Jeannette Augustus Marks

Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1875, Jeannette Augustus Marks studied at Wellesley College and went on to teach English at Mount Holyoke College for many years. She was known not only as an educator but also as a writer, lecturer, and organizer of literary and theatrical life on campus.

Her writing ranged widely. Marks published children’s books, plays, poems, and fiction, including historical work such as The Family of the Barrett. That range gives her work a restless, curious quality: she wrote for young readers, for the stage, and for adults interested in history and character.

She died in 1964. Today, she is remembered both for her own books and for the role she played in American college literary culture during the first half of the 20th century.