Laura Newbold Wood
{{Short description|American author}}
Laura Newbold Wood Roper (March 15, 1911 – December 5, 2003) was an American author who also published under the name L. N. Wood. In the 1930s she worked for the Works Progress Administration.{{Cite web|url=https://newspaperarchives.vassar.edu/?a=d&d=vq19890601-01.2.130&|title=Vassar Quarterly 1 June 1989 — Vassar Newspaper Archives|website=newspaperarchives.vassar.edu}} She published three biographies for young adults in the 1940s.{{cn|date=August 2022}} In 1973 she published a biography of Frederick Law Olmsted. She wrote the first biography ever written about Raymond L. Ditmars.{{Cite web|url=http://snaccooperative.org/ark:/99166/w67q6w5h|title=Roper, Laura Wood, 1911-2003 @ SNAC|website=snaccooperative.org}}{{Cite web|url=http://snakesarelong.blogspot.com/2016/01/|title=Book Review: Bushmaster by Dan Eatherley|first=Andrew|last=Durso|date=January 26, 2016}}
Life and career
Wood was born in St. Louis, Missouri.
She graduated.from Vassar College with an A.B. in 1932. In 1940 she married W. Crosby Roper, Jr. (died 1982).{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}
She published a biography of Frederick Law Olmsted in 1973.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/laura-wood-roper/f-l-o-a-biography-of-frederick-law-olmsted/|title=F. L. O.: A Biography of Frederick Law Olmsted by Laura Wood Roper | Kirkus Reviews|via=www.kirkusreviews.com}} A review in the American Historical Review called her book on Olmsted superb and described it as covering new ground as far as his personal interests and role in the reform movement were delved into.{{Cite journal|url=https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article/80/4/1051/52455|title=Laura Wood Roper. FLO: A Biography of Frederick Law Olmsted. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. 1973. Pp. xvii, 555. $15.00|first=Joseph L.|last=Arnold|date=October 1, 1975|journal=The American Historical Review|volume=80|issue=4|pages=1051–1052|via=academic.oup.com|doi=10.1086/ahr/80.4.1051}} The New York Times Book Review published a letter she wrote regarding Olmsted's views on slavery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1974/06/13/fair-play-for-olmsted/|title=Fair Play for Olmsted|first1=C. Vann|last1=Woodward|first2=Laura Wood|last2=Roper|date=June 13, 1974|via=www.nybooks.com}} A review in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians praised the book.{{Cite journal|title=Review: FLO: A Biography of Frederick Law Olmsted by Laura Wood Roper|first=Cynthia|last=Zaitzevsky|date=October 1, 1977|journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians|volume=36|issue=3|pages=196–197|doi=10.2307/989065|jstor=989065}} The Library of Congress{{Cite web|url=http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms001020|title=Laura Wood Roper papers, 1822-1982|website=Library of Congress}} and National Library of Australia have a collection of her papers including research notes and correspondence related to her book on Frederick Law Olmsted.{{Cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/209942755|title=Laura Wood Roper papers, - Version details|website=Trove}}
She died in Cotuit, Massachusetts.{{Citation needed|date=April 2019}}
Bibliography
- Walter Reed:Doctor in Uniform (1943), J. Messner, New York illustrated by Douglas Duer
- Raymond L. Ditmars: His Exciting Career with Reptiles, Animals, and Insects 1944
- Louis Pasteur 1948
- FLO: A Biography of Frederick Law Olmsted (1973) Johns Hopkins University Press
References
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Category:Vassar College alumni
Category:Writers from St. Louis