author
Elizabeth Sarah Kite
1864–1954
A Quaker-born scholar who became a Catholic historian, she wrote deeply researched works on Franco-American history and spent years preserving Catholic historical records. Her life joined teaching, archival work, and serious historical writing in a way that still feels distinctive.
2 Audiobooks
Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence, Vol. 2
by Elizabeth Sarah Kite
Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence, Vol. 1
by Elizabeth Sarah Kite
About the author
Elizabeth Sarah Kite was an American historian, teacher, archivist, and writer born in Philadelphia in 1864. Sources agree that she was raised in a Quaker family, studied in Europe for several years, and converted to Catholicism while abroad before returning to teach in private schools in the United States.
She is best remembered for her work on Franco-American history, especially Beaumarchais and the War of American Independence and later Brigadier-General Louis Lebègue Duportail, Commandant of Engineers in the Continental Army, 1777–1783. Archival and library records also describe her as a social scientist and translator, showing how wide her interests were.
Kite also devoted important energy to Catholic historical preservation. Records from Catholic archives in Philadelphia describe her as an author and archivist whose papers reflect a long career of research, teaching, and historical work. She died in 1954.