author
Ellen Tracy Alden
1846–1880
A 19th-century American writer remembered for Stories and Ballads for Young Folks, a collection of tales and verse published around 1880. Her work blends storytelling and poetry for younger readers, with the warm, moral tone common in children's books of the period.
1 Audiobook
Stories and ballads for young folks
by Ellen Tracy Alden
About the author
Little is firmly documented about Ellen Tracy Alden beyond her surviving work, but library and archive records identify her as the author of Stories and Ballads for Young Folks, published in New York by the American Book Exchange in 1880.
That book brings together stories and poems for young readers, suggesting a writer comfortable moving between narrative and verse. The title and its presentation place her within the tradition of 19th-century American children's literature, where entertainment was often joined with gentle instruction.
Because reliable biographical information about her is scarce in the sources available online, her writing remains the clearest introduction to her life and interests. What can be said with confidence is that she left behind a book that reflects the style and reading culture of its time.