Theda Kenyon

Theda Kenyon
Theda Kenyon, from a portrait by Stanislav Rembski
BornSeptember 19, 1894
New York U.S.
DiedNovember 16, 1997 (age 103)
Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.
OccupationsWriter, educator

Theda Kenyon (September 19, 1894 – November 16, 1997) was an American writer and educator. She wrote novels, poetry, short stories, a play, song lyrics, and a book on witchcraft, Witches Still Live: A Study of the Black Art Today (1929).[1]

Early life and education

Kenyon was from Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of theologian and Protestant Episcopal pastor Ralph Wood Kenyon and Elise Chesebrough Rathbun Kenyon.[2][3] She graduated from Packer Collegiate Institute.[4]

Career

Kenyon taught poetry classes at Hunter College.[5] She held a residency at the MacDowell Colony in 1928.[6] She was a member of the executive board of the Poetry Society of America, and an early promoter of the poet James Still,[7] who was once her student.[8] She gave poetry readings,[9] sometimes in historical costumes,[10][11] and was poetry chair of the New York City Federation of Women's Clubs.[12] Brooklyn painter Stanislav Rembski painted her portrait in the 1920s.[13]

Most of Kenyon's novels were historical in setting, and several were based on biographies of historical figures, including Joan of Arc,[14] Anne Hutchinson,[5] and Richard Fanning Loper.[15] In 1941, she performed a dramatic version of her novel-in-verse, Scarlet Anne, for a women's club in Virginia.[5] She was guest of honor at a 1963 meeting of the Pen Women of Atlantic City.[16]

Publications

Poetry

  • "Tipperary Comes to Bagdad" (1917, Everybody's)[3]
  • "Beyond the Well" (1917, Munsey's)[3]
  • "The Hooverish Child" (1918, All-Story Weekly)[17]
  • "The Vestment Maker" (1919, Scribner's)[18]
  • "Out of the Desert" (1921, North American Review)[19]
  • "Pan Adolescent" (1923, North American Review)[20]
  • "Leah" (1924, North American Review)[21]
  • "The Ship Model" (1924)[4]
  • "Service", "A Valentine", and "For a Library Door" (1925, Everybody's)[22][23][24]
  • "Three Poems" (1925, Contemporary Verse)[25]
  • "Dead Letters" (1928, North American Review)[26]
  • "Widowhood" (1930, North American Review)[27]
  • "I Pray" (1931, North American Review)[28]

Fiction

  • "The Passing of Sarah" (1924, AInslee's)[4]
  • "The Gay Tyrant" (1925, McCall's)[29]
  • Certain Ladies (1930)[30]
  • "The House of the Golden Eyes" (1930, story, Weird Tales)
  • Scarlet Anne (1939, a novel in verse, based on the life of Anne Hutchinson)[30][31]
  • Pendulum (1942, historical novel)[32]
  • The Golden Feather (1943, historical novel)[33]
  • Black Dawn (1944, a sequel to Golden Feather)[34][35]
  • The Skipper from Stonington (1947, novel based on the life of Richard Fanning Loper)[15][36]
  • Something Gleamed (1948, historical novel)[37][38]
  • Jeanne (1928, novel about Joan of Arc)[14]

Other

  • "My Rose" (1919, a song, music by R. Huntington Woodman)[39]
  • Gooseberries (1921, a play)[40]
  • "Witches Still Live" (1929, North American Review)[41]
  • Witches Still Live: A Study of the Black Art Today (1929)[1]

Personal life

Kenyon lived at the Marlborough-Blenheim Hotel in Atlantic City in the 1960s, and made books for hospitalized children from donated Christmas cards.[42] She died in 1997, in Montclair, New Jersey, at the age of 103.[43]

References

  1. ^ a b Kenyon, Theda (1929). Witches Still Live: A Study of the Black Art Today. I. Washburn.
  2. ^ "Rev. Dr. R. W. Kenyon Dead at Age of 77; Retired Brooklyn Pastor Observed 52nd Anniversary of Ordination in June". The New York Times. July 19, 1933. p. 17.
  3. ^ a b c "Miss Theda Kenyon's Poems; in Two Magazines of July". Brooklyn Eagle. 1917-07-01. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b c Childe, Cromwell (1924-11-24). "Society in Brooklyn: Theda Kenyon Making Her Way in Literature". The Brooklyn Daily Times. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Tuckahoe Club Will Hear Dramatist; Theda Kenyon Will Present 'Scarlet Anne'". The Richmond News Leader. 1941-02-24. p. 19. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Theda Kenyon - Artist". MacDowell. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  7. ^ Green, C. (2009-11-23). The Social Life of Poetry: Appalachia, Race, and Radical Modernism. Springer. pp. 139–140. ISBN 978-0-230-10169-2.
  8. ^ Boggess, Carol (2010). "Letters of Understanding: James Still's Correspondence with Marjorie Rawlings and Katherine Anne Porter, 1936-1945". Appalachian Heritage. 38 (4): 53–62. ISSN 2692-9287.
  9. ^ "Notables at Poetry Symposium". The New York Times. May 27, 1927. p. 29. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  10. ^ "Poetry Fellowship to Hear Dramatic Reader on May 27; Theda Kenyon Will Give Costume Recital". Commercial. 1939-05-19. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Wall, Mabelle S. (1929-05-12). "Music, Drama, and Art". The Atlanta Journal. p. 20. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Childe, Cromwell (1927-05-18). "Society in Brooklyn: Theda Kenyon Very Actively in the News". The Brooklyn Daily Times. p. 48. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Pictures of the Page: Miss Theda Kenyon from the portrait by Stanislav Rembski". The Brooklyn Daily Times. 1927-05-29. p. 47. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b Kenyon, Theda (1928). Jeanne. New York: I. Washburn.
  15. ^ a b Match, Richard (January 12, 1947). "Review of 'That Skipper from Stonington' by Theda Kenyon". The New York Times Book Review. p. 16.
  16. ^ "Pen Women to Pay Tribute". Press of Atlantic City. 1963-01-20. p. 15. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Kenyon, Theda (May 11, 1918). "The Hooverish Child". The All-Story Weekly. 84 (1): 172.
  18. ^ Kenyon, Theda (July 1919). "The Vestment Maker". Scribner's Magazine. 66 (1): 98.
  19. ^ Kenyon, Theda (1921). "Out of the Desert". The North American Review. 214 (793): 795–795. ISSN 0029-2397.
  20. ^ Kenyon, Theda (1923). "Pan Adolescent". The North American Review. 217 (811): 797–798. ISSN 0029-2397.
  21. ^ Kenyon, Theda (1924). "The Stranger". The North American Review. 219 (818): 65–65. ISSN 0029-2397.
  22. ^ Kenyon, Theda (January 1925). "Service". Everybody's. 52: 100.
  23. ^ Kenyon, Theda (February 1925). "A Valentine". Everybody's. 52 (2): 158.
  24. ^ Kenyon, Theda (April 1925). "For a Library Door". Everybody's. 52 (4): 153.
  25. ^ Kenyon, Theda (November 1925). "Three Poems". Contemporary Verse. 20 (5): 77–80.
  26. ^ Kenyon, Theda (1928). "Dead Letters". The North American Review. 226 (5): 544–544. ISSN 0029-2397.
  27. ^ Kenyon, Theda. "Widowhood." The North American Review (1821-1940) 229, no. 6 (1930): 756.
  28. ^ Kenyon, Theda. "I Pray." The North American Review (1821-1940) 231, no. 6 (1931): 500.
  29. ^ Childe, Cromwell (1925-08-09). "Society in Brooklyn: Miss Theda Kenyon Becomes a Romantic Novelist". The Brooklyn Daily Times. p. 59. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ a b "Miss Theda Kenyon to Address Poetry Fellowship at Brunswick". Portland Press Herald. 1939-05-21. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  31. ^ Widdemer, Margaret (January 29, 1939). "A Portrait of Anne Hutchinson in Narrative Verse". The New York Times. p. 40. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  32. ^ Thickens, Jean Wiley (1942-06-15). "'Pendulum' by Theda Kenyon Story That Spans Period of Half Century". The Post-Crescent. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. ^ Balakian, Nona (June 6, 1943). "Review of The Golden Feather by Theda Kenyon". The New York Times Book Review. p. 14.
  34. ^ Gould, Ray (1944-11-12). "A Stirring and Fascinating Novel of Reconstruction Days in Old Virginia". The Montgomery Advertiser. p. 32. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Bond, Barbara (January 28, 1945). "Damyankee". The New York Times. p. 55. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-10-05.
  36. ^ Bry, Adelaide (1946-12-22). "Brawling Seafarers of 1800's; Romance and Violence Woven into Historical Study". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 105. Retrieved 2025-10-06.
  37. ^ Stevens, Richard A. (1948-10-31). "War in New York (review of 'Something Gleamed' by Theda Kenyon)". Hartford Courant. p. 84. Retrieved 2025-10-05 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. ^ Michel, Dorothy (1949-01-02). "When Women Were Shanghaied". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 145. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. ^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1919). Catalog of Copyright Entries. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 207.
  40. ^ Library of Congress Copyright Office (1921). Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [B] Group 2. Pamphlets, Etc. New Series. p. 1792.
  41. ^ Kenyon, Theda (1929). "Witches Still Live". The North American Review. 228 (5): 620–626. ISSN 0029-2397.
  42. ^ "Tots Christmas Card Book". Press of Atlantic City. 1964-01-06. p. 6. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  43. ^ "Theda Kenyon". The Montclair Times. 1997-11-20. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-10-06 – via Newspapers.com.
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