Ellen Tarry
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Brief Biography
Ellen Tarry was a native of Birmingham, Alabama. After graduating from the State Normal School (now Alabama State University) in Montgomery, Tarry taught for several years in Birmingham while also writing for The Birmingham Truth. In 1929, she relocated to New York City, where she became involved in the Negro Writers' Guild and worked for the Federal Writers Project. Her experiences volunteering at Friendship House, a Catholic interracial outreach center in Harlem, influenced her writing, inspiring two children’s books. Over the years, she continued writing children’s books and branched out to write biographies and an autobiography. She was also a civil rights activist and participated in the 1963 March on Washington and the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery. Tarry wrote children’s books late into her life and died in New York City in 2008.
Publications
Janie Belle. New York; Garden City Publishing, 1940.
Hezekiah Horton. New York; Viking, 1942.
My Dog Rinty. New York; The Viking Press, 1946; new edition, 1964.
The Runaway Elephant. New York; The Viking Press, 1950.
The Third Door; the Autobiography of an American Negro Woman. New York; McKay, 1955; reprinted, Alabama; University of Alabama Press, 1993.
Katharine Drexel; Friend of the Neglected. New York; Farrar, Straus, 1958.
Martin de Porres, Saint of the New World. New York; Vision Books, 1963.
Young Jim; the Early Years of James Weldon Johnson. New York; Dodd, 1967.
The Other Toussaint. Boston; St. Paul Editions, 1981.
Pierre Toussaint; Apostle of Old New York. Virginia; Pauline Books, 1998.
Hezekiah Horton. New York; Viking, 1942.
My Dog Rinty. New York; The Viking Press, 1946; new edition, 1964.
The Runaway Elephant. New York; The Viking Press, 1950.
The Third Door; the Autobiography of an American Negro Woman. New York; McKay, 1955; reprinted, Alabama; University of Alabama Press, 1993.
Katharine Drexel; Friend of the Neglected. New York; Farrar, Straus, 1958.
Martin de Porres, Saint of the New World. New York; Vision Books, 1963.
Young Jim; the Early Years of James Weldon Johnson. New York; Dodd, 1967.
The Other Toussaint. Boston; St. Paul Editions, 1981.
Pierre Toussaint; Apostle of Old New York. Virginia; Pauline Books, 1998.
Themes
Ellen Tarry was a writer of young adult biographies, children's books, feature stories, and an autobiography. Her works feature themes like Catholicism and Black heritage.
Publisher
Alabama Authors of the 19th and 20th Centuries, edited by Beverley Park Rilett, http://AlabamaAuthors.org
Collection
Citation
Tarry, Ellen, “Ellen Tarry,” Alabama Authors of the 19th & 20th Centuries, accessed September 19, 2024, https://alabamaauthors.org/items/show/663.