author
Martha Young
b. 1868
A prolific Alabama writer, poet, and folklorist, she became known in the early twentieth century for stories, songs, and fables drawn from Southern oral traditions. Her work was widely read in its day, even as modern readers often approach parts of it with a more critical eye.
1 Audiobook
Somebody's Little Girl
by Martha Young
About the author
Born in Newbern, Alabama, in 1862, Martha Strudwick Young grew up in the Black Belt region and later lived in Greensboro. She was educated at several Alabama schools and began publishing poems and prose while still young, sometimes using the pen name Eli Sheppard.
Young wrote across many forms, including poetry, essays, children's stories, songs, and folktale collections. She became especially known for works that retold Southern folk stories and tried to capture regional speech and storytelling styles, which brought her national attention in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Her books sold well and earned praise from contemporary readers, and she is remembered as an important Alabama literary figure. At the same time, much of her writing reflects racial attitudes and plantation-era nostalgia that many readers today find troubling, so her legacy is often discussed with both historical interest and caution.