June Burn (1893–1969) was an American non-fiction writer and columnist.

Background and career

Burn was born Inez Chandler Harris on June 19, 1893, in

Anniston, Alabama Anniston is a city and the county seat of Calhoun County, Alabama, Calhoun County in Alabama, United States, and is one of two urban centers/principal cities of and included in the Anniston–Oxford metropolitan area, Anniston–Oxford Metropo ...

. Her father was a

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 ...

circuit riding minister. At age sixteen, she moved to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

and eventually graduated from

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

. Many years later, she completed her M.A. in Soil and Nutrition under

William Albrecht William Albert Albrecht (September 12, 1888 – May 19, 1974) chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, was the foremost authority on the relation of soil fertility to human health and earned four degrees from the Universi ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

. In 1917, Harris started working as a staff writer for ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication ...

'' 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 ...

. Two years later she met and married Farrar Burn (1888–1974), a recent

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 ...

veteran, while living outside of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Over the next fifty years, Farrar and June travelled extensively around the United States, homesteading in the

San Juan Islands The San Juan Islands is an archipelago in the Pacific Northwest of the United States between the U.S. state of Washington and Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The San Juan Islands are part of Washington state, and form the core of ...

, teaching

Eskimos ''Eskimo'' () is a controversial Endonym and exonym, exonym that refers to two closely related Indigenous peoples: Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Canadian Inuit, and the Greenlandic Inuit) and the Yupik peoples, Yupik (or Sibe ...

and traveling across the United States in a

covered wagon A covered wagon, also called a prairie wagon, whitetop, or prairie schooner, is a horse-drawn or ox-drawn wagon used for passengers or freight hauling. It has a canvas, tarpaulin, or waterproof sheet which is stretched over removable wooden ...

. She wrote extensively for various periodicals and wrote several books. Burn's autobiography ''Living High: An Unconventional Autobiography'' (1941) documents much of her early life story, particularly her time on

Waldron Island Waldron, also known as Waldron Island, is an unincorporated community in San Juan County, Washington, United States. Its population was 104 at the 2000 census. Waldron is in the San Juan Islands. It is designated as a Limited Development Distric ...

and other islands in Washington's San Juan Islands. The book has been republished several times. June Burn died in 1969 and her husband Farrar died in 1974. They were both buried in

Van Buren, Arkansas Van Buren ( ) is the second-largest city in the Fort Smith metropolitan area, Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is lo ...

. Burn's daughter-in-law, Doris Burn, was a notable children's book author and illustrator.Center For Pacific Northwest studies "The June and Farrar Burn Papers:Biographical Note" http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/cpnws/burn/burnbio.htm

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burn, June American magazine journalists 20th-century American memoirists 1893 births 1969 deaths American women essayists 20th-century American women journalists American women novelists American women memoirists Oklahoma State University alumni University of Missouri alumni People from Anniston, Alabama Journalists from Alabama Novelists from Washington (state) 20th-century American biographers American women biographers 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American novelists People from San Juan County, Washington