McGill Library
McLennan Library Building3459 rue McTavish
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 0C9
Person
Ashmun, Margaret, 1875-1940
1875-1940
Margaret Eliza Ashmun was born on July 10, 1875, in Rural, Waupaca County, Wisconsin.
She was an American writer and poet. She graduated from Stevens Point State College and earned her Ph.B. from the University of Wisconsin in 1904, followed by her A.M. in 1908. She served as the head of the English Department at Stout Institute in Menomonie, Wisconsin, from 1904 to 1906, and was a member of the Department of English at the University of Wisconsin from 1907 to 1912. In 1912, she moved to New York and dedicated most of her time to writing from that point onward. While maintaining her home in Rural, she spent some winters in Madison and significant periods abroad. In 1928, she adopted a little girl named Mary Louise Ashmun (1928-1937). The death of Mary ten years later deeply affected her, causing great shock and grief. In 2009, Margaret Ashmun was recognized as a Notable Wisconsin Author by the RR Donnelley Literary Award. The village of Rural, Wisconsin, holds an annual Margaret Ashmun Day in mid-June to honour her legacy.
She died on March 15, 1940, in West Springfield, Massachusetts.