Dorothy Scarborough

Born in Texas in 1878, Dorothy Scarborough became an American novelist, folklorist, and teacher whose writing often drew on Southwestern life. She studied at Baylor and later taught creative writing at Columbia University, building a career that moved between scholarship and storytelling.

Her best-known novel is The Wind (1925), a harsh and memorable story set in West Texas that was later adapted into the 1928 silent film of the same name. She also edited Famous Modern Ghost Stories and wrote criticism on supernatural fiction, showing a lasting interest in eerie tales as well as regional literature.

Scarborough is also remembered for On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs (1925), an early book-length study that gathered and discussed African American secular folk songs. Today, she stands out as a writer who tried to capture the sounds, stories, and moods of the American South and Southwest, even as modern readers also approach some of her work with historical context in mind.