Laura Elizabeth Richards (1859-1943) was born in Boston, the daughter of Julia Ward Howe. She moved to Gardiner, Maine with her family in 1876, where she mostly wrote children’s books such as Captain January, the Hildegarde series, and the Margaret Series, although she also published books of poetry and biographies. She and her sister Maud Howe Elliot received a Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1917 for Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910.
The December 1961 issue of the Colby Library Quarterly contains articles on Richards’ life and work, including a personal recollection by her friend and neighbor Philo Calhoun. Richards’ autobiography is titled Stepping Westward (1931). She was a personal friend and correspondent of the poet Edwin Arlington Robinson.
The Laura E Richards Collection includes letters, manuscripts, and photographs, in addition to published works.
LAURA E RICHARDS AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
In 1942, Laura E Richards gave selected books, inscribed by herself, and unpublished materials related to Edwin Arlington Robinson and Sarah Orne Jewett. These gifts are detailed in “Some Recent Acquisitions” in the January 1943 issue of the Colby Library Quarterly.
Additonal work consulted:
Richards, Laura E. E.A.R. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936. Print.
HIGHLIGHTED DONORS FOR THIS COLLECTION
Philo C Calhoun – primary donor
Susan Nichols Pulsifer – primary donor
Ruth Robinson Nivison/Robinson Birthplace, Inc
Clara (Mrs Carl Jefferson) Weber
Florence (Mrs Ben Ames) Williams