Julia Bernelle Smade Babcock (born April 28, 1868,
Union, OhioUnion is a city in Montgomery and Miami Counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 6,419 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Union is located at ....
; died
Petit Jean, ArkansasPetit Jean State Park is a state park in central Arkansas managed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.Petit Jean State Park is located atop Petit Jean Mountain on the Arkansas River in the area between the Ozark and Ouachita mountain ranges, in Conway County, Arkansas.-Legend and...
, June 14, 1962) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author who wrote over 40 novels, as well as numerous essays and newspaper articles. After being widowed at age 29 with five children to support, she began working as a writer. Her first book, the pro-
ProhibitionProhibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
The Daughter of the Republican (1900), sold over 100,000 copies.
Babcock was society page editor of the
Arkansas Democrat and later owned and edited
The Arkansas Sketch Book, the first venture of its kind in the state. She wrote
Mammy, a drama read at
ChautauquaChautauqua was an adult education movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua brought entertainment and culture for the whole community, with...
and on
lyceumThe lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies between countries; usually it is a type of secondary school.-History:...
circuits. She is also the author of:
- Yesterday and To-Day in Arkansas (1917)
- The Coming of the King (1921)
- The Soul of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
's Romance (1919)
- The Soul of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
(1923)
Babcock founded The Arkansas Museum of Natural History and Antiquities in
Little RockLittle Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, and worked as a folklore editor for the
Federal Writers' ProjectThe Federal Writers' Project was a United States federal government project to fund written work and support writers during the Great Depression. It was part of the Works Progress Administration, a New Deal program...
. In 1953, she retired to a home on
Petit Jean MountainPetit Jean State Park is a state park in central Arkansas managed by the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.Petit Jean State Park is located atop Petit Jean Mountain on the Arkansas River in the area between the Ozark and Ouachita mountain ranges, in Conway County, Arkansas.-Legend and...
, where she continued to write, publishing a volume of poetry,
The Marble Woman, at age 91 in 1959. She died at her home on June 14, 1962; a neighbor found her with a manuscript still in her hand.
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