Belle Willey Gue

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Belle Willey Gue, The American, 1921

Ruth Belle Willey Gue (April 8, 1860 – October 23, 1944) was an American writer and clubwoman, based in San Diego in later life. She wrote poetry, stories, and articles for magazines and newspapers, and published about a dozen books.

Early life and education[edit]

Ruth Belle Willey was born on April 8, 1860, in Inland, Cedar County, Iowa, the daughter of Ward Willis Willey and Sarah Jennie Russel Willey.[1] She graduated from Oberlin College in 1882[1][2]

Career[edit]

Gue's poems and stories appeared in the Los Angeles Times,[3] The Cosmopolitan,[4] Outdoor Life[5][6] The Kindergarten Primary Magazine,[7] and Overland Monthly.[8][9][10][11] She also published about a dozen books, including historical fiction,[12][13] dramas,[14] and collections of verse. "Mrs. Gue undoubtedly has the poetic instinct and understands the art of versification," noted a 1905 reviewer in Nebraska, "but no one but a martyr or most intimate friend would want to read more than two of her eighty-four short poems at one sitting. There isn't a gleam of joy in the whole book – it is simply saturated sombreness."[15]

In 1901, Gue was founding president of the Winside Woman's Club in Nebraska.[16] In 1918, she wrote the lyrics for "Our Golden State", an entry in a patriotic song contest during World War I.[17] She also wrote the lyrics of "The Elm Trees of Oberlin", which was sung at an alumni association event in San Diego in 1924.[18] She was a member of the San Diego Writers' Club,[19] California Writers Club, and the Oberlin Alumni Association.[1]

Personal life[edit]

She moved to California in 1913 and lived in San Diego. She married her cousin Willey Merrill Gue in 1885;[1] They divorced in 1910, and he died in 1922. She died on October 23, 1944, and her grave is in San Diego.

Publications[edit]

  • Interludes: verses (1899)[20]
  • An American (1921)[21]
  • Grounded (1922)[22]
  • The Neutral Ground (1922)[23]
  • The Last Ditch (1923)[24]
  • The Fugitives (1923)[25]
  • George Washington (1924, drama)[14]
  • The Greatest Good (1926)[13]
  • Some Human Hearts
  • Songs and Sonnets of the Sea (1927, verse)[26]
  • Washington, The Statesman (drama) (1928)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A (1928). Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America. p. 50. Retrieved 8 August 2017.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "News of the Alumni". Oberlin Alumni Magazine. 20 (3): 27. December 1923.
  3. ^ Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1926, and Year Book of American Poetry. W.S. Braithwaite. 1926. pp. 40, 178–179.
  4. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (February 1892). "Safe". The Cosmopolitan. 12 (4) – via 470.
  5. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (January 1918). "Helping Him to Help Himself". Outdoor Life. 41 (1): 35.
  6. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (July 1918). "Nimrod's Brother". Outdoor Life. 42 (1): 19–22.
  7. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (December 1918). "The Flag of our Republic". The Kindergarten-Primary Magazine. 31 (4): 108.
  8. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (October 1918). "At Her Door". Overland Monthly. 71 (4): 445–448.
  9. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (January 1919). "A Native of the Western Sea". The Overland Monthly. 73 (1): 51–53.
  10. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (July 1920). "The Ivy Clings". Overland Monthly. 76 (1): 93.
  11. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (October 1924). "Nine Points in the Law". Overland Monthly. 82 (10): 464–465, 479.
  12. ^ Russell, Fred H. (1924-04-24). "Literary Saunterings". Rutland Daily Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "American Family Pictured in Book". Sunday Times Democrat. 1926-10-31. p. 6. Retrieved 2022-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b Gue, Belle Willey (1924). George Washington: A drama. The Library of Congress. Boston, The Four seas company.
  15. ^ Whose Who (1905-05-19). "Embryonic Wayne". Wayne News. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Club Birthday is Noted by Women". The Wayne Herald. 1931-06-18. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "New Song is Work of Local Writers". San Diego Union and Daily Bee. November 10, 1918. p. 1. Retrieved December 23, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  18. ^ "San Diego Chapter". Oberlin Alumni Magazine. 20 (7): 26. April 1924 – via Internet Archive.
  19. ^ "Ballad, Playwright, Short Story Read by Writers". San Diego Union and Daily Bee. October 9, 1920. p. 8. Retrieved December 23, 2022 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  20. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (1899). Interludes; verses. Chicago: The Household realm press.
  21. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (1921). "An American". Project Gutenberg. Boston: Gorham Press. Retrieved 2022-12-23.
  22. ^ Gue, Belle Willey; Dorrance & Company (1922). Grounded. Philadelphia: Dorrance.
  23. ^ Gue, Belle Willey; Felter, John D.; Stratford Company (1922). The neutral ground. Boston, Massachusetts: The Stratford Company.
  24. ^ Gue, Belle Willey (1923). The last ditch. Boston, Mass.: Stratford Company.
  25. ^ Gue, Belle Willey; Dorrance & Company (1923). The fugitives. Philadelphia: Dorrance.
  26. ^ "Review of New Books". The News Journal. 1928-01-28. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-12-23 – via Newspapers.com.

External links[edit]

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