Meigs, Cornelia, 1884-1973

Cornelia Meigs was born at Rock Island, Illinois, in 1884. She received a public school education before going to Bryn Mawr College, where she received her A.B. degree in 1908. She taught English in Davenport, Iowa, at St. Katherine's School until 1913. She taught in the English Department at Bryn Mawr from 1932 to 1950. Meigs published her first book for children, The Kingdom of the Winding Road, in 1915. She wrote over thirty books for children. She sometimes wrote under the pseudonym of Adair Aldon. In 1927 she won the Beacon Hill Bookshelf Prize with The Trade Wind and in 1934 she won the Newberry Medal for Invincible Louisa, a biography of Louisa May Alcott, becoming the first Iowan to win that honor. In 1953 A Critical History of Children's Literature was published, for which Meigs served as editor, and she wrote some of the pieces as well. In addition to writing books for young people, Meigs also wrote short stories for magazines. She died in 1973.

American author and English professor from Rock Island, Illinois, Meigs graduated from Bryn Mawr in 1908 and was later a professor there. Meigs also used the pseudonym Adair Aldon.

Meigs was born in Rock Island, Ill. in 1884 and was graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 1908. She published her first book, The kingdom of the winding road, in 1915. In 1916 she won the Drama League Prize for her play, The steadfast princess. In 1927 she won the Little, Brown and company prize competition for her book, Trade wind, and in 1933 she won the Newbury Medal Award for her book. Invincible Louisa. She continued her career as a writer, publishing her first book for adults, The violent men, in 1949 and her book about the United Nations, The great design, in 1964. She also worked as an editor and author of a critical history of children's literature. From 1932 until her retirement in 1950 Meigs was a professor of English at Bryn Mawr College. She also served as the first civilian employee of the United States War Department, Washington, D.C. from 1942 to 1945. She died at Havre de Grace, Md. in 1973.