Helen Hooven Santmyer

American writer (1895–1986)

Helen Hooven Santmyer (November 25, 1895 – February 21, 1986) was an American writer, educator, and librarian. She is primarily known for her best selling epic " And Ladies of the Club", published when she was in her 80s.

Santmyer was born on November 25, 1895, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the oldest child of Joseph Wright and Bertha Hooven Santmyer. Her father had been a medical student in Cincinnati, but in 1900 switched to business and moved to the Hooven family home in Xenia, Ohio, taking a position with the R. A. Kelly Company, a rope manufacturer. Inspired by Louisa May Alcott, Santmyer was determined to become a writer and kept a diary from age 10. She also derived inspiration from her grandfathers; both were veterans of the American Civil War and would relate stories of their service. She furthermore derived negative inspiration from her mother, who she felt sacrificed a promising career as an artist for the sake of marriage and children, and was determined never to marry. As a child, Santmyer had a severe case of undulant fever. She recovered, but was left weakened for life, and sometimes subject to bed confinement with fevers or a heart flutter. She would always find it difficult to work and write at the same time. She was brought up Presbyterian. Her mother and grandmother were regular church attendees. In later years, she no longer believed in doctrine, and did not attend services. She attended Wellesley College 1914–18 and was active in the struggle for women's rights; she began publishing her poetry as an undergraduate. The 1916 Alfred Noyes edited collection, A Book of Princeton Verse (poems by Princeton students), was widely read in Santmyer's circle, and strongly influenced her. She quit her clubs and committees and wrote a manifesto that appeared in The Wellesley College Magazine, May 1917, criticizing women who do not dedicate themselves to their art, the way she presumed men did. After graduation, Santmeyer took a job as an editorial secretary with Scribner's in New York City for two years. She returned to Xenia, teaching locally and at Wellesley College, during which time she wrote her first novel, Herbs and Apples, based on her life in Xenia, college, and working for Scribner's. who lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Culminating her studies at Oxford, Santmyer was awarded a B. Litt. degree. After finishing at Oxford, Santmyer returned to Xenia. In 1927, she befriended Mildred Sandoe, a librarian, who would become her literary assistant and later her life partner until Mildred's death almost fifty years later. In 1928, she joined the Xenia Woman's Club. During this time she wrote her second novel, The Fierce Dispute, published in 1929. In the summer of 1930, Santmyer became a MacDowell colonist. There, she wrote her third novel, Farewell, Summer (published posthumously) and befriended actor and playwright Daniel Reed and novelist Thornton Wilder. The Depression forced the closure of the rope factory where Santmyer's father worked. He found employment in Orange County, California, the house was sold, and the family relocated to the West Coast. While in California, Santmyer started writing Ohio Town and Ladies. The director of OSU Press encouraged her to publish with them again. Santmyer then wrote the bulk of Ladies, submitting it to OSU Press in 1976, which accepted it, but required heavy abridgment. Also as of 1976, Santmyer had the first of several stays in Hospitality Home East, a Xenia nursing home, where most of the revision was done. By April 1983, nearly blind and suffering from emphysema, Santmyer moved permanently into the nursing home.

The Helen Hooven Santmyer Prize, awarded annually since 1991 in the amount of $2500, was established by the OSU Press for the "best book length manuscript on the contributions of women, their lives and experiences, and their role in society." The Helen Hooven Santmyer Award for Excellence is a college scholarship.