Florence Converse
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Florence Converse | |
|---|---|
 Florence Converse, from a 1937 newspaper photo | |
| Born | April 30, 1871 New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Died | February 13, 1967 (aged 95) |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Partner | Vida Dutton Scudder |
Florence Converse (April 30, 1871 – February 13, 1967) was an American author. Throughout her career, she wrote a variety of pieces spanning many genres, including historical novels, mysteries, religious plays, and poetry. Converse had a Boston marriage with Vida Dutton Scudder.
Florence Converse was born in New Orleans in 1871. She attended Mrs. Charles's School in New Orleans,[1] and graduated from Wellesley College in 1893, and completed a master's degree at Wellesley in 1903.[2]
Career
Converse gave a series of lectures on Percy Bysshe Shelley in New Orleans in 1896.[3] She taught English at Wellesley after graduating from the college,[4] and lived in Denison House, a Boston settlement house.[5] She was a member of the editorial staff of The Churchman from 1900 to 1908, when she joined the staff of the Atlantic Monthly.[2][6]
Converse wrote plays, poems, and several novels. These included Long Will, a novel about the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.[7] She also edited children's books at E. P. Dutton.[8] "Miss Converse is doubtless one of the most interesting of the minor poets," wrote a reviewer in 1937.[9]
Personal life and legacy
Converse was in a lesbian relationship known as a Boston marriage with Vida Dutton Scudder.[10][11] The couple lived together from 1912 until Scudder died in 1954.[12] Converse died in 1967, at the age of 95. Scudder and Converse are buried alongside each other at Newton Cemetery, Newton, Massachusetts.[13]
