Bess Streeter was born in Cedar Falls, Iowa on February 17, 1881. She began writing as a child and won a writing contest at age fourteen and another at seventeen.
In 1906, she married Charles Aldrich. They moved to Elmwood, Nebraska. Charles and Bess, along with others, bought a bank. They had four children--Mary, Robert, Charles and James.
Aldrich's first novel, Mother Mason, was published in 1924. Charles died suddenly in 1925. Aldrich began writing to support her family. She wrote short stories and thirteen novels, including Miss Bishop. The latter novel was made into a movie Cheers for Miss Bishop, which starred and Martha Scott and Edmund Gwynne and premiered in Lincoln.
Aldrich was named into the Nebraska Hall of Fame and her bust is in the State Capitol. She died in Lincoln on August 3, 1954.
Unfortunately, I did not yet have her on my calendar as I continue to look up information about our famous Nebraskans and I missed her birthday by a day.
I went to see her home in Elmwood in December. It was all decorated for Christmas and was lovely. It cost $7,000.00 to build and was built just for the Aldrich family. Go visit it when you have the opportunity.
Sorry Bess that I was a day late, but happy birthday.
Nebraska Nellie
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