The literary world was shocked in 1938 when one of its favorite writers died, a Covington resident by the name of Lucile Rutland. She was well-known for her poems, plays, essays and editorials that were published widely. She was friends with famous poets, songwriters, and Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross. Miss Rutland was a longtime resident of Covington.
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LUCILE RUTLAND, POET & AUTHOR, DIES IN COVINGTON
Miss Lucile Rutland, contributor of poetry, essays and editorials to many publications including The Picayune and the New Orleans States, died Sunday morning at her home in Covington after an illness of several years, according to information received here. She was 71 years old.
Widely- known among literary figures of the United States, she wrote for numerous magazines and newspapers. She included among her acquaintances Edwin Markham, the poet; Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross and Harriet Ware, who dedicated several songs to her.
Born in Colfax, Miss Rutland was the daughter of the late Judge William Robert Rutland and Caroline Carter Rutland. The family lived for a number of years in Baton Rouge.
Contributed To Column
Educated at Judson College, she began her writing career as a young woman. She was a frequent contributor more than 25 years ago to a weekly poetry and essay column conducted by The Times Picayune.
Inheriting an interest in politics from her father, she also wrote editorials for New Orleans newspapers on political subjects. Until a decade ago she wrote a weekly editorial of a religious nature for the New Orleans States.
Kept Covington Home
Her friends In New Orleans, where she lived at intervals during the past 10 or 12 years, included many in literary and university circles. Her residence in Covington had been maintained for more than 30 years. During the last period that she lived in New Orleans, about 10 years ago, she was hostess at the St. Charles Hotel.
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Her poems were published in local newspapers
In 1899 she published a four-act play about Lafitte
In 1906, she published a one-act play called "Light O Love," which has been deemed a classic and has been reprinted several times.
Her poems were printed in newspapers across the country
This one is from the Arizona Republican, June 6, 1911
Other well-known writers and artists visited her often.
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Her poems often appeared in Lippincott's Magazine
In 1915 she was involved in the local Suffrage movement
She worked for a while for the Baton Rouge Advocate as well
as for the "prominent Sunday edition" of a Boston newspaper
Her poems appeared everywhere and were often reprinted
A Lucile Rutland short story that appeared in a San Francisco newspaper
Not only was she an author and a poet, but she put her scientific mind to the chemical make up of paper and came up with an interesting alternative way of making it. Sometimes we take paper for granted, but today's paper is the result of years of experimentation.
Miss Rutland was commended for formulating a new kind of paper, one that excelled in the properties that people need paper to possess. That paper was made from water hyacinth.
Her recipe for paper impressed a lot of people, especially since it used water hyacinth. That plant grows faster than pine pulpwood, thus enabling it to replenish faster than pine forests cut down for paper. Dr. W. L. Stevenson noted her accomplishment in a letter to the St. Tammany Farmer in 1938.
Samples of her poetry
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The Rutland family was well-known in Baton Rouge where William Robert Rutland, Lucile's father, was a prominent citizen and Judge. His wife Caroline Carter Rutland lived on Louisiana Street in Covington, which was an early name for Jahncke Avenue. In early news reports, there was a mention of "Rutland Cottage" occupied by Lucile Rutland.
