Alice Dougan Donovan
{{short description|American writer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alice Dougan Donovan
| image = AliceDouganDonovan1902.png
| alt = A young white woman with dark hair
| caption = Alice Dougan (later Donovan), from the 1902 yearbook of the University of Minnesota
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = August 16, 1880
| birth_place = Saint Paul, Minnesota
| death_date = March 28, 1971 (aged 90)
| death_place = Minneapolis, Minnesota
| occupation = Actress, poet, writer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| children = 3, including Hedley Donovan
| relatives =
}}
Alice Dougan Donovan (August 16, 1880 – March 28, 1971) was an American actress, clubwoman, and writer. She taught writing in Minnesota, and wrote poems and plays.
Early life
Alice Dougan was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Hedley Vicars Dougan and Mollie Knox Dougan.{{Cite news |date=1950-11-01 |title=Mrs. Mollie Knox Dougan |pages=19 |work=Star Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105396334/mrs-mollie-knox-dougan/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her father was from Canada. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1902.University of Minnesota. [https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/14/digital_objects/8462 The Gopher] 15(1902): 44. She wrote the song "Sisters Let Us Sing Again" for her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma.{{Citation |title=Songs of Kappa Kappa Gamma Fraternity. |date=1916 |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20611731 |language=English |oclc=20611731 |access-date=2022-07-11}}
Career
Donovan taught school as a young woman.{{Cite news |date=1971-03-30 |title=Mrs. Percy W. Donovan |pages=19 |work=Star Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105380355/mrs-percy-w-donovan/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} She appeared in three silent films: The Greater Call (1910), Taming a Tyrant (1911), and A Leap Year Elopement (1912). She taught creative writing classes,{{Cite news |date=1934-04-08 |title=College Clubs to Read Work of Pen Section |pages=55 |work=Star Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105380112/college-clubs-to-read-work-of-pen/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} and wrote short stories, poems, and plays, many of them for school or community use,{{Cite journal |last=Donovan |first=Alice D. |date=2008-07-01 |title=Public Library, c 1926 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/01616840802229511 |journal=Public Library Quarterly |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=242–243 |doi=10.1080/01616840802229511 |s2cid=31419690 |issn=0161-6846}} including Meeting to Music (a "musical burlesque" set at a women's club) and Rummage to Rhythm (another "musical burlesque", set at a rummage sale). She was active in the Minneapolis College Women's Club{{Cite news |date=1937-04-25 |title=Mrs. Percy Donovan on Forum Program |pages=60 |work=Star Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105380856/mrs-percy-donovan-on-forum-program/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1937-04-28 |title=Mrs. Percy Donovan Gives Review |pages=13 |work=The Minneapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105395724/mrs-percy-donovan-gives-review/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1936-05-09 |title=School and College Groups Active |pages=30 |work=The Minneapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105395853/school-and-college-groups-active/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} and in the Minnesota branch of the National League of American Pen Women.{{Cite news |date=1947-10-30 |title=State Pen Women Note 20th Anniversary |pages=13 |work=Star Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105380251/state-pen-women-note-20th-anniversary/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Publications
- Meeting to Music (play, 1933, with Henrietta Kessenich){{Cite book |last1=Donovan |first1=Alice D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18761975 |title="Meeting to music," a musical burlesque on a woman's club meeting |last2=Kessenich |first2=Henrietta |date=1933 |publisher=Northwestern Press |location=Minneapolis, Minn. |language=English |oclc=18761975}}
- Rummage to Rhythm (play, 1934, with Henrietta Kessenich){{Cite book |last1=Donovan |first1=Alice D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18761985 |title="Rummage to rhythm", a musical burlesque on a rummage sale |last2=Kessenich |first2=Henrietta |date=1934 |publisher=Northwestern Press |location=Minneapolis, Minn. |language=English |oclc=18761985}}
- Music at the Crossroads (play, 1935){{Cite book |last=Donovan |first=Alice D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/4817485 |title=Music at the crossroads: a one-act farce introducing musical features |date=1935 |language=English |oclc=4817485}}
- Miss Westfield High (play, 1940){{Cite book |last=Donovan |first=Alice D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18778213 |title=Miss Westfield High, a comedy in three acts |date=1940 |publisher=The Northwestern Press |location=Minneapolis, Minn. |language=English |oclc=18778213}}
- Music on the Menu (play, 1941){{Cite book |last=Donovan |first=Alice D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18761980 |title=Music on the menu, a comedy in two scenes, with musical interludes |date=1941 |publisher=The Northwestern Press |location=Minneapolis, Minn. |language=English |oclc=18761980}}
- Ring in the New (play, 1941){{Cite book |last=Donovan |first=Alice D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18761990 |title=Ring in the new; a drama in one act |date=1941 |publisher=The Northwestern Press |location=Minneapolis, Minn. |language=English |oclc=18761990}}
- A Sitter for Sonny (play, 1950){{Cite book |last=Donovan |first=Alice D |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18761995 |title=A sitter for Sonny, a comedy in one act. |date=1950 |publisher=Northwestern Press |location=Minneapolis |language=English |oclc=18761995}}
Personal life
Dougan married mining engineer Percy Williams Donovan in 1910.{{Cite news |date=1910-06-20 |title=Donovan-Dougan Nuptials |pages=3 |work=The Brainerd Daily Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105380461/donovan-dougan-nuptials/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1960-06-24 |title=Percy Donovans to Mark 50th Anniversary |pages=12 |work=Star Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105396020/percy-donovans-to-mark-50th-anniversary/ |access-date=2022-07-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} They had three children,{{Cite web |title=Collection: Hedley Donovan papers |url=https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/14/resources/5833 |access-date=2022-07-11 |website=University of Minnesota Archival Collections Guides}} including son Hedley Donovan, who became a noted journalist and editor.{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Alex S. |date=1990-08-14 |title=Hedley Donovan Is Dead at 76; Retired Chief Editor of Time Inc. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/14/obituaries/hedley-donovan-is-dead-at-76-retired-chief-editor-of-time-inc.html |access-date=2022-07-10 |issn=0362-4331}} They were still married when she died in 1971, in Minneapolis, at the age of 90.{{Cite news |date=1971-03-30 |title=Alice Dougan Donovan, Wrote Poems and Plays |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/03/30/archives/alice-dougan-donovan-wrote-poems-and-plays.html |access-date=2022-07-11 |issn=0362-4331}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1366817}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dougan Donovan, Alice}}
Category:20th-century American women writers
Category:American women dramatists and playwrights
Category:American film actresses
Category:American silent film actresses
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:University of Minnesota alumni