About Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan
Lived 1875 – 1953 (aged 77). Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan was an American writer, short story writer and screenwriter.
Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan (14 Dec 1872 – 30 Jan 1953), was an early 20th century American woman author and playwright. She was born in Columbus, Nebraska to Judge John G. Higgins and Anna O'Connor. Her siblings are John, Joy, Edward, Frank, Pansy, Mary, Andrea, Andrew, and Kathleen. Three of her siblings passed in infancy.
Elizabeth married Florence Edward Sullivan on April 11, 1896, in Omaha, Nebraska. Soon after, her daughter, Janette was born in 1906. The couple divorced and she did not remarry. She published her stories under her maiden name of Elizabeth Higgins.
Sullivan worked for the Omaha Daily Bee newspaper and various Chicago daily newspapers. She was devoted to women's suffrage and the social settlement movement. She had a special interest in horticulture and wrote numerous articles on horticulture and agriculture in the American South. She maintained a home in the Mobile, Alabama area for a part of the year, later in life. She is listed in the 1916 Blue Book of Nebraska Women by Winona Reeves under the Sullivan surname.
An entry in the 1916 Blue Book of Nebraska Women page 218 reads:
Career Sullivan worked for several newspapers and schools including the Omaha Bee newspaper, Omaha Daily News, South End Music School, and University Players of Cape Cod and Baltimore. She was a reporter, social worker, and art director. Working with her sister Joy, a distinguished teacher of dramatics who, through the University Players of Boston and New York, helped to start many prominent stage and screen stars on their way to the top.
Her book Out of the West, a Novel by Elizabeth Higgins was written in 1902. It is "A captivating story of a young woman's journey from the rural West to the vibrant city of San Francisco in the early 1900s. Full of vivid descriptions and colorful characters, this novel explores themes of identity, love, and self-discovery."
The book was digitized in June 2014 from the original held at the New York Public Library. Several modern reprints have been done on her work, as it is in the public domain, and her work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is therefore "important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public".
She is an alumna of Dr. George Pierce Baker's Workshop 47 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1925, her play "The Strongest Man" was called "Best of Series" from other Workshop 47 entries.
Selected bibliography The Strongest Man. 1925 (play) Out of the West: A Novel by Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan; publisher: Harper & brothers, 1902. Original from the New York Public Library; Digitized, Jun 24, 2014; Length, 313 pages. Modern reprints of this book carry ISBN 9781357445768, and 9781022193277. A Roof Against the Rain, by Elizabeth Higgins. Published by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard company; Boston/New York, 1938. First edition held at the library of Congress. The Chisholm Trail
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Important facts
People in Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan's life
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Frequently asked questions
Who was Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan?
author
When was Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan born?
Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan was born on 14 December 1875 in Columbus.
When did Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan die?
Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan died on 30 January 1953.
What was Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan's occupation?
Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan was a writer, short story writer and screenwriter.
What nationality was Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan?
Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan was American.
Sources & further reading
· Wikipedia: Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan
· DBpedia: Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan. https://biography.guide/elizabeth-higgins-sullivan/
MLA: "Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/elizabeth-higgins-sullivan/.
Chicago: "Elizabeth Higgins Sullivan." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/elizabeth-higgins-sullivan/.
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