Sarah Chauncey Woolsey

Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (January 29, 1835 – April 9, 1905), known by her pen name Susan Coolidge, was an American children's author, known for her novel What Katy Did.

Background Woolsey was born on January 29, 1835, in Cleveland, Ohio, to John Mumford Woolsey and Jane Andrews. She was a member of the wealthy New England Dwight family, and author and poet Gamel Woolsey was her niece. Her family moved to New Haven, Connecticut, in 1852.

Woolsey worked as a nurse during the American Civil War (1861–1865), after which she started to write. She never married, and resided at her family home in Newport, Rhode Island, until her death. She edited The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mrs. Delaney (1879) and The Diary and Letters of Frances Burney (1880).

She is best known for her classic children's novel What Katy Did (1872). The fictional Carr family was modeled after her own, with Katy Carr inspired by Woolsey herself. The brothers and sisters were modeled on her four younger siblings: Jane Andrews Woolsey, born October 25, 1836, who married Reverend Henry Albert Yardley; Elizabeth Dwight Woolsey, born April 24, 1838, who married Daniel Coit Gilman and died in 1910; Theodora Walton Woolsey, born September 7, 1840; and William Walton Woolsey, born July 18, 1842, who married Catherine Buckingham Convers, daughter of Charles Cleveland Convers.

Works

Books

Katy Series 1872: What Katy Did or What Katy did at Home 1873: What Katy Did at School 1886: What Katy Did Next 1888: Clover 1890: In the High Valley Single books 1871: New-Year's Bargain 1874: Mischief's Thanksgiving, and other stories 1874: Little Miss Mischief, and other stories 1875: Nine Little Goslings 1875: Curly Locks 1876: For Summer Afternoons 1879: Eyebright 1880: Verses 1880: A Guernsey lily or, How the feud was healed 1881: Cross Patch, and other stories (adaptation of Mother Goose) 1883: A Round Dozen 1884: Toinette and the Elves (originally published in St. Nicholas Magazine)

1885: A Little Country Girl 1886: One Day in a Baby's Life (adaption of French book by M. Arnaud) 1887: Ballads of Romance and History 1887: A Short History of the City of Philadelphia from its foundation to the present time 1889: A Few More Verses 1889: Just Sixteen 1890: The Day's Message (editor) 1892: Rhymes and Ballads for Girls and Boys 1893: The Barberry Bush 1894: Not Quite Eighteen 1895: An Old Convent School In Paris 1899: A Little Knight of Labor (first serialized in Wide Awake) 1900: Little Tommy Tucker 1900: Two Girls 1901: Little Bo-Beep 1902: Uncle and Aunt 1904: The Rule of Three 1906: Last Verses 1906: A Sheaf of Stories

Selected work in periodicals

1871 Girls of the Far North (serial) The Little Corporal, April - August 1871 1874: How St. Valentine Remembered Milly, (story) St. Nicholas, February 1874 1875: The Cradle Tomb at Westminster (poem), Scribner's Monthly, October 1875 1876: Toinette and the Elves (A Christmas Story), (story) St. Nicholas, Jan 1876 1877: The Two Wishes, A Fairy Story, (story) St. Nicholas, March 1877 1879: The Old Stone Basin, (poem) St. Nicholas, January 1879 1880: Kintu (poem) Atlantic Monthly, August 1880 1882: Concord (poem), Atlantic Monthly magazine, July 1882 1887: Lohengrin'(poem), Scribner's Magazine, May 1887 1888: Charlotte Bronte, (poem) St. Nicholas, December 1888 1889: A Little Knight of Labor (serial), Wide Awake, September - November 1889 1890: Hour of Comfort, Poem, The Illustrated Christian Weekly, November 29, 1890 1899: The Better Way (poem), The Indian Helper, November 3, 1899 1903: Dr. Johnson and Hodge His Cat, United Presbyterian Youth Evangelist Paper, July 12, 1903

Translations

German Wenn morgen heute ist..., Erich Schmidt Verlag, 1956 = What Katy Did Finnish Katyn toimet = What Katy Did Katy koulussa = What Katy Did at School Katyn myöhemmät toimet = What Katy Did Next Clover = Clover Alppilaakson maja = In the High Walley Norwegian Katy, den eldste av seks = What Katy Did Katy på skolen = What Katy Did at School Hva Katy gjorde siden = What Katy Did Next Katy på reise Katy hjemme Clara, Katys søster = Clover Øientrøst : fortælling Høiendal = In the High Walley Russian Что Кейти делала = What Katy Did Что Кейти делала в школе = What Katy Did at School Что Кейти делала потом = What Katy Did Next

Swedish Katy i hemmet = What Katy Did Katy i skolan = What Katy Did at School Vad Katy gjorde sedan = What Katy Did Next Clover : Berättelse för flickor. = Clover Italian Cio che fece Katy = What Katy Did Spanish Las cosas de Katy = What Katy Did Portuguese O que Katy fez = What Katy Did O que Katy fez a seguir = What Katy Did Next Os sonhos de Katy Danish Katy, den ældste af seks = What Katy Did Katy-bøkerne I Fiesole Den hemmelige Dør

Articles on Susan Coolidge 1959: Susan Coolidge, the Horn Book Magazine of books and reading for children and young people. 14 pages in June 1959