Stella Wynne Herron

Estella "Stella" Frances Wynne was born on April 5, 1885,{{Cite web|url=https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0150/7896/files/Shoes_Press_Kit_e881f65a-92a5-4e54-9845-9f8878bc1a85.pdf|title=The Milestone Cinematheque|website=The Films of Lois Weber|page=30}} though some sources report the year as 1886. She grew up in San Francisco as the daughter of Irish immigrants. For college, she attended Stanford University and graduated in 1906. It was in school that she began her writing career. She worked as an associate editor for the university's journal 'The Stanford Sequoia',{{Cite journal|date=1907|title=The Stanford Sequoia|journal=The Stanford Quad|volume=13|pages=153}} and her play, The Original Miss Tewksberry, was selected to be the senior farce for the 1906 school year.{{Cite journal|date=1908|title=Calendar - 1906|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wBQuAAAAIAAJ|journal=The Stanford Quad|volume=14|pages=364|via=Google Books}}{{Cite news|url=https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19060831-01.2.6&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------#|title=Plans Are Complete: 1906 Class Prepares for Graduation Festivities|date=31 August 1906|work=The Stanford Daily|access-date=23 July 2019}} She also was an early member of the senior women's society "Cap and Gown", foreshadowing her later activism.{{Cite news|url=https://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19060912-01.2.17.1&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------#|title=New Society Formed|date=12 September 1906|work=The Stanford Daily|access-date=23 July 2019}}

As detailed in The Writer, Herron's first piece to be accepted for publication was her short story "The Still of Ballywan." She had written it originally as a sophomore for a school assignment, and she had "written [it] hastily one night at the close of the term[.]" McClure's magazine went on to publish it in 1906.{{Cite journal|last=Hills|first=William H.|date=October 1908|title=Writers of the Day|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7GdJAQAAMAAJ&q=stella+wynne+herron+writer&pg=RA1-PA150|journal=The Writer: A Monthly Magazine for Literary Workers |volume=20|pages=150|via=Google Books}} Over the following sixty years, Herron would go on to write many short stories, several plays, a serialized novel, and an illustrated book of protest poetry. Her work was sometimes republished in collected short story volumes. For example, 'The Americanizing of André François', was republished in 'Among the Humorists and After Dinner Speakers, Part Two'.

Two of her short stories, "Shoes" and "The Double Room Mystery",{{Cite journal|date=1917|title=The Double Room Mystery|url=https://archive.org/details/movinpic1618moti/page/n261|journal=The Moving Picture Weekly|volume=4|pages=262–263|via=Internet Archive}} were also made into silent films, and filmmaker Thomas H. Ince bought the rights to her short story "An Adventurous Day" in 1920,{{Cite journal|date=1920|title=Ince Leaves Tuesday|url=https://archive.org/details/filmdailyvolume11112newy/page/276|journal=The Film Daily|volume=11-12|via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite journal|date=1920|title=Works of Prominent Authors to be Used by Ince for Stars|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald10exhi/page/n873|journal=Exhibitors Herald|volume=10|via=Internet Archive}} though it never went into production. Ince paid Herron $500, a substantial figure at the time.{{Cite journal|last=Lewis|first=Tom|date=1920|title=Dollars From The Movie Hopper|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M58uAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA171|journal=The Editor: The Journal of Information for Literary Workers|volume=54|pages=171|via=Google Books}} She was known for her prize-winning stories in various magazines, including "An Adventurous Day", and one trade journal even reported that, "Her work received the personal compliments of the late Theodore Roosevelt."{{Cite journal|date=21 February 1920|title=Ince Buys Three Stories for Early Production|url=https://archive.org/details/movpicwor432movi|journal=The Moving Picture World|volume=43|pages=[https://archive.org/details/movpicwor432movi/page/1258 1258]|via=Internet Archive}}

She married William F. Herron, a newspaper writer (later attorney), on September 18, 1907 in Salinas.{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZ3N-WCV|title=Stella Frances Wynne - California, County Marriages, 1850-1952|website=Family Search}}{{Cite news|url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1907-09-21/ed-1/seq-5/#date1=1900&index=0&rows=20&words=STELLA+Stella+WYNNE+Wynne&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=California&date2=1963&proxtext=Stella+Wynne&y=6&x=28&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1|title=W. F. Herron and Miss Stella Wynne Wedded|date=21 September 1907|work=The San Francisco call|publisher=Library of Congress}} Eight years later, they had their only child, John Wynne Herron.{{Cite book|title=Our Herron family of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|last1=Herron|first1=William Alfred|last2=Hezlep|first2=W. H.|year=1960|pages=32}} Herron and her husband were divorced by 1920.{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MHWT-K1B|title=United States Census, 1920|date=1920|website=Family Search}} From the mid-30s to the early forties, she lived in New York City as a poet, though she eventually returned to San Francisco.{{Cite web|url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQTD-1WX|title=Stella W Herron - United States Census, 1940|website=Family Search}}

Her activism included campaigning for women's suffrage in California in the 1910s, and one point she even worked as the Chairman for the College Equal Suffrage League.{{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Stella Wynne|date=July 1911|title=Suffrage During N.E.A. Week|journal=Western Journal of Education|volume=16|pages=13}}{{Cite book|title=A historical study of the woman suffrage movement in California, 1910-1911|last=Johnson|first=Audrey Mackey|publisher=University of the Pacific|year=1962|pages=123}} Her writing and activism connected her to many influential figures including journalist Alma Reed, who considered Herron a "lifelong friend", and painter José Clemente Orozco.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/orozcoreed00reed|url-access=registration|title=Orozco|last=Reed|first=Alma M.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1956|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/orozcoreed00reed/page/277 277]}}

Herron died on March 1, 1966, and she was buried in Cypress Lawn Memorial Park.{{Cite web|url=https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87835929/stella-herron#source|title=Stella Herron|website=Find a Grave}}

• [https://books.google.com/books?id=npS6tkZ9WcoC&dq=%22The+Still+of+Ballywan%22&pg=PA266 The Still of Ballywan] (short story) (1906){{Cite journal|last=Wynne|first=Stella F.|date=May–October 1906|title=The Still of Ballywan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V-I6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA266|journal=McClure's Magazine|volume=27|pages=266–274|via=Google Books}}
• An Idyll of the Circle L. (short story) (1907)
• Cane and Coffee (short story) (1907){{Cite journal|date=1907|title=Complete Stories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oy7yAAAAMAAJ&q=Cane+and+Coffee.+Stella+F.+Wynne&pg=RA7-PA33|journal=What's in the Magazines|volume=2|pages=33}}
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=jLQRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA593 The Record Breaker] (short story) (1907)
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=hC1NAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22the+americanizing+of+andré+françois%22&pg=PA500 The Americanizing of André François] (short story) (1908)
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=eCxNAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22stella+wynn+e%22&pg=PP12 A Belated Boom] (short story) (1910){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Stella Wynne|date=1909–1910|title=A Belated Boom|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951001906776n&view=1up&seq=324|journal=McClure's Magazine|volume=34|pages=316|via=HathiTrust}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/160204090/?terms=%22Stella%2BWynne%2BHerron%22|title=Literary Notes|date=28 December 1901|work=The Morning News|access-date=30 July 2019}}
• Suffrage During N.E.A. Week (article) (1911)
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=nxsEAAAAYAAJ&dq=stella+wynne+herron&pg=PA79 Palace Hotel] (article) (1911/1913)
• The Ghost of the Almaden (short story) (1912)
• Minds Versus Millions (short story (1913){{Cite web|url=http://www.philsp.com/homeville/gfi/t387.htm#A5511|title=The Blue Book Magazine|website=The General Fiction Magazine Index|access-date=3 November 2019}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.philsp.com/articles/magazines/blue_book.html|title=Blue Book – The Slick in Pulp Clothing|last=Ashley|first=Mike|access-date=3 November 2019}}
• Shoes (short story) (1916)
• The Advent of the Majority (short story) (1916)
• Ashes of Youth (1917){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Stella W.|date=1917|title=Ashes of Youth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4klJAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA60|journal=Theatre Arts Magazine|volume=1|pages=60|via=Google Books}}{{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Stella W.|date=1918|title=Ashes of Youth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uhje_-fTQxIC&pg=RA1-PA373|journal=Quarterly Journal of Speech|volume=4|pages=373|via=Google Books}}
• The Ascidian (a drama in three acts) (1920){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=S. W.|date=1920|title=The Ascidian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=niMhAQAAIAAJ&pg=645|journal=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. Books, Group 2|volume=17|pages=645|via=Google Books}}
• Mink Cape (short story) (1920){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Stella Wynne|date=1920|title=Mink Cape|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5lAAQAAMAAJ&q=mink+cape&pg=PA716|journal=Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature|volume=5|pages=716|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.philsp.com/homeville/Hannigan/t263.htm|title=Stories, Listed by Author|date=28 July 2019|website=The FictionMags Index}}
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=R01IAAAAYAAJ&dq=stella+wynne+herron&pg=PA750 The Exiles of Corinto] (short story) (1923)
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=1zoLAQAAIAAJ&dq=stella+wynne+herron&pg=RA4-PP4 To a Parrakeet] (poem) (1923)
• First Comes Commerce (short story) (1924){{Cite journal|last=Wynne|first=Stella|date=January 1924|title=First Comes Commerce|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fL0qAAAAMAAJ&q=%22First+comes+commerce%22+%22stella+wynne%22|journal=Sunset|volume=24|pages=28|via=Google Books}}
• The Nob Hill Mystery (serialized novel) (1925){{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/458104374/|title=The Nob Hill Mystery|last=Wynne|first=Stella|date=31 May 1925|work=The San Francisco Examiner|access-date=25 July 2019|page=65}}
• Ebony Magic (short story) (1928)
• The Strange Interlude (review) (1929)
• A Romance of Insurance (review) (1929)
• Manly P. Hall's Lectures on Ancient Philosophy (review) (1929)
• Bowery Parade and Other Poems of Protest (poetry collection) (1936){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Stella Wynne|date=September 1936|title=Bowery Parade and Other Poems of Protest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-KohAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA1029|journal=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1, Books, Group 1|volume=68|pages=6615|via=Google Books}}
• Entertainment at evening (dramatic composition) (1940){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Estella Wynne|date=1940|title=Entertainment at evening|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFdhAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA120|journal=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and Motion Pictures|volume=13|pages=120|via=Google Books}}
• Hearndon House (a drama in three acts) (1946){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Estella Wynne|date=13 May 1946|title=Hearndon House|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yUFhAAAAIAAJ&q=%22hearndon+house%22+%22estella%22&pg=PA85|journal=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 1. [C] Group 3. Dramatic Composition and Motion Pictures|volume=19|pages=85|via=Google Books}}
• My Faith (interview/article) (1948){{Cite web|url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf0h4n97cp/dsc/|title=Bailey Willis Papers: Finding Aid|website=Online Archive of California|access-date=24 July 2019}}
• Ten Blocks Away (a drama in three acts) (1958){{Cite journal|last=Herron|first=Stella W.|title=Ten Blocks Away|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njUhAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA33|journal=Catalog of Copyright Entries. Part 2. Periodicals|year=1959|volume=12|pages=33|via=Google Books}}
• An Adventurous Day (short story)**
• The Chinese Calendar (poem)**{{Cite news|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-mar-06-1966-p-30/|title=Mrs. Stella Herron|date=6 March 1966|work=Oakland Tribune|access-date=25 July 2019|page=30}}

*list incomplete*

**publication date unknown

• Cora Baggerly Older
• Eva Palmer-Sikelianos

{{Reflist}}

• Addams, Jane. A new conscience and an ancient evil. University of Illinois Press, 2002.
• “[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1911-07-23/ed-1/seq-23/ College Women at Suffrage Lunch].” The San Francisco Call, 23 July 1911, p. 23.
• Herron, Stella Wynne. “[https://books.google.com/books?id=EIsVAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA13 Suffrage During N.E.A. Week].” Western Journal of Education, vol. 16, no. 7, July 1911, p. 13.
• Johnson, Audrey Mackey. "[https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2515&context=uop_etds A historical study of the woman suffrage movement in California, 1910-1911]." 1962. University of the Pacific, Thesis.
• Lyons, Louis S., and Josephine Wilson, editors. “[https://books.google.com/books?id=ywsyj_gy2agC&pg=PA485 San Francisco].” Who's Who among the Women of California; an Annual Devoted to the Representative Women of California, 1922, p. 485. Google Books.
• “[https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-nov-03-1919-p-11/ Past Fame Now Fails W. F. Herron].” Oakland Tribune, p. 11. Newspaperarchive.com.
• “[https://books.google.com/books?id=R01IAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA869 Personal and Otherwise].” Harper's Magazine, vol. 147, 1923, p. 869. Google Books.
• Stamp, Shelley. “[http://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/shoes.pdf National Film Registry Essay].” Library of Congress.
• “[https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-dec-22-1920-p-20/ Stanford Bard In Legal Clash For Over-Fed Lounge].” Oakland Tribune, 22 Dec. 1920, p. 20. Newspaperarchive.com.
• “Ten Thousand Petitions in California.” The Suffragist, vol. 7, no. 26, 5 July 1919, p. 6. Internet Archive.
• Whitten, Woodrow C. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1006021 “Criminal Syndicalism and the Law in California: 1919-1927].” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 59, no. 2, 1969, p. 48. JSTOR.

• {{IMDb title|qid=Q90281688|title=The Double Room Mystery}}
• Stella Wynne Herron's [https://tellersofweirdtales.blogspot.com/2011/08/stella-wynne-1886-1966.html picture]
• The Original Miss Tewksberry [https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19060904.2.113.10&srpos=3&e=------190-en--20-SFC-1--txt-txIN-Stella+Wynne-------1 cast]
• The Original Miss Tewksberry [https://purl.stanford.edu/qh941qj4502 production photo]
• California Writers Club

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Category:1885 births

Category:1966 deaths

Category:American women short story writers

Category:Writers from San Francisco

Category:Stanford University alumni

Category:20th-century American women writers

Category:Suffragists from California

Category:20th-century American short story writers