Eliza D. Keith

"Di Vernon" redirects here. For the magician, see Dai Vernon. For the fictional character, see Die Vernon.
Eliza D. Keith
"A Woman of the Century"
"A Woman of the Century"
BornEliza Douglas Keith
1854
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedNovember 6, 1939
San Francisco
Pen name
  • Erle Douglas
  • Di Vernon
Occupation
  • educator
  • author
  • journalist
  • reformer
LanguageEnglish
Alma materSan Francisco Girls' High School
Notable awardsBronze medal, San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Signature

Eliza Douglas Keith (pen names, Erle Douglas and Di Vernon; 1854 – November 6, 1939) was an American educator, author, and journalist; she was also a social reformer and activist.[1][2]

Keith began teaching immediately after finishing her education and was a member of the Golden Gate Kindergarten Association. At about the same time, she became a writer and journalist. Her work appeared in Demorest's Monthly Magazine, Good Housekeeping, The Daily Alta California, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, The San Francisco Call, and the San Francisco News Letter. She was a special correspondent of the San Francisco Recorder-Union, the Journalist, and Kate Field's Washington. On several occasions, Keith acted as special correspondent for the Sacramento Record-Union, representing that paper at the World's Columbian Exposition.[3] Her best-known work was the "Snap Shots" department in the San Francisco News Letter, and her weekly letters on California matters to the Boston Journalist.[4] She was a member of the Pacific Coast Women's Press Association and the Illinois Press League.

Keith was active in various social reforms. She believed in practical patriotism and an earnest effort to rescue the U.S. flag from desecration; she was the first teacher to introduce the salute to the American flag as part of the regular opening exercises each day in the classroom.[3] A suffragist,[5] she was an original member, secretary and treasurer of the Susan B. Anthony Club founded immediately after the defeat of equal suffrage in California in 1896. She served as grand president, Native Daughters of the Golden West. The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals honored her with a bronze medal.

  1. ^ Willard & Livermore 1893, p. 431.
  2. ^ "Early Amateur Journalism in California". www.thefossils.org. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b Current Literature Publishing Company 1895, pp. 289–90.
  4. ^ Mighels, Ella Sterling (1893). The Story of the Files: A Review of California Writers and Literature. Cooperative Printing Company. pp. 388–89. ISBN 9780598279521. Retrieved 27 August 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ Dock 2010, p. 115.