Helen Sherman Griffith

Helen Sherman Griffith
Born
Helen Sherman

(1873-02-06)February 6, 1873
Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.
DiedJuly 14, 1961(1961-07-14) (aged 88)
Saynderstown, Rhode Island, U.S.
Resting placeOld St. David's Church, Wayne Pennsylvania
OccupationAuthor
FatherHoyt Sherman
Relatives

Helen Sherman Griffith (1873 - July 13, 1961) was an American author. An Iowan, she was the "prolific"[1] author of the Letty Grey series of children's books, published by Penn Publishing Company of Philadelphia.[2][3] She was the daughter of Hoyt Sherman and Sara Sherman, who was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa at Hoyt Sherman Place. Helen's bedroom has been restored and is part of the Hoyt Sherman Place house museum.

In 1914 she paid a visit to Des Moines Women's Club which was located in Hoyt Sherman Place, her childhood home. An article in the Des Moines Register captured the occasion: "It was at the close of the program that Mrs. Cowles told the delightful news that the Women's Club... board... had voted to dedicate the auditorium on the second floor of the club house to Mrs. Helen Sherman Griffith. It was the same room the Mrs. Griffith, then known to her friends as Nellie Sherman, passed her girlhood days and dreamed her dreams and wove her fancies - dreams and fancies that have since taken more permanent form in delightful stories of children and young folks."[4]

She wrote three plays in 1899: The Minister's Wife, The Burglar Alarm, and A Borrowed Luncheon.[5] She had quips published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine.[6] Her novel for adults, The Lane, was a bestseller in the 1920s.[7]

  1. ^ "Iowa Writers". The Des Moines Register. March 29, 1925. p. 27. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  2. ^ "Another Book About "Letty"". The Cincinnati Enquirer. February 19, 1917. p. 7. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  3. ^ "Letty Grey in a University Town". The Boston Globe. December 2, 1916. p. 4. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  4. ^ "Club Women open year's activities with reception to Iowa authors". No. page 3. Des Moines Register. October 8, 1914.
  5. ^ Greasley, Philip A. (August 8, 2016). Dictionary of Midwestern Literature, Volume 2: Dimensions of the Midwestern Literary Imagination. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253021168 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Lippincott's Monthly Magazine". J.B. Lippincott Company. May 16, 1905 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Obituary for Helen Sherman Griffith (Aged 88)". July 15, 1961. p. 7 – via newspapers.com.