Florence M. Cronise

Florence M. Cronise (1861–1949) was an American missionary and educator. Reliable sources identify her as Florence Marie Cronise and describe her as a missionary teacher whose life and papers were important enough to be preserved in archival collections.

She is best remembered as the co-author, with Henry W. Ward, of Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider, and the Other Beef: West African Folk Tales. In the book's introduction, the tales are described as having been collected while she was teaching at a mission school in Rotifunk, Sierra Leone, then in the British Protectorate. That gives her work a lasting place in the history of folklore collecting as well as missionary education.

For readers today, her interest lies in the way she helped bring oral storytelling traditions into print. The result is a book filled with tricksters, humor, and sharply observed social lessons, preserving stories that might otherwise have reached far fewer readers.