Wilder, Katharine Buell, 1889-1957.

Katharine Buell Wilder (1889-1957) was author of the Other Side of Main Street (1929), using the pseudonym Wilder Buell.

From the description of Katharine Buell Wilder family papers, 1774-1987 (inclusive), 1906-1949 (bulk). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 702131638

Katharine Loving Buell, eldest child of Alfred Ely Buell and Susanna Starling Loving, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on March 6, 1889. The Buell family moved to Tacoma, Washington, when Katharine was two, and in 1902, after the death of her mother, Alfred Buell sent the children east to be cared for by relatives. Katharine lived in Painesville, Ohio, until she completed high school. In 1911 she graduated from Smith College. Between 1911 and 1918 she worked at D. C. Heath & Co. as textbook editor; for Norman Hapgood on the staff of Collier's Weekly ; for Harpers Weekly ; and for the Hapgood Service and the National Editorial Service as an editor. She had married Robert Holman Wilder, an engineer and public relations consultant, in 1917 and from 1918 to 1925 they lived in New York City and ran Wilder and Buell, a public relations consulting firm. Katharine coauthored with her husband Publicity; A Manual for the Use of Business, Civic, or Social Service Organizations (1923) and also held the position of editor of Boys Outfitter . For the next fifteen years they lived in Franklin County, Massachusetts, primarily in the town of Northfield, and it was during this period that she wrote The Other Side of Main Street and most of her other published and unpublished works. While The Other Side of Main Street was published under the pseudonym Wilder Buell, she used the names of Katharine Loving Buell and K. L. Buell for her other works.

The Wilders had little money. Katharine and Robert, so long as he was physically able, worked at a number of jobs in western Massachusetts, New Haven, and New York City. After World War II Katharine took a job as a sales clerk at a five and ten cent store in New York City. Their meager income was supplemented by contributions from their daughter Susanna.

Robert Holman Wilder died on September 11, 1948 and Katharine Buell Wilder on March 3, 1957 in New York City.

For additional biographical information, See Box 9, folder 191.

Susanna Wilder, the only child of Katharine Buell and Robert Holman Wilder, was born on January 28, 1921. She attended public schools in Northfield, Massachusetts and spent a year at Massachusetts State College, now the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, before entering Smith in September 1938. Majoring in religion, she received her A.B. from Smith in 1942 and two years later earned an A.M. in religion from the Yale University Divinity School. She also did graduate work at the Vanderbilt University School of Religion and taught at Ward-Belmont College in Nashville 1944-47, Sweet Briar College 1947-48, and Vassar 1948-50. She served as Director of Religious Education at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in New York City 1952-60 and as Director of Religious Education at the North Shore Unitarian Church, Plandome, in Manhasset, Long Island 1960-62. She was commissioned by the Unitarian-Universalist Department of Education to write a book on Jesus Christ for high school students for the Beacon Series in Religious Education. What do Men Say That I Am? was published in 1965.

Susanna Wilder married Bernard Heinz on March 7, 1959 and the couple live in New Haven.

For additional biographical information, see Box 17, folder 298. BUELL FAMILY Jeptha Carlos Buell (1835-1869) m. 1857 Anna Maud Dodge (1837-1918)

Lucy Burton Buell (1859-1939)

Alfred Ely Buell (-1928) m. 1888 Susanna Starling Loving

(1863-1902)

* Katharine Loving Buell (1889-1957) m. 1917 Robert Holman Wilder

(1886-1948)

Starling Loving Buell (1891-1964)

Darwin Burton Buell (1893-1939)

Elizabeth Buell (1896-1985) Note: The names of important correspondents are underlined.

* Please refer to another chart for additional information. SAMTER FAMILY Samuel Samter (1851-1928) m. 1887 Julia Klauber (1866-1959)

Minnie Samter (1884-1976) m. 1907 Abram J. Levy (1869-1948)

Doris Samter Levy (1909-) m. 1943 Joseph Fuchs (1900-

Evelyn Samter (1893-) m. Jesse Horowitz (1893-1954)

Samter Horowitz (1915-

Jeanne Samter (1889-1953) m. 1913 Bernard Heinz (1880-1968)

Bernard Heinz (1915-) m. 1959 Susanna Wilder (1921- WILDER FAMILY George Sheldon Wilder (1828-1900) m. 1857 Eliza Ann Clark Carpenter

(1826-1868)

George Frederick Wilder (1859-1936) m. 1881 Abigail Grace Holman

(1855-1936)

Harold Wilder (1883-1885)

Robert Holman Wilder (1886-1948) m. 1917 Katharine Loving Buell

(1889-1957)

* Susanna Wilder (1921-) m. 1959 Bernard Heinz (1915-

Herbert Merrill Wilder (1864-1915)

From the guide to the Katharine Buell Wilder family papers, 1774-1987 (inclusive), 1906-1949, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)