Frances Hawks Cameron Burnett
{{short description|American socialite}}{{Hatnote|This article is about the American socialite and writer, born in the 1880s; for the British writer with a similar name, born in 1849, see Frances Hodgson Burnett.}}{{Infobox person
| name = Frances Hawks Cameron Burnett
| image = FrancesHawksCameronBurnett1921.png
| alt = A white woman posing in a Japanese-inspired ensemble
| caption = Frances Hawks Cameron Burnett posing in a Japanese-inspired historical ensemble, from a 1921 publication
| birth_name =
| birth_date = February 6, 1884
| birth_place = Selma, Alabama, US
| death_date = October 10, 1957
| death_place = Alexandria, Louisiana, US
| other_names =
| occupation = Socialite, political hostess, writer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Frances Hawks Cameron Burnett (February 6, 1884Some sources give her birth year as 1881. – October 10, 1957) was an American socialite and political hostess. While in Japan as a diplomat's wife, she helped to organize the Japan Humane Society and was active in supporting the Boy Scouts of Japan. She was also the first foreigner to take honors in an annual Japanese poetry competition, when she placed fourth in 1921.
Early life and education
Cameron was born in Selma, Alabama, the daughter of Francis H. Cameron and Eugenie LeGrand Weaver Cameron. Her father was a military officer.{{Cite news |date=1912-04-20 |title=Mrs. Burnett, Former Raleigh Lady, Received High Compliments for New Year Poem |pages=6 |work=The News and Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-mrs-burnett-form/135238563/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} His family, the Camerons, were prominent slaveholders in the antebellum American South,{{Cite news |date=1905-03-17 |title=They Met at Manassas; Richmond Girl Becomes Bride of An Army Officer |pages=1 |work=The Baltimore Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-baltimore-sun-they-met-at-manassas/135242419/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} and her kin on that side included judge Paul C. Cameron and Virginia governor William E. Cameron.{{Cite journal |date=May 15, 1921 |title=Five O'Clock Tidings |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Znzn0FJObwC&pg=RA3-PA44 |journal=The Spur |volume=27 |pages=44}} Her great-uncle was politician Francis L. Hawks, first president of Tulane University.
Career
Burnett lived in Japan with her diplomat husband on various assignments from 1911 to 1929, including during and after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake.{{Cite news |last=Spalding |first=Doll |date=1937-01-17 |title=Thirty Years With the Rising Sun |pages=35 |work=Chattanooga Daily Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chattanooga-daily-times-thirty-years-wit/135237861/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} Because she was recovering from spinal tuberculosis and needed physical rest, she focused on learning to speak, read and write in Japanese. {{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Elizabeth |date=1926-10-28 |title=Wife of U.S. Army Officer Best Liked Visitor in Japan |pages=16 |work=Rutland Daily Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/rutland-daily-herald-wife-of-us-army-o/135239498/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} She made literary translations and wrote original poetry in Japanese.{{Cite news |date=1925-06-12 |title=Mrs. Frances Burnett |pages=2 |work=Waterville Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/waterville-telegraph-mrs-frances-burnet/135239083/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} She helped to organize the Junior Humane Society of Tokyo, and was president of the organization.{{Cite news |date=1924-04-26 |title=Society item |pages=7 |work=Evening star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-star-society-item/135238937/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} She was the first foreigner to take honors in the Annual Imperial Poetry Reading Competition, when she placed fourth in 1921 with her poem, "Before the Shrine of Ise at Dawn".[https://books.google.com/books?id=0Znzn0FJObwC&dq=Frances+Hawks+Cameron+Burnett+Spur+1921&pg=RA3-PA44 "Society & Travel Notes"] The Spur 27(May 15, 1921): 51. In 1927 she was appointed an honorary councilor of the Boy Scouts of Japan.
Burnett decorated her Vermont summer home with Japanese art and furnishings, and wore Japanese clothing to entertain.{{Cite news |date=1931-03-31 |title=Japanese Hospitality Greets Interviewer at Fort Ethan Allen |pages=2 |work=Burlington Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/burlington-daily-news-japanese-hospitali/135196992/|via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2023-11-14}} She spoke to American audiences about Japanese culture.{{Cite journal |date=April 1916 |title=San Francisco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I4IfAAAAYAAJ&dq=Frances%20Hawks%20Cameron%20Burnett&pg=PA167 |journal=The Pacific Unitarian |volume=25 |issue=6 |pages=167}} She continued writing poetry in Japanese into the 1930s, while her husband was stationed at Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont{{Cite news |date=1932-04-09 |title=Mrs. Charles Burnett Gives Social Activities Reporter Intimate Glimpses of Japan |pages=6 |work=The Burlington Free Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-burlington-free-press-mrs-charles-b/135244359/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} and commandant of Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia. "The poetry of the land of cherry blossoms is as stimulating to me now as when I live[d] in the land of the pale, beautiful flowers," she explained in 1937. "Each week I write several poems to mail back to Japan."
Publications
- "The Spirit of Japanese Poetry" (1920){{Cite journal |last=Burnett |first=Frances Hawks Cameron |date=October 1920 |title=The Spirit of Japanese Poetry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jhE8AQAAIAAJ&dq=Frances%20Hawks%20Cameron%20Burnett&pg=PA747 |journal=Asian Review |volume=1 |issue=7 |pages=747}}
- 日星帖 (1921){{Cite book |last=Burnett |first=Frances Hawks Cameron |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b0BMAQAAMAAJ&q=Frances+Hawks+Cameron+Burnett |title=日星帖 |date=1921 |publisher=國風書畵協會 |language=en}}
- "Kindness to Animals in Japan" (1927){{Cite journal |last=Burnett |first=Frances Hawks |date=September 1927 |title=Kindness to Animals in Japan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cCI6AQAAIAAJ&dq=Frances%20Hawks%20Cameron%20Burnett&pg=RA2-PA264-IA12 |journal=Pan-Pacific Youth |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=12}}
Personal life and legacy
Cameron married Charles Burnett, an American military attaché, in 1905. Her husband died in 1939,{{Cite news |date=1939-11-30 |title=Gen. Burnett, 61, Succumbs at Washington; Officer was Native of Knox County |pages=7 |work=The Knoxville Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-knoxville-journal-gen-burnett-61/135238752/ |access-date=2023-11-15 |via=Newspapers.com}} and she died in 1957, at the age of 73, in Alexandria, Louisiana. There is a significant collection of her papers in the Library of Congress.[https://findingaids.loc.gov/exist_collections/ead3pdf/mss/2010/ms010054.pdf Frances Hawks Cameron Burnett Papers], Library of Congress.
References
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External links
- Taeko Shibahara (2017), [https://search.alexanderstreet.com/view/work/bibliographic_entity%7Cbibliographic_details%7C3798207 "Bridging Two Empires: Frances Hawks Cameron Burnett and Her Passion for Japanese Poetry"], essay in the "Women and Social Movements, Modern Empires Since 1820" collection of Alexander Street.
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Category:American women writers