Mildred Jordan
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Mildred Jordan (March 18, 1901 – October 23, 1982) was an American writer and playwright. Born in Chicago, she worked at the Hull House[1] before relocating to Reading, Pennsylvania after her marriage.[2] Her first novel, One Red Rose Forever, which was based on the history of Lancaster County, was rejected by twenty-two publishers before finally appearing in 1941.[3] Her subsequent books often focused on the lives of Pennsylvania Dutch immigrants to America.[1][4]
A 1954 review of her play The Wonderful Cornelia said she was "one of the nation's best-known novelists",[5] John Updike said her "pen name, Mildred Jordan, masked her true identity as an unmeetably rich industrialist's wife".[6]
In addition to her own writing, Jordan also served as the editor of the Berks County Historical Magazine.[4] She received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Albright College in 1979.[7]
Jordan was represented by the literary agent Annie Laurie Williams,[5] whose other clients included Margaret Mitchell, John Steinbeck, and Truman Capote.[8]
