Grace Walcott Hazard Conkling (February 7, 1878 – November 15, 1958) was an American author, a poet and an English professor.

Background

Grace Walcott Hazard was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on February 7, 1878. She earned a bachelor of letters degree at

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 ...

and then taught at the Graham School in New York. Hazard moved to France to study music, but she became ill and returned to the United States. In 1905, Hazard married Rose Platt Conkling, and they lived on a ranch in Mexico. Conkling had two daughters, Hilda and Elsa. She died at the age of 80 on November 15, 1958.

Career

In 1914, Hazard taught

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

where she remained till she retired in 1947. She was a trustee of the Cummington School of the Arts, run by her colleague Katherine Frazier in western Massachusetts. Conkling attracted wide attention as the teacher of her little daughter,

Hilda Conkling Hilda Conkling (1910–1986) was an American poet. She was the daughter of Grace Hazard Conkling, a poet in her own right and Assistant Professor of English at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. Hilda was born in New York state. Her ...

, whose ''Poems by a Little Girl'' (1920) displayed great ability at an early age. Grace copied down her daughter's poems as they were spoken, which is the only record that exists of Hilda's work.Sapir, Edward, Conkling, Grace Hazard, and Driscoll, Louise (1919)
"Concerning Hilda Conkling."
The Poetry Foundation

Writings

Her collected volumes of

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse (poetry), a line or lines in a poetic composition * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but still re ...

include: * ''Afternoons of April'' (1915) * ''Wilderness Songs'' (1920) * ''Flying Fish: A Book of Songs and Sonnets'' (1926) * ''Witch and Other Poems'' (1929)

References

External links

Grace Hazard Conkling papers
at the

Smith College Archives Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college with coed graduate and certificate programs, located in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. The Smith College Archives document the life of the College by collecting mate ...

, Smith College Special Collections * * * * American women poets Poets from New York City Smith College alumni 1878 births 1958 deaths MacDowell Colony fellows 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers {{US-poet-1870s-stub