Ernestine Cobern Beyer, (4 August 1893 - 13 Dec 1972) was an American poet and children’s author. Beyer was born in Meadville, Pennsylvania to Ernestine Craft Cobern, and Camden McCormack Cobern, a Methodist minister, archaeologist, and author of many articles and books on his explorations in Palestine. Ernestine progressed, with her mother as teacher and accompanist, from simple songs in English to operatic arias in French, Italian, and German. For 25 years, Ernestine submitted poems and stories to children’s magazines, and often had the pleasure of seeing them in print. Widowed in 1937 in the middle of the Depression, Ernestine struggled to support her children on too slim a budget. Her published poems were not income inflating at two dollars a line. The publication of "Sunbonnet Babies" in the Ladies' Home Journal (April, 1949) marked a change in Ernestine's fortunes. She received several awards from The National League of American Pen Women, and in April of 1972 was invited to Washington to be honored by the league for the best religious poem. Ernestine died eight months later on December 13, 1972.
Biographical Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernestine_Cobern_Beyer,2008
From the guide to the Ernestine Beyer Papers, 1962, (University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections [clrc])
