Eleanor Holmes Hinkley

Eleanor Holmes Hinkley
Born(1891-06-05)June 5, 1891
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedJanuary 24, 1971(1971-01-24) (aged 79)
Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationPlaywright
Notable workDear Jane (1919)
RelativesT. S. Eliot (first cousin)
Charlotte Champe Eliot (aunt)

Eleanor Holmes Hinkley (June 5, 1891 – January 24, 1971) was an American playwright and actress, based in Boston. She is perhaps best known as the author of Dear Jane (1919), an early dramatic work based on the life of Jane Austen.

Early life and education

Hinkley was born in Boston, the daughter of Holmes Hinkley and Susan Heywood Stearns.[1] Her father died the year she was born; her mother was an active suffragist, as an officer of women's suffrage organizations in Cambridge and Massachusetts.[2] Writer T. S. Eliot was Hinkley's first cousin; their mothers were sisters.[3][4] She attended Radcliffe College, where she studied theatre under Harvard's George Pierce Baker.[4][5]

Plays

Hinkley's Dear Jane (1919) is a play about Jane Austen and her sister, artist Cassandra Austen.[6] It was produced in Boston in 1922, with fellow Radcliffe alumna Virginia Tanner Green directing,[7] and on Broadway in 1932 with Eva Le Gallienne directing and starring as Cassandra, with Josephine Hutchinson as Jane.[8][9]

  • The Reunion (1917)[10][11]
  • Taking in Bettina (1917, 1-act farce)[11]
  • A Gentleman Friend (1917)[11]
  • The Clam Digger (1919, a "stark tragedy")[12][13]
  • Dear Jane (1919)[14][15][16]
  • The Guest (1919, a 1-act play)[12]
  • The Flitch of Bacon (1921, a 1-act comedy)[12][17]
  • What's the Matter with Lily (1923, comedy)
  • High Tide (1924)[18][19]
  • White Violets (1930)
  • Mrs. Aphra Behn (1933, also known as American Mistress)[20][21][22]

Personal life

Hinkley died in 1971, at the age of 79, at her home in Cambridge.[23] One of her nephews was a prominent scholar of Chinese Buddhism, Holmes Hinkley Welch.[24][25]

References

  1. ↑ Van Wagenen, Avis Stearns (1901). Stearns Genealogy and Memoirs. Courier Press Company. p. 409.
  2. ↑ Leonard, John W. (1914). Woman's Who's Who of America. American Commonwealth Company. p. 391.
  3. ↑ "Eleanor Hinkley". T. S. Eliot. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  4. 1 2 Gordon, Lyndall (1999). T.S. Eliot: An Imperfect Life. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 78, 80. ISBN 978-0-393-04728-8.
  5. ↑ "Eleanor Holmes Hinkley". The Eliot–Hale Letters. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  6. ↑ Looser, Devoney (2017-07-24). "Adapt and adaptability". Big Issue North. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  7. ↑ "47-Club Production 'Dear Jane', Big Success". The Boston Globe. 1922-03-22. p. 8. Retrieved 2026-06-26 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ MacLean, Katie (2025-04-12). "Becoming Jane on stage: Queerness in early twentieth-century Austen bioplays". Adaptation. 18 (2). doi:10.1093/adaptation/apaf016. ISSN 1755-0645.
  9. ↑ Looser, Devoney (2017-07-21). "Queering the Work of Jane Austen Is Nothing New". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  10. ↑ "University Actors Try Out for Dramatic Club; S. A. Eliot '13 Coach". The Harvard Crimson. March 6, 1917.
  11. 1 2 3 Library of Congress Copyright Office (1917). Catalogue of Title-entries of Books and Other Articles Entered in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, Under the Copyright Law. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 127, 134, 135.
  12. 1 2 3 Catalogue of Copyright Entries: Pamphlets, leaflets, contributions to newspapers or periodicals, etc. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1919. pp. 242, 335, 719.
  13. ↑ Lathrop, Monroe (1920-07-26). "Morosco: Premier of 'The Clam Digger' Reveals Grim Tragedy". Los Angeles Evening Express. p. 12. Retrieved 2026-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ "Dear Jane (Broadway, Civic Repertory Theatre, 1932)". Playbill. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  15. ↑ Chapman, John (1932-11-15). "Le Gallienne Troupe Exhibits an Early English Novelist (review)". Daily News. p. 438. Retrieved 2026-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Jane Austen in a Play". The New York Times. November 15, 1932. p. 24. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  17. ↑ 47 Workshop; Halman, Doris F.; Hinkley, Eleanor Holmes.; Lindau, Norman C.; Raisbeck, Kenneth. (1921). Plays of the 47 workshop. Second series, Torches. Harvard plays. 2d ser., ed. by G. B. Baker. New York: Brentano's.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. ↑ "New Eleanor Hinkley Drama Opens at Shubert-Belasco". The Washington Daily News. 1924-12-16. p. 9. Retrieved 2026-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "Gossip of the Rialto; London and "Mrs. Cheyney" -- Some New Successes Come to Town -- At Last a New Theatre". The New York Times. February 7, 1926. p. 161. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  20. ↑ "News of the Stage; Eight Holiday Matinees Today -- The Summer Theatre Calls It a Season, Almost -- Casting Items". The New York Times. September 2, 1935. p. 20. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  21. ↑ "News and Gossip of Times Square; Gordon & Austen -- Ina Claire for 'First Lady' -- Miss Victor and a New One". The New York Times. June 23, 1935. p. 140. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  22. ↑ "Notes on Shelley's 'The Cenci'; Quoth the Cable". The New York Times. August 18, 1935. p. 138. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  23. ↑ "Miss Hinkley". Boston Evening Globe. 1971-01-26. p. 34. Retrieved 2026-06-27 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ "Edward S. Welch, Lawyer, Trustee Business Man in Boston: 60, Is Dead--Was Prominent in Yacht Racing Circles". The New York Times. 1948-06-28. p. 19. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
  25. ↑ "Holmes H. Welch, 59; Specialist on East Asia". The New York Times. April 22, 1981. p. 34. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
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