Born in Cincinnati in 1895, Helen Hooven Santmyer moved to Xenia, Ohio, at the age of five and graduated from Wellesley College in 1918. She attended Oxford University in England as one of the earliest female Rhodes Scholars. She is best known for her novels, the most famous being "...and Ladies of the Club", the bestselling novel of 1984, which earned her critical acclaim and national recognition at the age of 88. In 1935, Santmyer returned to Xenia when she became Dean of Women and the head of the English Department at Cedarville College in nearby Cedarville, Ohio. She left that institution in 1953 and then served as a reference librarian at the Dayton and Montgomery County Public Library, retiring in 1959. She died in 1986. She was inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 1996.

Centennial Library Collection Catalog Record

Collection Container Inventory

Also of interest:

• Historical marker at the site of her home
• The Ohio State University's Helen Hooven Santmyer Papers
• Article in April 1984 Aviso (page 6)