Grace Elizabeth King was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 stories, history, and biography, and a leader in historical and literary activities.

Biography

She was born in New Orleans on November 29, 1852, the third of what became seven children of lawyer William Woodson King and Sarah Ann Miller King. The family had an aristocratic background but had been impoverished by the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Grace King later studied under Charles Gayarré

Charles Gayarré

Charles Etienne Arthur Gayarre was an American historian born in New Orleans, Louisiana. A historian and a writer of plays, essays, and novels, he is chiefly remembered for his histories of Louisiana....

 and eventually found her living in writing; among her subjects were other women who had been put in the same situation.

In 1915 she was awarded an honorary degree in letters from Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

. Her many literary friends and acquaintances included Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

 and Edmund Wilson

Edmund Wilson

Edmund Wilson was an American writer and literary and social critic and noted man of letters.-Early life:Wilson was born in Red Bank, New Jersey. His father, Edmund Wilson, Sr., was a lawyer and served as New Jersey Attorney General. Wilson attended The Hill School, a college preparatory...

.

She is buried in Metairie Cemetery

Metairie Cemetery

Metairie Cemetery is a cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The name has caused some people to mistakenly presume that the cemetery is located in Metairie, Louisiana, but it is located within the New Orleans city limits, on Metairie Road .-History:This site was previously a horse...

 in New Orleans.

Grace King High School

Grace King High School

Grace King High School is a public high school located in Metairie, unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is a part of the Jefferson Parish Public Schools....

 on Grace King Place in Metairie, Louisiana

Metairie, Louisiana

Metairie is a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States and is a major part of the New Orleans Metropolitan Area. Metairie is the largest community in Jefferson Parish. It is an unincorporated area that would be larger than most of the state's cities if it were...

, is named in her honor. The Residential Life Administration building at Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 is also named after her.

Selected bibliography

• Monsieur Motte (1888) (Text from University of North Carolina)
• Tales of a Time and Place (1892)
• Balcony Stories (1893) (Text from University of North Carolina)
• New Orleans: The Place and the People (1895)
• Stories from Louisiana History (1905)
• The Pleasant Ways of St. Médard (1916)
• La Dame de Sainte Hermine (1924)
• Memories of a Southern Woman of Letters (1932)

External links

• Documenting the American South