Florence Marion Howe Hall | |
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| Born | Florence Marion Howe August 25, 1845 South Boston, Massachusetts |
| Died | April 10, 1922 (aged 76) High Bridge, New Jersey |
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Florence Marion Howe Hall (August 25, 1845 – April 10, 1922)[1] was an American writer, critic, and lecturer aboutwomen's suffrage in the United States.[2] Along with her two sisters,Laura Elizabeth Richards andMaude Howe Elliott, Hall received the first Pulitzer Prize for a biography,Julia Ward Howe.[2][3]
Howe was born on August 25, 1845, inSouth Boston, Massachusetts.[4] She was named Florence afterFlorence Nightingale, her godmother and friend of her parents, and Marion after her great—great-granduncle, GeneralFrancis Marion of theRevolutionary War fame.[4] Florence was the second of six children born of the marriage of Dr.Samuel Gridley Howe, a prominent physician, abolitionist and founder of thePerkins Institution and Massachusetts School for the Blind, andJulia Ward Howe, a poet and author, best known for writing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic".[5][6] Her elder sister wasJulia Romana Howe;[7] and her younger siblings included Henry Marion Howe, a metallurgist;Laura (née Howe) Richards andMaud (née Howe) Elliott, both authors;[8] Her younger sister Maud marriedJohn Elliott, an English muralist and illustrator.[9]
She was educated at private schools in Boston and nearby, including theAgassiz School ofCambridge. She later studied music withOtto Dresel, the pianist, music teacher and composer.[10]
She was a writer, critic, and lecturer aboutwomen's suffrage in the United States, serving as president of the New Jersey State Woman Suffrage Association from 1893 to 1900.
Hall began her writing career with children's stories, but quickly moved on to memoirs and etiquette books.[11]
She was the author ofSocial Customs: Boys, Girls and Manners,The Correct Thing in Good Society,Social Usages at Washington, which she wrote with her sister Maud Elliot.[10] In 1917, Hall received aPulitzer Prize for her biography of her mother, entitledJulia Ward Howe, the first Pulitzer Prize for a biography.[2] Along with her sisters, she also wrote a biography ofLaura Bridgeman, who was a student of their father's.[11]
For eleven years, Hall served as president of the Plainfield, New Jersey branch of the National Alliance of Unitarian Women and, for several years, regent of the Continental Chapter of theDaughters of the American Revolution.[10][12]
On November 15, 1871, she was married to David Prescott Hall (1845–1907). David, a lawyer, was the youngest son of six children born to David Priestley Hall, a Harvard educated lawyer, and Caroline (née Minturn) Hall,[13] who spent their summers inNewport, Rhode Island.[14] The couple met while Hall was in Newport and had four children:[14]
In New York City, they lived at 17 Livingston Place.[10] In 1893, the Halls moved toPlainfield, New Jersey, where he died at his home on June 5, 1907.[14] Florence died on April 10, 1922, inHigh Bridge, New Jersey. She was buried inMount Auburn Cemetery inCambridge, Massachusetts.[1]
Previously the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography from 1917–2022 | ||
| 1917–1925 |
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| 1926–1950 |
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| 1951–1975 |
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| 1976–2000 |
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| 2001–2025 |
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