author
Lena Barksdale
1887–1964
Best known for a warmly told Thanksgiving story and an earlier animal tale, this Virginia writer created books for young readers that feel gentle, lively, and rooted in everyday life. Her work ranges from late-19th-century children's fiction to later school and history titles.
1 Audiobook
The Chickens of Fowl Farm
by Lena Barksdale
About the author
Published as Lena E. Barksdale as well as Lena Barksdale, she wrote for young readers across a remarkably long span of time. The Chickens of Fowl Farm appeared in 1898, and Project Gutenberg’s record for that book notes that it was illustrated by the author herself.
She is also known for The First Thanksgiving, later illustrated by Lois Lenski, and for work on Virginia's History and Geography, Including: Our Home, Virginia and the World, a school-oriented history text written with Raymond C. Dingledine and Marion Belt Nesbitt. Taken together, those books suggest a writer interested both in storytelling for children and in making history accessible to students.
Reliable biographical details are limited in the sources I found. A memorial record for Lena Barksdale lists her as born in 1887 and buried in Charlottesville, Virginia, and library authority records identify her as an author connected with these books.