======================================================================
=                          Helen_Gray_Cone                           =
======================================================================

                            Introduction
======================================================================
Helen Gray Cone (March 8, 1859 - January 31, 1934) was a poet and
professor of English literature.  She spent her entire career at
Hunter College in New York City.


                      Early life and education
======================================================================
Cone was born in New York and attended the Normal College of the City
of New York, later renamed Hunter College.  She graduated in 1876 as a
member of Phi Beta Kappa, and became an instructor in the Normal
College English department.  In the 1880s she served as president of
the Associate Alumnae of the Normal College.


                        Career and writings
======================================================================
Her first book, 'Oberon and Puck: Verses Grave and Gay' was published
by Cassell, New York, in 1885.  The 'New York Times' received it well,
saying, "Miss Cone has the rare talent of compression and the wit not
to attempt too high a flight at first." The book was reprinted by
Houghton Mifflin in 1893, after that press released her 'The Ride to
the Lady' in 1891.  She wrote fiction as well in this period,
publishing a short story in 'Harper's Magazine' in 1886.

In 1899, she was elected to the Professorship in English after the
death of her predecessor in the position.  Though the Normal College
admitted only female students at the time, Cone was the first woman to
hold a professorship there.  As sole holder of the title, she was
considered department head, a title she retained as the department
grew.

Her 'Soldiers of the Light' was published by Richard G. Badger of
Boston in 1910.  Stephenson Browne commented in the 'New York Times':
"Miss Cone refrains so steadfastly from the arts of the
self-advertiser that only those who read all the magazines know how
large is the volume of genuine poetry she annually presents in the
best of them."  A poem from the book, "The Common Street," was
published in the 'Times' the following year; it praises the sunset
which bursts suddenly into the New York landscape, turning the common
street and its denizens, "Each with his sordid burden trudging by,"
into "A golden highway into golden heaven, / With the dark shapes of
men ascending still."  Poetry collections 'A Chant of Love for
England' (New York: Dutton, 1915) and 'The Coat Without a Seam' (New
York: Dutton, 1919) followed.

In addition to poetry and fiction, she wrote literary criticism (her
1890 history of American literature was republished in a 2000
anthology), co-edited 'Pen-Portraits of Literary Women' with Jeanette
L. Gilder (New York: Cassell, 1887) and provided notes for Houghton
Mifflin's Riverside editions of Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' (1897),
'Hamlet' (1897), 'Merchant of Venice' (1900), and 'Twelfth Night'
(1901).  A volume of her selected poems was published as 'Harvest
Home' (New York: Knickerbocker Press, 1930).  She was awarded honorary
degrees by New York University in 1908 and Hunter in 1920.


                          Legacy at Hunter
======================================================================
Cone was frequently called upon to read occasional poems at college
functions, from her student days into her retirement.  She wrote the
college's alma mater.

She retired in 1926, replaced as department head by fiction writer
Blanche Colton Williams.  In 1927 a fellowship was created in Cone's
honor, through donations from students, faculty, and alumni.  As of
2020, the Helen Gray Cone Fellowship is still awarded.


                           External links
======================================================================
*[http://library.hunter.cuny.edu/old/sites/default/files/pdf/finding_aids/Helen_Gray_Cone_1859_1934.pdf
Finding Aid for Helen Gray Cone Collection, 1859-1934], Hunter College
*
**[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9559 The Ride to the Lady]
**[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73629 Oberon and Puck: Verses
grave and gay]
*
*


License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Gray_Cone