Alice Hegan Rice
WKU’s Special Collections Library has contributed a photo of author Alice Hegan Rice to an upcoming exhibit at Louisville’s Speed Museum relating to its founder, Hattie Bishop Speed.
A lifelong resident of Louisville, Alice Hegan Rice (1870-1942) published many popular novels and stories, but it was Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1901), inspired by her experiences working with the city’s underprivileged, that made her famous. Selling 650,000 copies in its first two years, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch generated numerous stage, screen and radio adaptations and brought notoriety to Louisville’s Cabbage Patch district and to Mary Bass, a resident of the area who was the model for “Mrs. Wiggs.”
Rice and her husband Cale Young Rice (1872-1943), himself an author, dramatist and poet, enjoyed a personal and professional partnership that lasted more than 40 years and brought them into contact with such early 20th-century notables as Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Ida Tarbell, Henry Watterson and Theodore Roosevelt.
We hold a large collection of correspondence, manuscripts, clippings and scrapbooks relating to the life and career of both Alice Hegan Rice and Cale Young Rice. A finding aid can be downloaded here.
Wow, what a handsome woman. For real.
Thanks to the library archive group who preserve this wonderful part of our culture and society.
This was a new information for me: “Rice and her husband Cale Young Rice (1872-1943), himself an author, dramatist and poet, enjoyed a personal and professional partnership that lasted more than 40 years and brought them into contact with such early 20th-century notables as Mark Twain, Edith Wharton, Ida Tarbell, Henry Watterson and Theodore Roosevelt.”
Thanks a lot
Alice Hegan Rice, also known as Alice Caldwell Hegan, (January 11, 1870 – February 10, 1942) was an American novelist.
Born in Shelbyville, Kentucky, she wrote over two dozen books, the most famous of which is Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. The book was a best seller in 1902 and is set in Louisville, Kentucky where she then lived. It was made into a successful play in 1903, and there were three Hollywood movie versions of it. The best known is the 1934 film that starred Pauline Lord and W. C. Fields.
Hegan was married to poet and dramatist Cale Young Rice. The house they lived in at 1444 St. James Court is still standing. She was a niece of author Frances Little.
Several of Alice Rice’s earlier works were translated into German, French, Danish, and Swedish, and three (Mrs. Wiggs, Mr. Opp, and the Romance of Billy-Goat Hill) were dramatized. Both before and after she became a novelist she was favorably known also for short stories contributed to the magazines.
Her other earlier titles were:
* Lovey Mary (1903)
* Sandy (1905)
* Captain June (1907)
* Mr. Opp (1909)
* A Romance of Billy-Goat Hill (1912)
* The Honorable Percival (1914)
She died at her home in Louisville in 1942.
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Always interesting to read the history of remarkable people…Thanks for the posts….Jenny
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I think the graphics are fine…it’s meant to look like that….Jenny
Thanks to the library archive group who preserve this wonderful part of our culture and society.
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I read “Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch” – very interesting and impressive in ideas!
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One of the brilliant and remarkable authors of her time, her works were considered by many writers as a benchmark for writing.
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