Vorse, Mary Heaton, 1874-1966

Mary Heaton Vorse (nee Mary Marvin Heaton), author, labor journalist, and social critic, was born in New York City on October 11, 1874 and grew up in Amherst, Mass. Her parents traveled extensively in Europe and Mary received a major part of her education abroad, where she learned to speak fluent French, Italian, and German. Her early desire was to be an artist and as a young woman she spent several winters studying art in Paris.

Albert White Vorse, whom she married in 1898, died in 1910. She married Joseph O'Brien in 1912, and was widowed for the second time in 1915. She had three children: Heaton White Vorse, Mary Ellen (Vorse) Boyden, and Joel O'Brien. From 1907 until her death in 1966 Mrs. Vorse made her home in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

Mrs. Vorse's professional writing career began when she served as a substitute book-reviewer on the Criterion, a magazine which was then being edited by her husband, Albert White Vorse. Although known in later years primarily as a labor writer and journalist, she achieved her initial success as a writer of light fiction, both short stories and novels. Her published writings include sixteen books and more than 400 articles and stories which have appeared in over 70 periodicals, including Woman's Home Companion, McCall's, Harper's, Masses, New Republic, New Yorker, McClure's, Survey, Delineator, Atlantic, and Ladies' Home Journal. In addition, she has written countless news articles and series for International News Service (INS), U.P., North American Newspaper Alliance (NANA), Labor Press Associates, Federated Press, New York Post, New York World, Washington Post, Washington News, Paris Post, and many others.

In 1962 Mrs. Vorse, along with Eleanor Roosevelt and Upton Sinclair, received the Social Justice Award from the United Automobile Workers. On June 14, 1966 Mary Heaton Vorse died at her home in Provincetown.