Barbara Nolen

Barbara Nolen Strong
Born December 19 1902, Died December 13, 2002

Resident at the Mayflower Place, West Yarmouth, MA
Formerly long time resident of Trotta Lane, Morris, CT

Died at the Cape Cod Hospital, Hyannis, MA, after a brief illness, 6 days before her 100th birthday.

She was the daughter of John Nolen a pioneer city planner, and Barbara Schatte Nolen. She was educated in the Cambridge public schools, graduated from Smith College, cum laude in 1924, attended Columbia School of Journalism in the summer of 1924, Radcliffe College in her junior year, and received her MA from Stanford University in 1925.

She was the wife of David Fales Strong of Winsted, CT, a 9th generation New Englander, whom she met at the Grand Canyon, while they were both on their way to Stanford University in California to do graduate work. They were married on June 14, 1927, in Vienna, Austria, and spent a year traveling from London to Istanbul.

She leaves a son, Stephen Lewis Strong of Benson, AZ. Her daughter Deborah S. MacKnight of Rockland, MA is deceased. She also had 3 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren.

Barbara was a career woman at a time when it was not common for a woman to have both a career and marriage. She had both an active and ground breaking career as well as a successful marriage. She is Listed in “Who’s Who of American Women” from 1966 – 1975 and “The World Who’s Who of Women”, 1976.

Between 1925 and 1944, Barbara was an editor of children’s books at Macmillan and Century Publishers and a consultant to several other publishing houses. She edited over 500 books in science, biography, folk tales, animal stories, and fiction. Between 1935 and 1954, she was the Editor of “Story Parade”, a children’s magazine.

Barbara also edited school books for D.C. Heath, i.e. Disney Readers, New World Neighbors, and Reading for Interest as well as an international series of paperback books for children of folk tales and classics, which was published in Vienna in 3 languages.

Between 1939 and 1942, she ran a traveling bookshop sponsored by Radcliffe Alumnae selling to camps, resort hotels, and bookstores and was also a consultant to CBS Radio “School of the Air.

Barbara researched, compiled and edited 3 books on Africa and 1 on Mexico; edited “7 Ways the School Library Helps your Child” published by the American Library Association, taught workshops in Children’s Literature at George Washington University and the American University in Washington DC, and conducted seminars on “Writing for Children” for teachers from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Barbara N. Strong Obituary Page 2

In 1976 Barbara authored “The Morris Academy – Pioneer in Co-education”, the only definitive work on this early school which was a pioneer in co-education and provided a model for public education treating the curriculum for both men and women the same.

For many years, Barbara was a book reviewer for the New York Times, the New York Herald Tribune, the Washington Star and several other papers.

Barbara was also a Community Activist, giving back to the community in which she lived was her life long belief and her dedication to this creed has touched many lives. While living in Washington, D.C. between 1944 and 1962, she was a charter member and co-founder of the Children’s Book Guild of Washington, D.C. and Chairman, of the Action Committee for DC School Libraries, appearing before Congress to help get special legislation passed creating school libraries for Washington D.C. schools. Barbara received Distinguished Service Awards as a citizen activist from the D.C. Education Association and the American School Library Association.

After retirement, Barbara traveled frequently to Mexico and was an early member of the Asociacion de Amigos de Ninos y Jovenes, an organization which was founded to raise money for a children’s village in Mexico for homeless and orphaned children. She was also the President and founder of Friends of Ninos y Jovenes, the US/Canadian counterpart, which in addition to raising money for the children, has run a successful English as a Second Language program to help give these children the tools for a better life.

While living in Morris, CT, after retiring from her professional career, Barbara become a member of the Morris Library Board of Directors, the Morris Building Committee for a Library and Historical Society, manager of the Morris Thrift Shop and chairman and secretary of the Morris House Tour Committee, fund raising projects for the Morris Public Library. She also served as secretary of the Morris Board of Finance, and secretary of the Morris Historical Society.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Morris Public Library, P. O. Box 85, Morris, CT 06763, or The Friends of Ninos y Jovenes, P. O. Box 2050, Waterbury, CT 06722.

Arrangements by the Doane Beal Funeral Home of Hyannis, MA. There are no calling hours. Burial at the convenience of the family.