Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          26 Apr 1897 New Brunswick, N.J.
Death:          29 Sep 1997 Virginia Beach, Va.

Notes
1981 book:
	Edith writes children's books that she illustrates herself. She also is a 
talented musician. Edith is not married.
	In 1981, Edith lived at 214 70th St., Virginia Beach, Va. 23451.
Source: Warren, Reflections, p. 50; Edith Price (her)
obituary in Virginia-Pilot 1 Oct 1997
1910 in Newport, R.I.
1920 in Newport, R.I. author and illustrator of own books
1930 in Newport, R.I. illustrator and writer
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/exhibits/childrenslit/ebprice.html
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edith Ballinger Price 
Edith Ballinger Price was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on April 26, 1897, the 
daughter of Eleanor French Richards Price and William Farmer Price. Influenced by 
her grandfather, landscape painter William Trost Richards, she started drawing at an 
early age and filled many notebooks with lively illustrations of scenes from books she 
read and the world around her. As a teenager Price studied at the School of the 
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and later at the New York Art Students League and the 
National Academy of Design.

In 1918 Price submitted a story, "Blue Magic," to St. Nicholas magazine for children. 
The story was accepted for publication in the magazine and in 1920 was published in 
book form. The success of this first story encouraged the author to keep writing and 
many stories and eighteen books eventually followed. Price's serials, short stories, 
poetry, and illustrations were published in such magazines as Collier's, The Portal, and 
Youth's Companion. Though Price's primary interest and love was for illustration, her 
publishers often hired other artists to illustrate her stories. This apparently still rankled 
many years later because the artist mentioned it more than once in her letters to 
Special Collections.

Edith Ballinger Price was interested in Girl Scouting and was instrumental in starting 
the Brownie Scouts program in the United States. She was the national chair or "Great 
Brown Owl" of the Brownies from 1925 to 1932. She wrote the first Brownie handbook 
as well as stories for Girl Scout magazines

In the early 1920s Price adopted Burchey May Perry, a child of two who had been 
born without sight. This daughter was Price's companion and primary interest 
throughout the rest of her life. My Lady Lee, published in 1925, is a fictionalized 
account of their early years together.

Ms. Price lived for many years in Newport, Rhode Island, and taught artistic anatomy 
at the school of the Art Association of Newport, of which she was a council member 
for twenty-eight years. In 1962 Price moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia, where she 
worked at A.R.E. Press, a publisher of the works of psychic Edgar Cayce.

Edith Ballinger Price died in Virginia Beach on September 29, 1997, at the age of one 
hundred.
 

Edith Ballinger Price   Elizabeth Orton Jones   Virginia Lee Burton
Kurt Werth Gallery   Children's Literature Page   Special Collections

http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/exhibits/childrenslit/ebprice.html 
Last revision: 4/23/04 by N. Helmer
Created for Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries

Parents
PRICE William Farmer (12 Aug 1860 - 24 Aug 1937)
RICHARDS Eleanor French (10 May 1862 - 2 Aug 1954)

Siblings
PRICE William Theodore Richards (1 May 1885 - Apr 1970)
PRICE Charles Matlack (31 May 1887 - 29 Apr 1962)
PRICE Dorothy (15 Oct 1890 - 22 Jul 1891)
PRICE Geoffrey (16 Nov 1895 - 7 Jan 1896)
PRICE Edith Ballinger (26 Apr 1897 - 29 Sep 1997)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 2/10/2021