About

Mary Heaton Vorse (1874–1966) was, in the first decades of the last century, an important voice arguing for the rights of women and the workers of America. She was fearless in her beliefs, and risked her life in order to gain first-hand knowledge of the conditions in which people lived and worked, so that she might accurately present their plight to a largely uncaring world. Born in America and raised in Europe, she was as at home mingling with New York literary society as she was in Russia, discussing Communism with Lenin. Vorse was also a respected and admired writer of short fiction. Between 1918 and 1921 she was thrice selected for the annual Best Short Stories collection, and was selected for Prize Stories and the O. Henry Memorial Award in 1922 and 1926.