James Lane Allen was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novelA Kentucky Cardinal, often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. His work is characteristic of the late 19th-century local color era, when writers sought to capture the vernacular in their fiction. Allen has been described as "Kentucky's first important novelist".
Early life and education
James Lane Allen was born near Lexington, Kentucky, to Richard and Helen Jane Allen on December 21, 1849. Allen, the youngest child in the family, had four sisters Lydia, May, Sally, and Annie, and two brothers, John and Henry. Allen lived at the Scarlet Gate estate in Lexington in the late 1800s until age 22 years. In 1872 Allen graduated from the University of Kentucky, Lexington, taught at Fort Spring, Kentucky, at Richmond and at Lexington, Missouri, and from 1877 to 1879 at the academy of the University of Kentucky, where he was principal and taught modern languages. In 1880 he was professor of Latin and English at Bethany College ; and then became head of a private school at Lexington, Kentucky. Allen spent his youth in Lexington during the Antebellum era, the American Civil War, and the Reconstruction periods. His childhood experience heavily influenced his writing. He described living at Scarlet Gate in the introduction to A Kentucky Cardinal.
In 1893 Allen moved to New York City, where he lived until his death. He was a contributor to Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and other popular magazines of the time. His novels include The Choir Invisible, which was a very popular best seller in 1897.
Death and legacy
Allen died "from insomnia" in 1925, and is buried in Lexington Cemetery. At the northern edge of Gratz Park in Lexington is the "Fountain of Youth", built in memory of Allen using proceeds willed to the city by him. James Lane Allen School, an elementary school off Alexandria Drive in Lexington, Kentucky is named in his honor.
