Page:The part taken by women in American history.djvu/832

Rh most distinguished American actors have appeared in her plays, the best known of which are, "Brother John," "His Wife's Father," and "A Bachelor's Romance." Miss Morton was the first vice-president of the Society of Dramatic Authors. Off the stage she is Mrs. Herman Conheim, and is one of the most popular dramatists in New York City.

Another successful prize winner, who ultimately made this her profession, was Mrs. Martha Fletcher Bellinger, a graduate of Mount Holyoke. The title of her scenario was "A Woman's Sphere."

Mrs. Mary Rider Mechtold, also a college woman and successful winner of newspaper prizes, wrote her first plays when she was still a student at the Chicago University. She is the author of a clever play, "The Little Lady."

The thousand-dollar prize offered by the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in England a year or two ago was won by an American woman, Josephine Preston Peabody. The contest for the best play in English verse dealing with a romantic subject was won by a graduate of Radcliffe. It is said that this college has long been famous for its unusually clever plays, in which its students take part.

Beulah Dix is also a graduate of Radcliffe. She was author of "Hugh Gwyeth." She collaborated with Evelyn Greenleaf in a number of successful plays, "The Rose o' Plymouth Town," and "The Road to Yesterday."

Another Radcliffe graduate, who has become a successful playwright, is Agnes Morgan, who wrote "When Two Write History."

Another is Rebecca Lane Hooper. Miss Hooper not only stages these performances herself, but has often played comedy roles.

The exception to the rule of directors for theatrical performances, which are usually men, is Miss Edith Ellis, author