Myra Kelly

Myra Kelly
Myra Kelly was an Irish-American teacher and writer, born in Dublin in 1875 and later immigrating to the United States. She is best known for her stories that draw on her experiences teaching immigrant children in New York City's Lower East Side, particularly in the Jewish ghetto. Her notable works include "Little Citizens: The Humours of School Life" (1904) and "Wards of Liberty" (1907), which provide vivid depictions of life in early 20th-century urban America. Kelly's writing combines humor and compassion, shedding light on the challenges and resilience of immigrant communities.

Author's Books:


A business meeting of the Lady Hyacinths Shirt-Waist Club was in progress. The roll had been called. The twenty members were all present and the Secretary had read the minutes of the last meeting. These formalities had consumed only a few moments and the club was ready to fall upon its shirt waists. The sewing-machines were oiled and uncovered, the cutting-table was cleared, every Hyacinth had her box... more...

A LITTLE MATTER OF REAL ESTATE Four weeks of teaching in a lower East Side school had deprived Constance Bailey of many of the "Ideals in Education" which, during four years at college, she had trustingly acquired. But, despite many discouragements, despite an unintelligible dialect and an autocratic "Course of Study," she clung to an ambition to establish harmony in her kingdom and to... more...

"EVERY GOOSE A SWAN" An ideal is like a golden pheasant. As soon as the hunter comes up with one he kills it in more or less bloody fashion, tears its feathers off, absorbs what he can of it, and then sets out, refreshed, in pursuit of another. Or if, being a tender-hearted hunter, he tries to keep it in a cage to tame it, to teach it, to show it to his friends, it very soon loses its original... more...