author
Martha Young
b. 1868
A Southern writer and storyteller, she became known for poems, folk tales, and children’s books shaped by the voices and traditions of Alabama. Her work was widely read in the early 1900s and is still remembered for its strong sense of place.
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 state’s Black Belt region and later lived in Greensboro. She became a prolific American regional writer whose books drew on Southern folklore, songs, and storytelling traditions.
Young published poetry, fiction, and children’s literature, including Plantation Songs for My Lady's Banjo, Folk-Lore from Dixie-Land, and Two Little Southern Sisters. Contemporary readers admired her ear for dialect and her ability to turn local stories and animal tales into lively, memorable writing.
Her work was especially popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although some of it reflects the attitudes and racial language of its era, Young remains an important figure in Alabama literary history and was later inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame.