Elizabeth Baker Bohan

Elizabeth Baker Bohan
Photo in A Woman of the Century Photo in A Woman of the Century
Born	Elizabeth Claire Baker August 18, 1849 Birmingham, England
Died	August 27, 1930 (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	author journalist artist social reformer teacher
Nationality	British, American
Spouse	Michael Bohan ​ (m. 1872)​
Children	2 sons, 2 daughters
Signature
File:Elizabeth Baker Bohan signature.png

Elizabeth Baker Bohan (née, Baker; August 18, 1849 – August 27, 1930) was a British-born American author, journalist, artist, and social reformer. She had a special interest in the reconstruction of the penal system. She published two novels, Un Americano, a story of the mission days of California (1895) and The Drag-Net, a prison story of the present day (1909, illustrated by Langdon Smith).

Early life and education

Elizabeth Claire Baker was born in Birmingham, England, August 18, 1849. Her parents were Joseph and Martha (Boddington) Baker. They came to the United States in 1854 and lived most of the time in Wisconsin.

She received her education in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin public schools. From her earliest youth, she practiced composition. At school, she not only wrote her own essays but many for her schoolmates.

Career

For a time, Bohan worked as a teacher, and resided in West Bend, Wisconsin.

On September 2, 1872, in Milwaukee, she married Michael Bohan (b. 1832, Templemore, County Tipperary, Ireland). He was then editor of the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Journal, and previously editor of the West Bend, Democrat. The couple lived in Milwaukee with their four children, Arthur Baker, Edmonde (or Edmund) Russell, Martha Boddington, and Florence Claire. In 1894, Bohan removed to Los Angeles. Working with pencils, brushes, watercolor, and oils, she created floral still lifes, landscape paintings, portrait paintings, as well as black and white illustrations. She instructed several painters and musicians of Wisconsin.

File:Elizabeth Baker Bohan ("Los Angeles Times", 06 Oct 1912).png

1912

Her enjoyment for writing increased as she became an adult. She wrote a great numbers of poems and a still greater number of prose sketches, but offered none for publication until within the late 1880s. Thereafter, a large numbers of her poems and sketches were published in papers and magazines throughout the U.S. She wrote for the West Coast Magazine as a staff writer for at least five years, and occasionally for the Chicago Tribune, Simons' Magazine, Munsey's Magazine, Milwaukee Sentinel, The Youth's Companion, National New Thought Monthly, The Club Woman, and others. Her serial stories included "The Burro Girl", and "The Strength of the Weak".

Bohan was a lecturer to women's clubs on civic reforms, with a special interest in the reconstruction of the penal system. She worked for the establishment of municipal farms for petty offenders.

Personal life and death

Bohan was a member of the Southern California Press and the California Badger clubs. She favored woman suffrage and was a Progressive. Bohan died at her home in Los Angeles, California, August 27, 1930.

Selected works

Poems

File:Un Americano, a story of the mission days of California, by Elizabeth Baker Bohan (1895).png

Un Americano, a story of the mission days of California (1895)

• "Sunny thoughts" (1885, poem)

Novels

File:The Drag-Net by Elizabeth Baker Bohan (1909).png

The Drag-Net (1909)

• Un Americano, a story of the mission days of California (1895)
• The Drag-Net, a prison story of the present day (1909, illustrated by Langdon Smith)

Serial stories

• "The Burro Girl"
• "The Strength of the Weak"

References

Attribution

• Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain:
• Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain:
• Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain:
• Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain:
• Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain:

External links

• File:Wikisource-logo.svg Works related to Woman of the Century/Elizabeth Baker Bohan at Wikisource