Bertha Lincoln Heustis, in a 1922 publication.

Bertha Lincoln Heustis (March 5, 1870 – January 21, 1944) was an American writer, filmmaker, and president of the National League of American Pen Women.

Early life

Bertha Lincoln was born in Coldwater, Michigan, the only child of Mary Lawrence Price Lincoln and Col. Charles P. Lincoln, a veteran of the American Civil War. She was a descendant of John Howland, a passenger on the Mayflower.[1] Bertha Lincoln spent her early years in Canton, China, where her father was the American consul.[2]

Career

Bertha Lincoln trained as a singer, and performed throughout her life, in concerts and as a song leader at other events.[3]

Heustis wrote, directed, and produced silent films, including the only production with an all-deaf cast, His Busy Hour (1926), co-produced with James Spearing and starring deaf actor Albert Ballin.[4][5] However, in the silent era films were already reasonably accessible to deaf audiences, and the film remained a novelty, never finding wider distribution.[6]

As a clubwoman, Heustis was elected national president of the National League of American Pen Women for 1915–1916,[7] and was elected to the national post again in 1928.[8] From 1918 to 1927 she was president of the organization's Los Angeles branch.[9] She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and similar organizations.[10] She contributed recipes to the Economy Administration Cook Book (1913), a project of the wives of legislators and diplomats in Washington, edited by fellow Pen Women president Susie Root Rhodes.[11]

Published writings by Bertha Heustis include Word Pictures (1923) and Pietro (1915).[1]

Personal life

Bertha Lincoln married Dr. James Walter Heustis in 1894. Except for stints in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, the couple was based in Dubuque, Iowa. James Heustis served in the Medical Corps during World War I. Bertha was widowed when James died in 1932, and she died in 1944, aged 73 years.[12] Both Heustises were buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

References

  1. 1 2 "Reports from State Societies" The Mayflower Descendant 11(1909): 254.
  2. ↑ John Y. Simon, ed., The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant, October 1, 1880 to December 31, 1882 (SIU Press 2008): 472. ISBN 9780809327768
  3. ↑ "Singer Makes Hit at Alps Concert" St. Louis Post Dispatch (June 5, 1906): 15. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  4. ↑ John S. Schuchman, Hollywood Speaks: Deafness and the Film Entertainment Industry (University of Illinois Press 1999): 38, 112. ISBN 9780252068508
  5. ↑ "His Busy Hour" Progressive Silent Film List.
  6. ↑ John S. Schuchman, "The Silent Film Era: Silent Films, NAD Films, and the Deaf Community's Response" Sign Language Studies 4(3)(2004): 231-238.
  7. ↑ "Mrs. Heustis Heads American Pen Women" Washington Herald (May 9, 1915): 23. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  8. ↑ "League Head" San Bernardino County Sun (May 30, 1928): 6. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  9. ↑ Myra Nye, "What Women are Doing: League of Pen Women" Los Angeles Times (April 21, 1927): A7.
  10. ↑ "Sketches of Southern Club Life" in Louis Lyons and Josephine Wilson, eds., Who's Who Among the Women of California (Security Publishing Company 1922): 159.
  11. ↑ Susie Root Rhodes, Economy Administration Cook Book (W. B. Conkey & Company 1913): 216.
  12. ↑ "Obituary: Mrs. Bertha Heustis" Los Angeles Times (January 23, 1944): 16.
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