Lucy Poate Stebbins

Lucy Poate Stebbins
Stebbins c. 1945
Born
Lucy Marsh Poate

(1886-03-11)March 11, 1886
Portsmouth, England
DiedJanuary 30, 1958(1958-01-30) (aged 71)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
EducationFredonia Normal School
OccupationWriter
Spouse
Howard L. Stebbins
​
(m. 1910)​
Children3, including Richard
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship (1944)

Lucy Poate Stebbins (born Lucy Marsh Poate; March 11, 1886 – January 30, 1958) was an English-born American writer. Originally an English teacher and literary advisor, she later became a published novelist and wrote several non-fiction books in the fields of biography and literary criticism. She wrote several books with her son Richard Poate Stebbins, including The Trollopes: The Chronicle of a Writing Family (1945).

Biography

Early life and career

Stebbins was born Lucy Marsh Poate on March 11, 1886, in Portsmouth, England, where her parents were furloughed at the time.[1][2] Her parents Belle Marsh (a Canadian from Truro, Nova Scotia) and Thomas Pratt Poate (a native of England) were Baptist missionaries based in Japan.[1][3] The family latter settled in Western New York during her childhood, and she graduated from Fredonia Normal School in 1904.[1] From 1905 to 1910, she taught English at public schools in Sherman and Mount Vernon.[1][2]

Following her 1910 marriage, Stebbins left her teaching job and, after her husband became librarian of the Social Law Library in 1919, moved to Newton, Massachusetts.[1] Originally a housewife, she worked at the H.R. Huntting Company as a literary advisor before publishing her first work.[1] In 1928, she published her first novel, Old Adam's Likeness; she later went on to publish seven more.[1]

Later career

In 1938, Stebbins and her son went to Europe as Oberlaender fellows to work on their Carl Maria von Weber book Enchanted Wanderer, which was released in 1940.[2][4] In 1944, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to work on a book about 19th-century English women novelists.[2] She then wrote non-fiction books in the fields of biography and literary criticism, such as Frank Damrosch: Let the People Sing, The Trollopes: The Chronicle of a Writing Family (both 1945), A Victorian Album: Some Lady Novelists of the Period (1946), and London Ladies: True Tales of the Eighteenth Century (1952).[1] Many of her works were co-authored with her son, including The Trollopes.[5]

She also served on The Trollopian's advisory board from 1945 to 1949.[1] She reportedly continued writing despite health issues, and once finished a biography of novelist William Dean Howells shortly before her death.[5]

Personal life and death

She remained married to Howard L. Stebbins until her death.[5] Their son, Richard Poate Stebbins, was a political analyst, historian, and editor.[2][6] The couple also had two daughters.[5]

Stebbins died on January 30, 1958, in the New England Deaconess Hospital in Boston, aged 71.[5] At the time of her death, she lived in Cambridge,[5] where the family moved in 1943.[1] Her son later wrote a biography about her, So Hard the Stones: Lucy Poate Stebbins and Her Life in Literature, published in 1993.[1] Her papers are in the Schlesinger Library at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.[1]

Works

Fiction

  • Old Adam's Likeness (1928)[2]
  • Singing to Sylvia (1934)[7]
  • Gorgeous Towers (1934)[8]
  • Exit the Prince (1935)[9]
  • Morning Glory (1936)[a]
  • The Golden Carlotta (1937)[2]
  • Summer Hostess (1938)[12]
  • Peacock Place (1939)[2]

Non-fiction

Notes

  1. ↑ Reviews of this book: [10][11]
  2. ↑ Reviews of this book: [13][14][15][16]
  3. ↑ Reviews of this book: [17][18]
  4. ↑ Reviews of this book: [19][20]
  5. ↑ Reviews of this book: [21][22][23][24][25]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Papers of Lucy Poate Stebbins, 1732-1994 (inclusive), 1876-1958 (bulk), 1732-1994, bulk 1876-1958". HOLLIS. Retrieved August 5, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Lucy Poate Stebbins". Guggenheim Fellowships. Retrieved August 4, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Guide to the Poate family papers, 1935-1993". Cornell University Library. Retrieved August 4, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Books--Authors". The New York Times. February 28, 1940. p. 19. ProQuest 105332491.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "LUCY P. STEBBINS, NOVELIST, WAS 71". The New York Times. January 31, 1958. p. 21. ProQuest 114406211.
  6. ↑ "RICHARD STEBBINS Obituary (2011) - New York, NY - New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved August 4, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Amor Vincit Omnia". The New York Times. May 13, 1934. p. BR17. ProQuest 101254089.
  8. ↑ "GORGEOUS TOWERS". The New York Times. January 28, 1934. p. BR10. ProQuest 101097621.
  9. ↑ "EXIT THE PRINCE". The New York Times. October 20, 1935. p. BR24. ProQuest 101322815.
  10. ↑ Dosser, Elizabeth (June 7, 1936). "East Meets West". The New York Times. p. 93. ProQuest 101875064.
  11. ↑ G. B. S. (December 19, 1936). "A Novel with a Widow as the Heroine". The China Weekly Review. p. 107. ProQuest 1371495851.
  12. ↑ Sherman, Beatrice (February 13, 1938). "Fiction in Lighter Vein". The New York Times. p. 108. ProQuest 102353929.
  13. ↑ "Extraordinary Life Story Told Readably". The Los Angeles Times. May 12, 1940. p. III-7 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ MacFall, Russell (May 8, 1940). "A Group of Appropriate Books to Mark National Music Week". Chicago Tribune. p. 23 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ↑ "A Reader's List". The New Republic. June 24, 1940. p. 866 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ Taubman, Howard. "Weber, His Character and Music". 1940-06-16. p. BR3. ProQuest 105268852.
  17. ↑ A., I. (June 3, 1945). "Helping the People to Sing". The New York Times. p. BR11. ProQuest 107213932.
  18. ↑ Birge, Edward B. (1945). "Review of Frank Damrosch: Let the People Sing". Music Educators Journal. 31 (6): 62–62. doi:10.2307/3386641. ISSN 0027-4321. JSTOR 3386641.
  19. ↑ Harrold, Charles Frederick (1947). "Review of A Victorian Album: Some Lady Novelists of the Period; Human Dignity and the Great Victorians". Modern Philology. 45 (1): 67–68. ISSN 0026-8232. JSTOR 435427.
  20. ↑ Jones, Howard Mumford (January 5, 1947). "Lady Novelists: A Study in Homekeeping Hearts". The New York Times. p. BR10. ProQuest 107692931.
  21. ↑ E.R.D (June 23, 1952). "Travails of Six Ladies". Columbia Missourian. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ↑ "True Tales Told of 18th Century". The Los Angeles Times. March 9, 1952. p. IV-6 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ↑ "Among the New Books". San Francisco Chronicle. March 9, 1952. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ↑ Schlegel, Martha (February 17, 1952). "Six Portraits of Women in Another Era". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 38 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ "London Ladies' Histories Told". Tulsa World. March 9, 1952. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
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