Margarita Spalding Gerry

Born in Washington, D.C., on July 28, 1870, Margarita Spalding Gerry was the daughter of Harvey and Sophia Hutchinson Spalding. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1891 and taught high school for several years before marriage.

Gerry wrote novels, short stories, and nonfiction, and she is best remembered for works connected to Abraham Lincoln. Her books include The Toy Shop: A Romantic Story of Lincoln the Man and Through Five Administrations, a work compiled and edited from the reminiscences of William H. Crook, one of Lincoln's bodyguards.

She also took part in public life in Washington, serving on the Board of Education after her appointment in 1916 and reappointment in 1919. That mix of storytelling, historical interest, and civic work gives her writing a distinctive place among early 20th-century American authors.