Lucy Meacham Thruston (1862-1938)
Lucy Meacham Kidd Thruston was born in Virginia, a state that inspired her to write works such as A Girl of Virginia (1902) and Called to the Field: A Story of Virginia in the Civil War (1906). She moved to Baltimore at the age of 12 and loved her new home as well, publishing Songs of the Chesapeake (1900) and her best-known novel, Mistress Brent: A Story of Lord Baltimore’s Colony in 1638 (1901). Her pride in being a Southern woman is seen in her other publications including Jack and His Island: A Boy’s Adventures along the Chesapeake in the War of 1812 (1902), Where the Tide Comes In (1904), and Jenifer (1907). Her settings and themes raise the question as to whether or not she espoused Lost Cause ideology, which sought to recast the antebellum. slaveholding South in terms of a “civilized way of life”; her sympathies are unclear. Instead, her focus resides on family, rising from the “devastation” of war, and women’s growth as they evolved with the times. Her love for history of the South can be seen in all her publications, know of which she said, “I often feel that history often throws light on the facts of today, and that the present day in turn can throw light on the facts of history.”
Relation
Julius Thruston
Sources
“Called to the Field” (review). Baltimore Sun, April 4, 1906.
“Faith of a Woman in Women of South.” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 17, 1915.
“Fall Injury Fatal To Mrs. Thruston.” Baltimore Sun, Nov. 28, 1938.
“Gems from ‘Jenifer.’”. Baltimore Sun, May 22, 1907.
“Lucy M. Kidd Thruston.” Find A Grave (https://www.findagrave.com). Accessed May 1, 2018.
“Lucy Meacham Thruston.” Prabook.com.
“Mrs. Lucy M. Thruston.” Baltimore Sun, Nov. 29, 1938.
“Mrs. Lucy Meacham Thruston.” Baltimore Sun, April 5, 1903.
“Mrs. Lucy Meacham Thruston.” Baltimore Sun, Apr. 26, 1905.
Contributors
Megan Hultberg