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Josephine Spencer

Born in Salt Lake City, Josephine Spencer was the daughter of Daniel and Emily Spencer. A somewhat shy but highly imaginative child, Josephine entertained her friends with plays and stories she created. She lived a comfortable life with her family in the same neighborhood as Emmeline B. Wells and was good friends with Wells’s daughter Annie. Another neighbor was the elderly poet Sarah Carmichael, whose talent she admired from a distance and whose fence she and Annie would peek through. An excellent student and avid reader, she helped organize one of Salt Lake City's first literary societies, "Azalia." October 1890 marked the beginning of Spencer’s prolific writing career. By summer 1893 she had published forty-three poems and five short stories in Utah journals and had won prizes in 1894 for two short stories and an article. Songs and Flowers of the Wasatch included two of her poems, one of them being featured with other fragments of verse by highly respected poets Eliza R. Snow, Sarah Carmichael, Emmeline B. Wells, and Hannah T. King. A single woman, she began writing for the Deseret Evening News, where she turned a small society column into a full-page overview of the world of women and eventually became the paper’s society editor. In 1895 she published a book of short stories called The Senator from Utah and Other Tales of the Wasatch in which she addressed labor issues, an unconventional topic among Mormon writers of the period. From 1902 until her death in 1928 she published more than sixty poems and seventy-two short stories, marking her as one of Mormondom's most productive poets and writers. Devoted to literary work, she was for a long time society editor for the Deseret News and represented that paper at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. [adapted from Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women, 100-101] Included in 75 Significant Mormon Poets
LDS
LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
Daniel Spencer and Emily Shafter Thompson Spencer
30 April 1861
Salt Lake City, Utah
28 October 1928
At least 2 terms at the University of Deseret
Female
Author
English
Spencer has published poetry not related to the Church in the Young Woman's Journal.

212 Works by Josephine Spencer

Title Role Year Genre
The Long Steel Road Author Poetry
A Trial of Hearts Author Short Story
The Senator from Utah Author 1895 Short Story
April Author Poetry
The Approach of the Army Author 1892 Poetry
Confession Author 1892 Poetry
Curse of Adar Author Poetry
Gladiolus Author 1891 Poetry
God's Image Author 1892 Poetry
Lake Mary (Big Cottonwood Canyon) Author 1892 Poetry
Left by the Roadside Author 1891 Poetry
March Author 1891 Poetry
Moonlight at Saltair Author 1893 Poetry
Serenade Author 1892 Poetry
The Sister's Charge Author 1890 Poetry
Song of Winter Author 1892 Poetry
Summer Rain Author 1891 Poetry
The Temple Author 1893 Poetry
Twilight Author 1891 Poetry
The World's Way Author 1891 Poetry
Farmer Parkes' Problem Author Short Story
Her Life's Lesson Author Short Story
Jeddie Holt's Reward Author Short Story
Judith Dare Author Short Story
Letitia Author Short Story
Maridon's Experiment Author Short Story
Municipal Sensation Author Short Story
Private Parmelee Author Short Story
Rolfe Ainslie's Temptation Author Short Story
The Senator from Utah Author Short Story
Suzanne Author Short Story
At the Hacienda Author Poetry
Columbus Author Poetry
The River Author 1906 Poetry
The Sunken Isle Author 1915 Poetry
To the Victors Author 1903 Poetry
Utah Author 1907 Poetry
By Way of Miracle Author 1910 Fiction
By Way of Thanksgiving Author 1906 Short Story
In the Light of Patriotism Author 1909 Fiction
Little Mother Author 1928 Short Story
The Pine Valley Flood Author 1931 Fiction
Autumn Author 1930 Poetry
Birds Author 1931 Poetry
Calendula Author 1930 Poetry
In Nature's Nests Author 1931 Poetry
A Lay of Chivalry Author Poetry
Longing Author Poetry
Mardula Author 1928 Poetry
Poetry Author Poetry
Prescience Author 1930 Poetry
Spring Author Poetry
Sunset Author Poetry
Affinities Author Poetry
Again Author 1890 Poetry
Alfalfa Author 1892 Poetry
April Author 1909 Poetry
August in Salt Lake Valley Author 1891 Poetry
August Author 1909 Poetry
Bereavement Author 1889 Poetry
Christ's Gift Author 1890 Poetry
A Christmas Conquest Author Poetry
Columbines Author 1891 Poetry
Compensation Author 1902 Poetry
Dawn Author Poetry
December: A Christmas Poem Author Poetry
Ensign Peak Author Poetry
Deseret Author Poetry
The Evening Primrose Author Poetry
God and Nature Author 1890 Poetry
The Gray Domino Author Poetry
The Hero of the Flood Author 1892 Poetry
January Author Poetry
July Author 1909 Poetry
June Author Poetry
King Cold's Kodak Author Poetry
A Knight of the Way Author Poetry
Lake Annette Author Poetry
Love a la Mode Author Poetry
Love and Hate Author Poetry
Love Song Author 1892 Poetry
Love's Art Author Poetry
Love's Redress Author 1903 Poetry
March Author 1909 Poetry
Mariposa Lilies Author 1890 Poetry
The Mountain Brook Author 1891 Poetry
A Mountain Lake Author Poetry
Music Author 1890 Poetry
The Musician Author Poetry
November Author Poetry
November Author Poetry
October Author Poetry
A Point of View Author Poetry
Pre-existence Author Poetry
The Rainbow Month Author Poetry
Recognition Author Poetry
Salt Lake Valley Author Poetry
Salt Lake Author Poetry
A Scene at Silver Lake Author Poetry
Scenes in the Wasatch Author Poetry
September Author Poetry
The Silent March: A Christmas Theme Author Poetry
Silver Lake Author Poetry
Some Sketches of Salt Lake Author 1934 Poetry
Song of the Homeland Author Poetry
Spring Pimeval Author Poetry
Sunset Sonnets Author Poetry
Thanksgiving Author Poetry
To Him Who Waits Author Poetry
Truth in Myth Author Poetry
Truth's Miracles Author Poetry
Utah Lake Author Poetry
The Valley Author Poetry
Violets Author Poetry
Washington Author 1904 Poetry
Westward Ho! Author Poetry
Wild Flowers Author Poetry
Winter Author Poetry
The Year Author Poetry
The Affairs of Betty [1] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [2] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [3] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [4] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [5] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [6] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [7] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [8] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [9] Author Short Story
The Affairs of Betty [10] Author Short Story
Barney Quinn's Courtship Author Short Story
The "Bidding In" of Nance Merrill Author Short Story
A Bulletin of the Plains Author Short Story
A Gutta-Percha Pledge Author Short Story
A Hallowed Hallowe'en Author Short Story
The Handicapped Author Short Story
Hearts' Ease and Rue Author Short Story
Her Halloween Author Short Story
How Priscilla "placed" the Poem Author Short Story
Dreams Author Poetry
A Study Author Poetry
By Cordelia's Contrivance Author Short Story
By Natural Selection [1] Author Short Story
By Natural Selection [2] Author Short Story
By Natural Selection [3] Author Short Story
By Natural Selection [4] Author Short Story
By Natural Selection [5] Author Short Story
A Conference Courtship [1] Author Short Story
A Conference Courtship [2] Author Short Story
A Corner in Chrysanthemums Author Short Story
Cross Lines [1] Author Short Story
Cross Lines [2] Author Short Story
The Game of Hearts Author Poetry
By Unmapped Paths Author 1913 Short Story
Green Street Author Poetry
Hour Author Poetry
Night Author Poetry
Love That Avails [1] Author Short Story
Love That Avails [2] Author Short Story
Love That Avails [3] Author Short Story
Love That Avails [4] Author Short Story
A Lost Inheritance Author Short Story
Spencer Tree Author Poetry
To Aunt Em Author Poetry
A Lucrezia Borgia Party Author Short Story
Neal Halton's Inheritance Author Short Story
The "New" Woman Author Short Story
A Pioneering Author Short Story
Sheaves [1] Author Short Story
Sheaves [2] Author Short Story
Sheaves [3] Author Short Story
Sheaves [4] Author Short Story
The Tables Turned Author Short Story
To Keep Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [1] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [2] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [3] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [4] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [5] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [6] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [7] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [8] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [9] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [10] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [11] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [12] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [13] Author Short Story
To Seek Their Fortunes [14] Author Short Story
The Wheel of Time Author Short Story
The Worth Whiles Author Short Story
Etched Author Poetry
The Greet Street Author Poetry
The Descendant of an Ancestor Author Short Story
At the Hacienda Author Poetry
Columbus Author Poetry
The Kingdom of Sin Author Poetry
The River Author Poetry
Utah Author Poetry
McClosky and the Cable Author 1915 Short Story
Through Doubt and Debris Author 1906 Short Story
To Him Who Strives Author 1913 Short Story
Letitia Author Short Story
Moonlight at Saltair Author Poetry
Temple Author Poetry
Farmer Parkes' Problem Author Short Story
Her Life's Lesson Author Short Story
Judith Dare Author Short Story
Maridon's Experiment Author Short Story
Private Parmalee Author Short Story
Rolfe Ainslie's Temptation Author Short Story
Fruition Author 1936 Poetry
The Pine Valley Flood Author 1931 Fiction
Thou Livest! Author 1933 Poetry
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