Christine Noble Govan (pen names Mary Allerton and J. N. Darby; December 12, 1897 – February 28, 1985) was an American writer. She was born in
New York City and lived most of her life in
Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Early life
Mary Christine Noble was born on December 12, 1897, in Manhattan, New York to Mary Helen (née Quintard) and Stephen E. Noble.[1][2][3] Her father died when she was four years old and the family moved to
Sewanee, Tennessee, because her maternal great-uncle
Charles Todd Quintard lived there.[4] They moved again, to
Franklin, where in 1904, her mother remarried to Charles W. Elmore,[5] and then once more to Nashville, where she lived with her brother, Samuel, and half-brother, Francis.[6] The family then moved to
Chattanooga, where Noble completed her high school education.[4]
Career
Noble enrolled as a scholarship student at the
University of Chattanooga, but left school because her family needed her financial support. She was certified to teach first grade and briefly taught at a rural
one-room school.[4] On 10 June 1918, she married Gilbert E. Govan,[7] a bookstore owner, originally from
Atlanta, Georgia.[4][8] with whom she had three children:
Emily "Emmy",
Mary, and James.[9] Between raising her children and taking care of her home and garden, Govan worked briefly as a librarian and then began to write.[8][10] Many of her books were autobiographical. Early in her career, she set a goal to publish two books per year.[11]
Govan's body of work included juvenile fiction, biography and history and throughout her career, she published more than 50 books. An early member of the
NAACP, she supported the
civil rights movement and her trilogy The Plummer Children focused on interracial friendships. In addition to publishing in her own name, Govan used the pen names Mary Allerton and J. N. Darby[12] and co-authored 25 books with her daughter, Emmy Hill (later West).[8][13][14] Several of her books became best sellers. Among the most known were Judy and Chris, The Pink Maple House, Those Plummer Children, and String and the No-Tail Cat,[15] and editions were published in Denmark, England, Germany, Japan and Sweden.[16] In addition to writing literature, she was a popular lecturer and wrote book reviews for The Chattanooga Times.[13][15]
^"1900 U. S. Census: Borough of the Bronx, New York". FamilySearch. Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration. June 1900. p. 17A. NARA microfilm series T623, roll 1126, lines 38-41. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
^"1910 U. S. Census: Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee". FamilySearch. Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 21 April 1910. pp. 9B–10A. NARA microfilm series T624, roll 1496, lines 98-100 on 9B and 1-2 on 10A. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
^Reviews of Sweet 'Possum Valley:
Kirkus Review;
Certain, J. L. (October 1941), "With the New Books for Children", The Elementary English Review, 18 (6): 233–238,
JSTOR41383335