Olive W. Burt Papers

Born Olive Woolley on May 26, 1894 in Ann Arbor Michigan, Olive spent most of her life in the Salt Lake City area of Utah. She started her career early, saying, "As a child I began to write for a very good reason: it was the only way I had to earn spending money...Several newspapers, such as the San Francisco Examiner, paid a dollar - sometimes two dollars - for verses. I discovered I could write verses that they would buy - and my career was settled."

Olive received a BA at the University of Utah and did post-graduate work at the University of Chicago and Columbia University. On June 7, 1922 she married Clinton Ray Burt and later had three children, Eda Forsyth, Beverly Anne and Clinton Robin. Her career path was varied, and she served as a teacher for 13 years in Utah and Wyoming and as editor and librarian at two publications in Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake Tribune (1927-1945) and Desert News (1947-1957). She also taught creative writing at the University of Utah in 1947 and adult education classes at Brigham Young University from 1958-1959. She was a member of five writing associations and two historical societies, and her writing and teaching led her to receive seven different awards for both her adult and children's writings. In total, Olive Woolley Burt published over 45 books and numerous short stories, articles, poems, and plays.

Olive Woolley Burt passed away in 1981.

Source:

Something About the Author, vol. 4. 1973. pp. 39-40.