Phebe Estelle Spalding | |
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 Oil portrait of Spalding, standing in front of Carnegie Hall | |
| Born | (1859-03-13)March 13, 1859[1] |
| Died | March 12, 1937(1937-03-12) (aged 77)[1] Pomona Cemetery and Mausoleum[2] |
| Alma mater | Carleton College Boston University (Ph.D)[3] |
| Occupation | Professor of English |
| Parents | |
Phebe Estelle Spalding (1859 – 1937) was an American writer and educator. She was professor of English atPomona College, and would later serve as Dean of women and its librarian.
She was born inWestfield, Vermont,[4] the third of four children of Benjamin P. Spalding and Ann Folsom. She began teaching grammar school at the age of 16,[3] sometimes serving as principal for nearby schools. As a young adult, she moved to theDakota Territory where she continued teaching.[5] In 1886 at the age of 27, she received a scholarship to study atCarleton College.[5] She graduated with a B.L. in 1889.[4]
Spalding joined the faculty ofPomona College in 1889, becoming the only woman teacher at the facility. She was hired as a teacher of English and modern languages,[6] but would also serve as the Dean of women at the college and as its librarian.[7] She established the first library in Claremont with a contribution of 200 books she brought with her from Carleton College,[8] which were added to the existing collection of 300 books.[7] This became the basis of the Pomona College library at Sumner Hall.[8] Spalding came to live in a house on West 5th Street that she named "Otherwhere".[9]
During 1898–99 she took a sabbatical to travel and study in Europe,[4] including a year spent in Britain to studyWordsworth.[3] Her novelA Tale of Indian Hill was published in 1899. She returned to Carleton College, and was awarded an M.L. in 1890. She would work at theHarvard University Library andThe British Museum[3] before returning to Pomona College, where she became Professor of English in 1904.[4] In 1908 she was awarded a Ph.D. fromBoston University with a dissertation on the historical plays ofShakespeare.[3] In 1911, Pomona PresidentBlaisdell established thePhebe Estelle Spalding Professorship of English Literature in her honor, making her the first to chair the position.[3] Spalding retired from teaching in 1927[7] but would continue writing for several years thereafter.[3]
During her career she authored 13 books and novellas, as well as articles published in professional journals and some poems. HerPatron Saints of California was published as a series of five books in 1934.[3]
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