Mary Artemisia Lathbury
10 August 1841—20 October 1913
Mary A. Lathbury, Poems (1915).
East Orange, N.J., Oct. 21—MISS MARY A. LATHBURY, who died at her home, No. 17 Webster Place, this city, late yesterday, was a well known hymn writer and author of juvenile stories. She cooperated with the Rev. Edward Everett Hale in the organization of the “Ten Times One” clubs and with Bishop John Heyl Vincent, who founded the Chautauqua movement.
For several years, Miss Lathbury was superintendent of a large Chinese Sunday school in New York. She was born of English parents in Manchester, Ontario County, N.Y., [seventy]-two years ago. Her first stories were juvenile ones for the holiday season. Among these were “Birthday Week,” “Ring Around a Rosy,” and others, which were illustrated in water colors drawn by the author. She also wrote more serious books, including “The Idyls of the Months,” and “Meadow Sweet.” Her best known poem was “Out of Darkness Into Light.”
Her hymns include “Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me,” “Day is dying in the west,” “Children of yesterday, heirs of tomorrow,” “Sunrise Song,” “The Heart of Jesus,” “The Hymn of Life,” and “Arise and Shine.” She also composed the Chautauqua centennial hymn. She leaves a sister, Mrs. Lillian Brigham, an artist, and two brothers, the Rev. Clarence Lathbury, of Elmwood, Mass., and Harold Lathbury, of Bayonne, N.J.
New York Tribune, 22 Oct. 1913
Featured Hymns:
Collections of Hymns & Poems:
Chautauqua Carols (1877): WorldCat
Chautauqua Carols (1878): Archive.org
Out of Darkness Into Light (1878): Archive.org
The Chautauqua Songs (1884): WorldCat
The Birthday Week (1884): Archive.org
Idyls of the Months (1885): WorldCat
Ring-a-Round-a-Rosy (1885): WorldCat
From Meadow Sweet to Mistletoe (1886): WorldCat
Forest Songs for Chautauqua Assemblies (1888): Hymnary
Chautauqua Hymnal and Liturgy (1903): Hymnary
The Poems of Mary Artemisia Lathbury (1915): Archive.org
Archives:
Chautauqua Institution Archives (Chautauqua, NY): https://chq.org/about-us/archives
Related Resources:
Vincent Van Marter Beede, “Mary A. Lathbury: Her life and lyrics,” The Chautauquan, vol. 30, No. 1 (Oct. 1899), pp. 34–40: HathiTrust
Kate Kimball, “Chautauqua’s Poet Laureate,” The Chautauquan, vol. 72, no. 10 (8 Nov. 1913), p. 202: HathiTrust
Gladys E. Gray, “Mary Artemisia Lathbury: A 50th Anniversary Tribute,” The Hymn, vol. 14, no. 2 (April 1963), pp. 37–46: HathiTrust
Henry Wilder Foote, Three Centuries of American Hymnody (Archon Books, 1968), pp. 280–282.
Mary de Jong, “Mary Artemisia Lathbury,” American National Biography: https://doi.org/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1600965
Mary Lathbury, Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/person/Lathbury_MA