Anna Beecroft Briggs

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Anna Beecroft Briggs (1860s-1949) was a Canadian-born American writer of plays and educational articles. Born in Greenbank, Ontario, Canada, she initially pursued a career as an organist and choir leader before deafness caused her to transition to writing. Briggs edited the Canadian Ladies' Home Journal and was a prolific contributor of essays, articles, and verse to American journals such as Good Housekeeping and the Ladies' Home Journal . After relocating to Los Angeles, California, she turned her civic interests to prison reform and crime detection, which she incorporated into several of her later plays, including The Jury Deliberates. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Anna Beecroft was born in Greenbank, [3] Ontario, Canada, in the 1860s. [a] Her parents were Alvary and Margaret Beecroft. [1] [2] Briggs grew up in Saintfield. [4]

She was educated in public schools. [2] Having musical talents, she toured her local district with singing schools. [4]

Career

Deciding to become a music teacher, [4] for many years in her early career, Briggs was an organist and choir leader. [1]

Unable to continue as a music teacher after becoming deaf, she turned her attention to writing. [4] In the late 1890s, Briggs forged her writing career as editor of the Canadian Ladies' Home Journal, while also contributing poems and articles to magazines. [4] Briggs contributed essays, editorials, special articles and verse to several American journals, including Good Housekeeping, Ladies' Home Journal, Progress Magazine, Canadian Magazine, Mind, and Boston Brown Book. [1] [2] She was a prolific writer of letters, including state governors and U.S. presidents such as Woodrow Wilson. [4]

It is a hopeful sign of the times that the number Is slowly but surely increasing who believe that society can best protect itself by the application of science, Christian ethics, and a study of human nature in restoring and lifting up the fallen and that there is no justification for depriving them of life or even of 'liberty and the pursuit of happiness' to the extent now practiced especially in the treatment of youthful offenders." (Anna B. Briggs, Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, 1927) [5]

Her civic interests turned to prisoner rights, prison reform, and crime detection. [4] These topics were woven into several of her plays, including Courts of Injustice (1916), [6] The Jury Deliberates (one-act play, 1925) [7] The Vanishing Jury (1929), [8] Sensations, [9] and Heart Beats (1942). Heart Beats gave rise to several Hollywood actors. [4]

Briggs was a member of the Southern California Woman's Press Club, where she won first prize in its contest for one act plays in 1927 and 1928. [1] She was also a member of the Verse Writers Club, Drama League, and Playcrafters. [1] [2]

Personal life

In 1892, she married D. Leslie Briggs, [2] who kept a store in Myrtle, Ontario. [4] They had two children. [1]

A few years after marriage, the couple relocated to Toronto, with Mr. Briggs entering the seed business with a brother. Mrs. Briggs became deaf around this time and learned to lip read. [4] In 1914, [3] for health reasons, she removed to Los Angeles, California, her husband joining later. [4] [1]

During a European tour, she met Bernard Shaw. [4]

Anna Beecroft Briggs died at her home in Los Angeles, on September 7, 1949; internment was at Forest Lawn. [3] [b]

Selected works

Notes

  1. ↑ Winter (1978) records Anna's year of birth as 1860. [4] Lawrence (1927) records that she was born in Toronto, Canada, on March 15, 1864. [2] Binheim (1928) records her birth being in Canada, on March 15, 1865. [1]
  2. ↑ Whitby (1978) gave Anna's age at time of death as 89, [4] while her Los Angeles Times obituary recorded her as being 87. [3]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A. (1928). Women of the West: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Living Eminent Women in the Eleven Western States of the United States of America. Publishers Press. p. 27. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Wikisource.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lawrence, Alberta (1927). Who's who Among North American Authors. Golden Syndicate Publishing Company. p. 994. Retrieved 18 January 2025.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Mrs. Anna E. Briggs". The Los Angeles Times. 10 September 1949. p. 8. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Winter, Brian (1 March 1978). "Historical Whitby". Whitby Free Press. p. 7. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via vitacollections.ca.
  5. ↑ "Modern attitude toward crime". Los Angeles Evening Post-Record. 28 January 1927. p. 16. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ↑ "Courts of Injustice". Los Angeles Evening Express. 22 May 1916. p. 14. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  7. ↑ "Dinner of Opera Club". The Los Angeles Times. 24 April 1925. p. 23. Archived from the original on 20 January 2025. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  8. ↑ "Members of Audience Act as Play Jury". Los Angeles Evening Express. 24 January 1929. p. 14. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  9. ↑ "At the regular meeting of the Playcrafters". Los Angeles Evening Express. 18 July 1924. p. 6. Retrieved 18 January 2025– via Newspapers.com.PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
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