Mary Wells Knight Ashworth (May 28, 1903 – September 12, 1992) was an American historian who wrote for

Douglas Southall Freeman Douglas Southall Freeman (May 16, 1886 – June 13, 1953) was an American historian, biographer, newspaper editor, radio commentator, and author. He is best known for his multi-volume biographies of Robert E. Lee and George Washington, for both ...

between 1945 and 1953. With Freeman, Ashworth worked on his seven volume biography on

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. After Freeman died before his biography was completed, Ashworth continued completing the biography as a member of

Charles Scribner's Sons Charles Scribner's Sons, or simply Scribner's or Scribner, is an American publisher based in New York City that has published several notable American authors, including Henry James, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kurt Vonnegut, Marjori ...

from 1954 to 1957. With the George Washington biography, Ashworth was a bibliographer before she co-wrote the seventh volume with John Alexander Carroll. Apart from Washington, Ashworth's entries appeared in '' Notable American Women 1607-1950'' and the ''

World Book Encyclopedia The ''World Book Encyclopedia'' is an American encyclopedia. ''World Book'' was first published in 1917. Since 1925, a new edition of the encyclopedia has been published annually. Although published online in digital form for a number of years, ...

''. Between the late 1950s and late 1960s, Ashworth held executive positions for the

English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organisation headquartered in London, England. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages ...

and

Hollins College Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, it is one of the oldest institutions of higher education for women in t ...

. She was granted a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

for biography in 1955 and was a co-winner of the 1958

Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography The Pulitzer Prize for Biography is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award honors "a distinguished and appropriately documented biography by an American author." Award winners receive ...

with ''George Washington, Volumes I-VII''.

Biography

Ashworth was born in

Plant City, Florida Plant City is an incorporated city in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States, approximately midway between Brandon and Lakeland along Interstate 4. It is part of the Tampa Bay area. The population was 39,764 at the 2020 census. Despite ma ...

on May 28, 1903. She went to

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 ...

to complete a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1924. From 1945 to 1953, Ashworth worked as a historian for

while he wrote his biography ''George Washington''. Throughout her time on Freeman's biography, Ashworth was initially a bibliographer for the seven volume Washington biography. When Freeman died after writing Volume VI of his biography, Ashworth continued working on the Washington biography with

from 1954 to 1957. For the final volumes of the Washington biography, Ashworth was involved in the publication stages of Volume VI and co-wrote Volume VII alongside John Alexander Carroll. ''George Washington, Volume VII'' was Ashworth's first and only book as an author. Apart from writing, Ashworth's entries were featured in '' Notable American Women 1607-1950'' and the ''

''. From 1957 to 1967, Ashworth held multiple executive roles for organizations in Virginia. These included the

and the Richmond Woman's Club. With Hollins College, Ashworth worked as a trustee from the early 1960s to late 1960s. On September 12, 1992, Ashworth died of an

aortic rupture Aortic rupture is the breakage of all walls of the aorta, the largest artery in the body. Aortic rupture is a rare, extremely dangerous condition that is considered a medical emergency. The most common cause is an abdominal aortic aneurysm that ...

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, aged 89. She was married with two children.

Awards and honors

In 1954, Ashworth was awarded a

in biography. In 1958, she was a co-winner of the

for ''George Washington, Volumes I-VII''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashworth, Mary Wells 1903 births 1992 deaths 20th-century American women writers Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American women autobiographers American autobiographers