Born: 21 November 1870, United States
Died: 9 May 1936
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Mary Johnston, an American novelist, born at Buchanan, Va. Her first book, Prisoners of Hope: a Tale of Colonial Virginia made an immediate success and established the author as a historical novelist of unusual power. A year later, in 1899, she published To Have and to Hold which was equally successful, and in 1902 she brought out Audrey, another popular work. Since then she has produced a number of novels on historical themes, displaying a high order of merit.
IW note: In addition to being one of the country’s bestselling authors of her day and having three silent film adaptations of her novels, Johnson was a women’s rights advocate. She was an active member of the Equal Suffrage League of Virginia who used her writing and celebrity to draw attention to the cause in her state.