Jennie Ellis Keysor

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Jennie Ellis Keysor
B&W portrait photo of a young woman with hair in an up-do, wearing a checkered blouse with a high-necked white lace collar.
Portrait from A Woman of the Century
Born
Jennie Ellis

March 1, 1860
Austin, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedMay 16, 1945
Kirkwood, Missouri, U.S.
Occupations
  • educator
  • writer
Known forAdult education

Jennie Ellis Keysor (1860–1945) was an American pioneer in adult education and author of children's books on American literature and art topics.[1][2][3] In Omaha, Nebraska, she served on the Board of Lady Managers for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition and led the Art Department of the city's Woman's Club.

Early life and education[edit]

Jennie Ellis was born on March 1, 1860, in Austin, Minnesota.[1] Her parents, Allen Valois Ellis (1834–1909) and Helen (Quain) Ellis (1839–1917), were early pioneers of that city.[4] Jennie's siblings were Gertrude, Mattie, Kit, Charles, and Sidney.[5]

She was a high-school graduate of 1878. Immediately, Keysor began teaching in a district school, riding nearly 4 miles (6.4 km) on horseback daily and using the long ride in the study of English literature. She was graduated from the Winona Normal School in 1879.[1]

Career[edit]

In 1879, she was appointed to a position in the Austin school. She soon accepted the charge of the preparatory department of United States history, or civil government, of the Southern Minnesota Normal College.[1]

In 1882–83,[6] she completed in Wellesley College her course in English literature, history and Anglo-Saxon.[1]

Keysor again occupied a position in the Winona Normal School, having charge of the department of English literature and rhetoric.[1]

She resigned in 1884,[6] when she married William Winchester Keysor (1852–1922), an attorney of Omaha, Nebraska, who became a district judge.[1] For many years, he served as a professor in the Washington University School of Law.[7]

Keysor wrote more than 40 art texts and reading books for the public schools.[6] She was also a book reviewer,[8] writer for the Popular Educator, and frequent contributor to other periodicals.[1]

(1899)

In 1888, she went abroad, visiting England and Scotland.[1]

In 1897, she served on the Board of Lady Managers for the Trans-Mississippi Exposition (Omaha, Nebraska, 1898).[9] Keysor was a member of the Omaha Woman's Club, and led its Art Department, which had a membership of nearly 100 in 1898. In this department, Keysor gave a series of stereopticon lectures on art and architecture.[10]

Death[edit]

Jennie Ellis Keysor died in Kirkwood, Missouri, May 16, 1945. She was survived by a son, Harold C. Keysor.[8]

Selected works[edit]

  • Sketches of American Authors, vol. 2, 1895 (text)
  • Great Artists, Vol. 1: Raphael, Rubens, Murillo, and Durer, 1899 (text); Vol. 2, 1903; Vol. 3, 1899; Vol. 4, 1901
  • Story of Great Musicians[11]
  • Introduction and explanatory notes to Sesame and lilies; two lectures on books and reading, by John Ruskin, 1906 (text)

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Willard, Frances Elizabeth; Livermore, Mary Ashton Rice (1893). "KEYSOR, Mrs. Jennie Ellis". A Woman of the Century: Fourteen Hundred-seventy Biographical Sketches Accompanied by Portraits of Leading American Women in All Walks of Life. Charles Wells Moulton. p. 435. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Mrs. Jennie E. Keysor Dies, Author of Children's Books". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 17 May 1945. p. 17. Retrieved 25 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Mrs. Jennie Keysor Led in Adult Study". Evening World-Herald. 1 June 1945. p. 13. Retrieved 25 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Jennie Ellis Keysor Dies in Missouri; Native of Austin". The Austin Daily Herald. 17 May 1945. p. 13. Retrieved 25 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Jennie Ellis Female 12 March 1860 – 16 May 1945". www.familysearch.org. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  6. ^ a b c "Wellesley in the World of Letters. Part 1". Wellesley Magazine. Vol. 20, no. 10. Wellesley College. December 1911. p. 19. Retrieved 25 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ^ Washington University (1921). Publications: Washington University record. Saint Louis, Mo. p. 37. Retrieved 25 December 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  8. ^ a b "Jennie Ellis Keysor". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. 17 May 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 25 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Women have a share in the management of the Omaha Exposition". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 19 December 1897. p. 10. Retrieved 25 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  10. ^ "The Omaha Woman's Club". Omaha World-Herald. 8 October 1899. p. 19. Retrieved 25 December 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  11. ^ The Rocky Mountain Educator. Vol. 13. 1906. p. 99. Retrieved 25 December 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links[edit]

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