author
Mary Newton Stanard
1865–1929
Best known for bringing Virginia’s past to life, this early 20th-century writer moved easily between careful history and storytelling. Her books on colonial life, Richmond, and figures such as John Marshall helped shape how many readers first encountered the state’s history.
2 Audiobooks
The Story of Bacon's Rebellion
by Mary Newton Stanard
The Dreamer: A Romantic Rendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe
by Mary Newton Stanard
About the author
Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, in 1865, Mary Newton Stanard was an American historian and writer whose work centered on Virginia’s past. She wrote history in a lively, readable way, and her books included Colonial Virginia, Its People and Customs, Richmond, Its People and Its Story, and The Story of Bacon’s Rebellion.
She was also active in preservation and historical organizations in Virginia, including work connected with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities and the Virginia Historical Society. That background helps explain the tone of her writing: careful with historical detail, but meant for general readers rather than specialists alone.
Stanard died on June 5, 1929. Today she is remembered chiefly as a regional historian who helped document and popularize the history of Virginia for a wide audience in the early twentieth century.