Ruth Edna Kelley

American historian

Ruth Edna Kelley (April 8, 1893 – March 4, 1982) was an American librarian and writer. She is chiefly remembered for The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), the first book-length history of the holiday.^[1]

The Book of Hallowe'en/The Witch of the Walnut-Tree

Biography

Kelley was born in Lynn, Massachusetts on April 8, 1893, the only child of Charles F. Kelley, a carpenter, and his wife Mary. She grew up in Lynn, and received a master of arts degree in literature, magna cum laude, from Radcliffe College.^[2]

The Book of Hallowe'en was Kelly's first book. Her second book, A Life of Their Own (1947), dealt with immortality and spirituality.

Kelley died in Marblehead, Massachusetts at the age of 88.

References

1. Winston, Sydnee (2017), Boo! The History of Halloween, National Women's History Museum
2. "The Book of the Class of 1914". Radcliffe College. June 1914. Retrieved May 3, 2023 – via Google Books.

Further reading

• The full text of The Book of Hallowe'en at Wikisource
• Who Was Who Among North American Authors, 1921-1939. Detroit: Gale Research, 1976.
• Who's Who in Library Service: A Biographical Directory of Professional Librarians of the United States and Canada. Third edition. Edited by Dorothy Ethlyn Cole. New York: Grolier Society, 1955.

External links

• Children's literature portal

• Works by Ruth Edna Kelley at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Ruth Edna Kelley at Internet Archive
• Works by Ruth Edna Kelley at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)