley Putnam Blake. Her father, a lawyer, died in 1911, when she and her sister were young. She was descended from prominent old New England families; two of her great-grandfathers were inventor

Eli Whitney Blake Eli Whitney Blake, Sr. (January 27, 1795 – August 18, 1886) was an American inventor, best known for his mortise lock and stone-crushing machine, the latter of which earned him a place into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Early life Blak ...

and classical scholar

James Luce Kingsley James Luce Kingsley (August 28, 1778 – August 31, 1852) was an American Classics, classical and Biblical studies, biblical scholar. Biography Born in Windham, Connecticut, Kingsley was educated at Williams College, Williams and Yale College, Ya ...

. She graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

in 1925.

Career

Bohanon was an editor and vice-president at J. B. Lippincott & Co. and president of the Children's Book Council. She held a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

in 1964 for study in India. In the 1960s, she was a representative of the Franklin Book Programs, a project of the

USAID The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an agency of the United States government that has been responsible for administering civilian United States foreign aid, foreign aid and development assistance. Established in 19 ...

; with the Franklin program, she promoted children's literature and literacy in travels through India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Italy, Israel, and through several African countries in the 1960s. She was a member of the Weekly Reader Children's Book Club selection board in 1969 and 1971, and a judge for the Sarah Josepha Hale Awards in the 1970s. Bohanon co-wrote ''Portrait of Jesus: Paintings and Engravings from the National Gallery of Art'' (1956) with Marian King; the book was published in separate Catholic and Protestant editions. She also wrote an introduction to a 1980 edition of ''Azor and the Blue-Eyed Cow'' by Maude Crowley. Bohanon donated an easement on her land in New Hampshire to the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust, to protect the public view of

Lake Sunapee Lake Sunapee is located within Sullivan County, New Hampshire, Sullivan County and Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County in western New Hampshire, the United States. It is the fifth-largest lake located entirely in New Hampshire. Th ...

. She also collected Indian art, and donated art to the

Currier Museum of Art The Currier Museum of Art is an art museum in Manchester, New Hampshire, in the United States. It features European and American paintings, decorative arts, photographs and sculpture. The permanent collection includes works by Picasso, Matisse, Mo ...

. She gave an oral history interview to New London History & Archives.

Personal life

Eunice Blake married architect and children's book author Paul I. Bohanon in 1939. He died in 1954. She died in 1997, aged 92 years. The

University of Oregon Libraries Knight Library is the main facility of the University of Oregon's (UO) library system. It is located on the university's campus in Eugene, Oregon, United States. The library design is emblematic of the architecture of the university's older buildin ...

hold a collection of her papers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohanon, Eunice Blake 1904 births 1997 deaths Smith College alumni American editors Children's books People from New Haven, Connecticut