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Frances Guignard Gibbes Keith (October 12, 1870 – October 4, 1948) was an American playwright and poet. She was the first woman to enroll at South Carolina College, now named the University of South Carolina.[1]


Early life and education


Gibbes was born on October 12, 1870 in Columbia, South Carolina. Her parents were Jane Allen Mason and Wade Hampton Gibbes, and she had a brother named Frank H. Gibbes.[2][3] She grew up in the Southern United States, with ancestry from Virginia and the Carolinas. As a girl, she attended private schools.[4]

Around 1893, the South Carolina General Assembly "mandated that women should be allowed to attend [South Carolina College] as special students". Two years later, the college's Board of Trustees made the decision to allow female students into the school.[2][5] At the time, Gibbes wanted to become a writer, so she applied to South Carolina College after the general assembly passed the bill. Later that year, on September 24, 1895, Gibbes received permission to take a course.[6] [2][5]

The president of the school, James Woodrow, wrote to Gibbes' father, advising her to withdraw due to the fact that she was the only woman to have registered for classes. Woodrow further explained in his letter that faculty and students were against having women enter the college, and that it would be an uncomfortable experience if Gibbes entered the school.[6]

Gibbes decided to continue with her plans to attend the college, and became the first woman to enroll at the school. She attended classes at South Carolina College from 1895 to 1899, leaving without a degree.[2][5] Afterwards, she moved to Washington, where she lived with a friend, worked, and continued to write.[6]

Gibbes later lived in Boston, where she studied drama and poetry under Josephine Peabody.[4]


Career


Her first published work was Book of Poems, which contained 37 of her poems and was released in 1902.[2][4] The critical reception of the work was positive. Writer Maurice Egan said her work was "exquisitely musical" and stated, "No sweeter, truer renderings of the impressions made by a bird than her 'The Mocking Bird' is to be found in all American literature."[4]

After the publishing of her first work, she did not write much for the next 15 years. During that time, she worked on settling her father's estate. She also married, had a child, and recovered from an illness. In 1922, her one-act play "Jael" won the Town Theater prize in Columbia, South Carolina. A year later, she won a state-wide play competition for her one-act play "The Stranger".[7]

In 1923, she wrote a tragedy play titled "Hilda", which contained four acts and was written in blank verse.[4] The plot was set when the first Christian messenger arrived in the ancient English kingdom of Bernicia, and contained a love story with the Christian messenger's cousin, Hilda.[8][9] The work received praise from critics when it was reviewed in The London Times and American newspapers.[10]

"Hilda" also received mixed reviews. The New York Times stated that "it is worthy of more than passing attention", but that it was "a dramatic poem rather than a play, for although it is built up through scenes and acts, it lacks sufficient action for the stage."[9] The Saturday Review of Literature critiqued the work, stating that the play's "two themes are not brought to an emulsion and that is one of several reasons why, in spite of some poetic spurts, the little drama just tries and tries again to the final curtain."[8]

Gibbes' play, "The Face", was published in 1924 by Brentano's.[5][2] The play was written in blank verse, and its plot is set during the time period when Leonardo da Vinci was painting the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. The first professional production of "The Face" was held at the Palm Beach Playhouse in Palm Beach, Florida.[11] "The Face" also was produced in New York and was praised by poet Archibald Rutledge.[5][2]

Gibbes wrote two sonnets that were published by Avon House. One of her sonnets, "Articulate", was included in their books Dictionary of Modern Poets and Crown Anthology, which were published around 1938. Her sonnet titled "Royalty" was printed in Avon House's book, Outstanding Poets of 1938.[12]

Her 1946 play, "Dawn in Carolina", was set in South Carolina in the early 1600s.[5][2] She attributed her inspiration for the work to her late husband and friends who encouraged her to write about her home state.[6]


Personal life and death


Gibbes married Oscar Lovell Keith, a romance languages professor at the University of South Carolina. Their daughter, named Frances Gibbes Keith, was born in 1913.[2] Her daughter went on to become an actress, occasionally acting in her mother's plays when they were staged in South Carolina.[13]

Gibbes attended the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, South Carolina.[3] She was a member of various organizations in Columbia and the greater South Carolina area, including the Columbia Arts Association, Drama Club, Quill Club, Columbia State Society and South Carolinian Society, as well as the National Arts Club of New York. She was active in her community, and a supporter of the arts and women's suffrage.[14]

Gibbes died on October 4, 1948 at her home in Columbia. She was buried the next day at the Elmwood Cemetery.[3] In 1950, Gibbes' unpublished autobiography titled Lucy, A Novel was discovered posthumously at the University of South Carolina's library.[15]


Selected works



References


  1. "This month in SC history: Frances Gibbes is first woman to enroll at USC". Index-Journal. September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  2. Waters, Mary Baskin (May 17, 2016). "Gibbes, Frances Guignard". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina, Institute for Southern Studies. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  3. "Mrs. O. L. Keith Buried Today in Elmwood Cemetery". The Columbia Record. 5 October 1948. p. 15. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  4. Wauchope, George Armstrong (December 1, 1923). "Literary South Carolina". Bulletin of the University of South Carolina (133): 129–132. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  5. Latimer, Jr., S. L. (14 December 1958). "From Across The Editor's Desk". The State. p. 1. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  6. "Carolina's First Coed Braved Parental Disapproval, Faculty Hostility to Break Barriers". The State. 26 May 1947. p. 3. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  7. "Writers of Today in South Carolina". The State. 22 April 1934. p. 7. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  8. Canby, Henry Seidel, ed. (December 27, 1924). "The New Books: Drama". Saturday Review of Literature. 1 (22): 419.
  9. Hutchison, Percy A. (March 11, 1923). "Plays Tragical-Comical and Historical-Pastoral". New York Times. p. 34. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  10. Toler, Mainer Lee (1 March 1931). "South Carolina Author Strives For Poetic Atmosphere in Work". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 10A. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  11. "Palm Beach; Colorists Lay Plans For Trek North". New York Times. March 29, 1931. p. 170. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  12. "Again Writing Verse". The State. 22 February 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  13. "Mrs. King Makes Rapid Rise in Stage Career". The State. 14 June 1941. p. 4. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  14. Brooks, Haleigh; Anderson, Megan. "Biographical Sketch of Frances Guignard Gibbes Keith". Alexander Street. Part III: Mainstream Suffragists—National American Woman Suffrage Association. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  15. "Last of a Series: Unpublished Manuscript By Frances Keith Gives Sparkling Autobiography Of 'Lucy'". The Columbia Record. 12 October 1950. p. 7-D. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  16. Toler, Mainer Lee (28 February 1932). "Southern Woman's Manuscript Read Here Published in London". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 7M. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  17. "Another of Mrs. Keith's Plays To Be Performed". The State. 29 December 1939. p. 8-B. Retrieved 10 February 2022.



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