Bernie Babcock

Julia Bernelle Smade Babcock (born April 28, 1868, Union, Ohio; died Petit Jean, Arkansas, June 14, 1962) was an American author who wrote over 40 novels, as well as numerous essays and newspaper articles. After being widowed at age 29 with five children to support, she began working as a writer. Her first book, the pro-Prohibition "The Daughter of the Republican" (1900), sold over 100,000 copies.

Babcock was society page editor of the "Arkansas Democrat" and later owned and edited "The Arkansas Sketch Book", the first venture of its kind in the state. She wrote "Mammy", a drama read at Chautauqua and on lyceum circuits. She is also the author of:

* "Yesterday and To-Day in Arkansas" (1917)
* "The Coming of the King" (1921)
* "The Soul of Ann Rutledge, Abraham Lincoln's Romance" (1919)
* "The Soul of Abraham Lincoln" (1923)

Babcock founded the Arkansas Museum of Natural History in Little Rock, and worked as a folklore editor for the Federal Writers' Project. In 1953, she retired to a home on Petit Jean Mountain, where she continued to write, publishing a volume of poetry, "The Marble Woman", at age 91 in 1959. She died at her home on June 14, 1962; a neighbor found her with a manuscript still in her hand.

ee also

* The Tower Building of the Little Rock Arsenal

External links

* [http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=1097 Bernie Babcock biography, Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture]
* [http://www.oldstatehouse.com/educational_Programs/classroom/arkansas_news/detail.asp?id=974&issue_id=45&page=6 Biography, The Arkansas News]
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