With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Lois L. Lenski
Illustration, Children's Literature
1893 – 1974
Recipient of a Newbery Honor Award and Newbery Medal, Lenski was a prolific author, publishing approximately 100 children’s books throughout her 40 year career.
- Biography/Description of Work
Lois Lenski was born in 1893 to Richard Charles Henry Lenski and Marietta “Mary” Young. She was one of five children and grew up in a small town in rural Ohio. Her experiences as a child would later become an inspiration in the children’s books she wrote and illustrated. In 1915, Lenski graduated from Ohio State University where she received an education degree. While there, she took many art classes and served as the art editor of the university yearbook. After she graduated, she continued her art training at the Art Students League in New York and at Westminster Art School in London. It was in London where she began her career as an illustrator, illustrating three books for publisher John Lane. Lenski returned to the United States in 1921 and married Arthur Covey, who she met in New York City. In 1929 their son, Stephen Covey, was born and the family moved to Harwinton. Lenski illustrated books for other authors until 1927 when she wrote and illustrated her own children’s book, “Skipping Village.” A year later she wrote and illustrated another children’s book, “A Little Girl of 1900.” Both books were based on Lenski’s childhood experiences of growing up in a small rural community. Her first historical fiction book written for young adults was published in 1935 and was called, “Phebe Fairchild, Her Book.” In 1942, Lenski received the Newbery Honor Award for “Indian Captive,” a book that is still in print today; she received a Newbery Medal in 1946 for “Strawberry Girl,” part of the series Lenski called “Regionals.” In the 1950s, the Coveys moved to Florida, where Arthur Covey died ten years later. In 1967, Lenski created the Lois Lenski Covey Foundation “with the goals of giving back to children, who gave her so much throughout her life and career.” (The Lois Lenski Foundation 2016). Lois Lenski died in 1974 at the age of 80.
- Sources view
- University of Southern Mississippi - http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/degrum/public_html/html/research/findaids/lenski.htm – accessed 1/12/2016. The Lois Lenski Covey Foundation - http://www.loislenskicovey.org/ - accessed 1/12/2016. Ancestry.com - http://person.ancestry.com/tree/12290430/person/13124885417/facts – accessed 1/12/2016. Roger Plaskett - Municipal Historian for the Town of Harwinton
- Associated Resource(s)