Helen Earle Sellers

Helen Earle Sellers ( Gilbert; September 2, 1903 – February 13, 1951) was an American writer and politician from Connecticut. From 1941 to 1943 and 1949 to 1951, she served in the Connecticut House of Representatives, representing the town of Hebron as a Democrat.

Personal life Sellers was born in Hebron, Connecticut, on September 2, 1903, to parents Horace and Anne Pendleton Gilbert. She married historian and biographer Charles Coleman Sellers in October 1932. In the 1930s, they owned and operated a secondhand bookstore. Together, they had two children, Horace and Susan.

Sellers died in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on February 13, 1951. She was 47. She was not a candidate for reelection in 1942 and left office in 1943.

Sellers was again elected to represent Hebron in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1948, and she served alongside fellow Democrat Irving L. Griffin. She was assigned to the education committee. In May 1949, Speaker of the House John R. Thim announced that Sellers was ill and would not return to the current legislative session. Representative Sophie Kline was assigned to the education committee in Sellers' place. Sellers was not a candidate for reelection in 1950 and left office in 1951. She and Griffin were succeeded by Natalie B. Jones and Richard Grant. Chase G. Woodhouse credited Sellers and Leonard C. Shefflot with compiling the 1941 Connecticut State Register and Manual.

Writing Sellers published plays, poetry, and children's books under her maiden name, Helen Earle Gilbert. At the time of her death, she was writing a biography of activist Prudence Crandall. Sellers' research materials on Crandall's life were left to the Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives at Connecticut College following her death.

Publications Mrs. Mallaby's Birthday (Illustrated by Winifred Bromhall). Rand McNally. 1939. Mr. Plum and the Little Green Tree (Illustrated by Margaret Bradfield). Abingdon-Cokesbury Press. 1946. Dr. Trotter and His Big Gold Watch (Illustrated by Margaret Bradfield). Abingdon-Cokesbury Press. 1948.