Gertrude Hall Brownell Collection of Viola Roseboro' Correspondence

Viola Roseboro' was born in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1858, daughter of the Reverend S.R. Roseboro' and Martha Colyar. Roseboro' attended Fairmont College in Monteagle, TN and worked as a stage actress before settling in New York around 1882 to begin a career in newspapers and magazines as a freelance writer and reader.

Roseboro' joined the staff of McClure's Magazine, a monthly periodical publishing literary and political content, as a manuscript reader in 1893 before becoming the fiction editor for the magazine. As editor, Roseboro' was known for her talent in selecting and publishing unknown authors, such as O. Henry, Jack London, Will Cather.

Roseboro's first collection of short stories, "Old Ways and New" was published in 1892. “The Joyous Heart,” a novel, was published in 1903, followed by another collection of short stories, “Players and Vagabonds,” published in 1904. “Storms of Youth,” Roseboro’s final novel, was published in 1920. Roseboro’ also published numerous short stories and articles in various magazines.

Roseboro' and Gertrude Hall Brownell (nicknamed Kitty) first met at an afternoon reception at the Barnard Club in New York City in 1900 and remained close friends and correspondents until Roseboro's death in 1945 in Staten Island, NY.

Gertrude Hall Brownell was a poet and author, born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1863. Hall Brownell married William Crary Brownell (AC 1871) in 1921 and died in 1961.

Citations:
Viola Roseboro' obituary. New York Times, January 30, 1945.
McClure, S.S. "My Autobiography" McClure Publications, 1913.