Kate Tannatt Woods

Kate Tannatt Woods (1838–1910) was an American author, editor, journalist, and clubwoman. She published a number of children's books and novels, and her poems, short stories, and articles were published widely in newspapers and magazines. She was the founder and first president of the Thought and Work Club of Salem, Massachusetts.

Early life and education

Kate Tannatt was born in Peekskill, New York, on December 29, 1838, to James S. Tannatt, an editor, and Mary Gilmore Tannatt. She studied at the Peekskill Seminary but had to leave due to poor health, and continued her education with private tutors. After the death of her father, her family lived briefly in New Hampshire before moving to Salem, Massachusetts. Tannatt taught for a time in the local public schools.

Tannatt published her first written work at the age of ten. Much of her early work was published under the pseudonym "Kate True."

Writing

To help support her family, Tannatt Woods published children's books, novels, travelogues, poems, short stories, and nonfiction articles. Her work appeared in periodicals such as the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, the Boston Transcript, and Harper's Bazaar, and she was an editor of the Ladies Home Journal. Her children's books include Six Little Rebels (1879), All Around a Rocking-Chair (1879), Dr. Dick (1881), Out and About (1882), The Duncans on Land and Sea (1883), Toots and His Friends (1883), and Twice Two (1883). Her novels include That Dreadful Boy (1886), The Minister's Secret (1888), Hester Hepworth (1889), A Fair Maid of Marblehead (1889), Hidden for Years (1895), and A Little New-England Maid (1895).