Eliza Orne White was an author of children's books, short stories and novels. She was born in Keene, New Hampshire, on August 2, 1856. Her father was William Orne White, a Harvard-educated Unitarian minister. Her mother was Margaret Eliot Harding, daughter of famed portrait artist Chester Harding and Caroline Woodruff Harding. Eliza's brother, Daniel Appleton White, died in infancy in 1859. Rose, her adopted baby sister, was nine years younger than Eliza.

White's grandparents and parents were inveterate diarists and letter writers. Her grandfather, Judge Daniel Appleton White of Salem, Mass., was a prominent citizen who wrote a genealogy of the White family. His daughter, Mary Wilder White, married Caleb Foote. The Footes were friends of Nathaniel Hawthorne. White's maternal grandfather, Chester Harding, published his autobiography in 1866 at the urging of his daughter, Margaret Eliot White. Margaret White would later publish a collection of her musings with the editorial help of her daughter, Eliza.

By the time she was eleven, Eliza Orne White had begun to write fiction. She spent her childhood in rural New Hampshire, attending Keene schools. During this period she absorbed the "charm and simplicity of the life in Keene," memories of which she would later draw upon for many of her children's books. White's formative years were nearly idyllic. However, in her senior year of high school, Eliza survived typhoid fever, which would later affect her health.

In 1872, White boarded at Miss Hall's School for Girls in Roxbury, Massachusetts. In October, 1876, Rev. William White was granted a sabbatical and took his family to Europe for one year. The family toured England, France, Italy, and Switzerland. Eliza continued to live with her parents in New Hampshire until 1878 when her father retired from his pastorate. The family moved to Brookline, Massachusetts,in 1881 to 222 High Street, the home in which Eliza spent the rest of her life.

White published _Miss Brooks_ in 1890. Her first novel was an adult romance. Her second book,_Winterborough_ also an adult novel, followed in 1892. In 1894 she published her first children's book, _When Molly Was Six_. A prolific author, she continued to write for the rest of her life. Of the forty-one books White published, twenty-nine were children's titles. Her books were primarily written for young girls. Her plots were episodic and often rooted in events in her or her parents'lives. _A Little Girl of Long Ago_ (1896) is based on stories that her mother told her about her life as a child of a famous portrait painter.

For the last thirty years of her life, Eliza Orne White was blind and almost completely deaf, but she continued to write and publish. Her books received favorable reviews in the _The New York Times_. She also published short stories and excerpts from her novels in _The Atlantic Monthly_, _St. Nicholas_, _The Horn Book_, and in newspapers. White also edited collections of her mother's and father's writings and wrote brief biographies of them.

White never married. She lived with Elizabeth Dundass, her housekeeper, for fifty years. Dundass died in 1938. On January 23, 1947, Eliza Orne White died at her High Street, Brookline, Mass. home. She is buried in the White family plot in Walnut Hills Cemetery in Brookline.

Miss White's books provide a glimpse into the manners, genial humor, and simple tastes of the children's books of her era. Author and _Atlantic Monthly_ editor, William Dean Howells said of Eliza Orne White: "She has at once placed herself with the few who can see clearly and record simply. That is, with the artists."

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WORKS OF ELIZA ORNE WHITE

Children's Books by Eliza Orne White (Published by Houghton Mifflin Company)

1894 When Molly Was Six Illustrated by Katharine Pyle
1896 A Little Girl of Long Ago
1900 Ednah and Her Brothers Illustrated by Margaret Bush-Brown
1905 An Only Child Illustrated by Katharine Pyle
1906 A Borrowed Sister Illustrated by Katharine Pyle
1910 Brothers in Fur Illustrated with photographs
1911 The Enchanted Mountain Illustrated by F. Pollak-Ottendorf
1918 The Blue Aunt Illustrated by Katharine Pyle
1920 The Strange Year Illustrated by Alice B. Preston
1921 Peggy in Her Blue Frock Illustrated by Alice B. Preston
1924 Tony Illustrated by Alice B. Preston
1926 Joan Morse Illustrated by M. A. Benjamin
1927 Diana's Rosebush Illustrated by Constance Whittemore
1928 The Adventures of Andrew
1929 Sally in Her Fur Coat Illustrated by Lisl Hummel
1930 The Green Door Illustrated by Lisl Hummel
1931 When Abigail Was Seven Illustrated by Lisl Hummel
1932 The Four Young Kendalls Illustrated by Lisl Hummel
1933 Where's Adelaide? Illustrated by Helen Sewell
1934 Lending Mary Illustrated by Grace Paull
1935 Ann Frances Illustrated by Helen Sewell
1936 Nancy Alden Illustrated by Mildred Boyle
1937 The Farm Beyond the Town Illustrated by Mildred Boyle
1938 Helen's Gift House Illustrated by Helen Blair
1939 Patty Makes a Visit Illustrated by Helen Blair
1940 The House Across the Way Illustrated by Lois Maloy
1941 I, the Autobiography of a Cat Illustrated by Clarke Hutton
1942 Training of Sylvia Illustrated by Dorothy Bayley
1944 When Esther Was a Little Girl Illustrated by Connie Moran

Other books by Eliza Orne White

1870 The Martin House
1890 Miss Brooks: A Story
1893 Winterborough
1895 The Coming of Theodora: A Novel
1897 A Browning Courtship and Other Stories
1898 A Lover of Truth
1901 John Forsyth's Aunts
1903 Lesley Chilton
1909 The Wares of Edgefield
1914 The First Step: A Novel

Memoirs/Letters/Compilations

1907 After Noontide, selected by Margaret E. White; with a sketch of the compiler's life by Eliza Orne White.

1917 William Orne White: A Record of Ninety Years (edited by Eliza Orne White)