Helen Knipe Carpenter facts for kids

Helen Knipe Carpenter (born December 6, 1881 – died February 15, 1959) was a talented artist and writer from the early 1900s. She was well-known for her beautiful Art Nouveau style illustrations and for turning popular stage plays into exciting novels.

Who Was Helen Knipe Carpenter?

Helen Alden Knipe was born on December 6, 1881, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her grandfather was the famous novelist T. S. Arthur. Helen loved art and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. There, she learned from important artists like William Merritt Chase, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, and Thomas Pollock Anshutz.

On June 1, 1907, Helen married Edward Childs Carpenter. He was also a writer, a playwright (someone who writes plays), and a director. They lived and worked together in Philadelphia for many years. During the summers, they would often visit Connecticut.

Helen's artistic career lasted from the late Art Nouveau period until the 1940s. Art Nouveau was a popular art style in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It used flowing lines, natural shapes, and often featured flowers and plants.

Her Creative Works

Helen Knipe Carpenter was active as both an illustrator and an author. She helped bring stories to life with her drawings and also wrote her own books.

Books She Illustrated

Helen created illustrations for several books. Often, she worked alongside another talented illustrator, Elenore Plaisted Abbott. Here are some of the books she illustrated:

• 1906: Your Health by Idelle Phelps
• 1907: Jack, the Giant Killer, Jr. by Dwight Burroughs (with Elenore Plaisted Abbott)
• 1908: The Land of Never Was, Being the Adventures of Great-A, Little-a, and Bouncing B by Millicent Olmsted (with Elenore Plaisted Abbott)
• 1909: The Land of Really True, Being the Everyday Life of Great-A, Little-a, and Bouncing B by Millicent Olmsted (with Elenore Plaisted Abbott)
• 1911: The Magical Man of Mirth by Elbridge Hosmer Sabin (with Elenore Plaisted Abbott)
• 1911: Queen of the City of Mirth by Elbridge Hosmer Sabin (with Elenore Plaisted Abbott)
• 1920: A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne (with Elenore Plaisted Abbott)

Books She Wrote

Helen also wrote her own books, often adapting popular stage plays into novels. She even wrote a play herself.

• 1916: The Cinderella Man, A Romance of Youth (a novel based on a play by her husband, Edward Childs Carpenter)
• 1932: Whistling in the Dark (a novel based on a play by Laurence Gross and Edward Childs Carpenter)
• 1942: Shylock's Daughter (a play she wrote with Edward Childs Carpenter)

Later Life

Helen Knipe Carpenter passed away on February 15, 1959, in Litchfield, Connecticut. She and her husband, Edward Childs Carpenter, are buried together in Town Hill Cemetery in New Hartford, Connecticut.