Celeste Comegys Peardon

Mary Celeste Comegys Peardon (March 25, 1898 – December 29, 1988) was an American writer of books for children and classroom use.

Celeste Comegys Peardon
A young white woman with bobbed dark hair, wearing a white collared blouse.
Celeste Comegys, from the 1926 yearbook of Barnard College
Born
Mary Celeste Comegys

March 25, 1898
Rock Island, Illinois
DiedDecember 29, 1988 (age 90 years)
Bridgewater, Connecticut
OccupationWriter
RelativesZelina Brunschwig (sister)

Early life edit

Mary Celeste Comegys was born in Rock Island, Illinois, the daughter of Joseph Parsons Comegys (not the congressman of the same name) and Eliza (or Elsie) Virginia Thompson Comegys. Her father was a surgeon[1] and a college professor. She graduated from Rock Island High School,[2][3] and graduated from Barnard College in 1926.[4][5] Her older sister Zelina Comegys Brunschwig was prominent in the interior design industry.[6][7]

Career edit

Peardon wrote books for children, especially The Work-Play Readers, for classroom use. She was also credited as a consultant on the short film Adventures of Bunny Rabbit (1937). She worked on another film produced by Encyclopedia Britannica, Navajo Children, with her colleagues Arthur I. Gates and Ernest Horn.[8] She was president of the Women's Faculty Club at Teachers College, Columbia University,[9] and spoke at educational meetings.[10]

Publications edit

Many of these titles were part of The Work-Play Readers, a set of primers for early readers, which she wrote in collaboration with Arthur I. Gates and other contributors.[11][12]

  • Adventures in a Big City (1931)
  • "Studies of Children's Interest in Reading" (1931, with Arthur I. Gates and Ina Craig Sartorius)[13]
  • Nick and Dick; Fun with Nick and Dick; and The Story Book of Nick and Dick (1936 and 1937, with Arthur I. Gates and Franklin T. Baker)[14]
  • Jim and Judy (1939, with Arthur I. Gates and Miriam Blanton Huber)[15]
  • Off we go (1939, with Arthur I. Gates and Miriam Blanton Huber)[16]
  • Wide wings (1939, with Arthur I. Gates and Miriam Blanton Huber)[17]
  • We Grow Up (1939, with Arthur I. Gates and Miriam Blanton Huber)[18]
  • Down our street (1939, with Arthur I. Gates, Miriam Blanton, Huber, and Cyrus Leroy Baldridge)[19]
  • Sing, canary, sing (1939, with Arthur I. Gates, Cyrus Leroy Baldridge, and Allegra Ingleright)[20]
  • The Surprise Box (1939, with Arthur I. Gates and others)[21]
  • In Came Pinky (1939, with Arthur I. Gates and others)[22]
  • Elsie Elephant (1939, with Arthur I. Gates and others)[23]
  • Pueblo Indian stories (1940, with Arthur I. Gates and others)[24]
  • Fifty Winters Ago (1940, with Arthur I. Gates and Elizabeth D. Neill)[25]
  • The Pupil's Own Vocabulary Speller (1944, with Arthur I. Gates, Henry D. Rinsland, and Ina C. Sartorius)[26]
  • Tags and Twinkle (1945, with Arthur I. Gates, Miriam Blanton Huber, and Frank Seely Salisbury)[27]
  • Good Times Together (1953, with Arthur I. Gates)[28]
  • Robin fly south! (1953, with Arthur I. Gates and Charles Payzant)[29]
  • Sandy in the Green Mountains (1957, with Arthur I. Gates and others)[30]
  • The World I Know (1957, with Arthur I. Gates)[31][32]
  • Good Times Tomorrow (1957, with Arthur I. Gates)[33]

Personal life edit

Comegys married Canadian-born professor and college administrator Thomas Preston Peardon in 1926.[4][34] They had a son, Thomas Jr.[35] She died in 1988, aged 90 years, in Bridgewater, Connecticut.

References edit

  1. ^ "Dr. Joseph P. Comegys; Post Surgeon of Rock lsland, Ill., Arsenal During War". The New York Times. 1935-01-21. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  2. ^ "Winding Up Year for High School". The Rock Island Argus. 1915-06-03. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "In City for Class Reunion". The Rock Island Argus. 1940-05-27. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b "Celeste Comegys Weds T. P. Peardon; Father Henry F. Riley Performs Ceremony at Home of the Bride's Father". The New York Times. 1926-06-05. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
  5. ^ Barnard College, Mortarboard (1926 yearbook): 179.
  6. ^ Bird, Maryann (1981-09-12). "Zelina Comegys Brunschwig, Chairman of Fabric Company". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  7. ^ Schrage, Lois (1982-01-08). "Fluff n Stuff". The Rock Island Argus. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-07-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Museum Program Set". The Albuquerque Tribune. 1959-07-21. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Mayer, Rachel (1956-03-05). "Profs. Tell How Barnardites Do--as Housewives". Barnard Bulletin. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-07-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Mrs. Reardon Speaks to Council of Teachers". The Tribune. 1936-12-12. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-07-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Gray, C. T. (1940). "Review of The New Work-Play Books". The Elementary School Journal. 40 (8): 635–637. doi:10.1086/457820. ISSN 0013-5984. JSTOR 997854.
  12. ^ MacLatchy, Josephine H. (1944). "Variety in Preprimers". Educational Research Bulletin. 23 (5): 113–122. ISSN 1555-4023. JSTOR 1473993.
  13. ^ Gates, Arthur I.; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Sartorius, Ina Craig (1931). "Studies of Children's Interests in Reading". The Elementary School Journal. 31 (9): 656–670. doi:10.1086/456638. ISSN 0013-5984. JSTOR 996411. S2CID 145710212.
  14. ^ Moore, Clyde B. (1938). "Review of Nick and Dick; Fun with Nick and Dick; The Story Book of Nick and Dick". The Elementary School Journal. 38 (7): 552. doi:10.1086/462224. ISSN 0013-5984. JSTOR 3203024.
  15. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Huber, Miriam Blanton; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1939). Jim and Judy. OCLC 11180705.
  16. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Huber, Miriam Blanton; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1939). Off we go. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 16413008.
  17. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Huber, Miriam Blanton; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1939). Wide wings. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 3993735.
  18. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Huber, Miriam Blanton; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1939). We grow up. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 4197276.
  19. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Huber, Miriam Blanton; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy (1939). Down our street. New York: Macmillan Co. OCLC 14876359.
  20. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Ingleright, Allegra; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy (1939). Sing, canary, sing. Macmillan. OCLC 9655280.
  21. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy; Falls, C. B (1939). The surprise box. New York: Macmillan Co. OCLC 1558363.
  22. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy; Falls, C. B; Macmillan Company (1939). In came Pinky. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 758269757.
  23. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Brindl, Helen M; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Baldridge, Cyrus Leroy; Falls, C. B (1939). Elsie elephant. New York: Macmillan Co. OCLC 1862538.
  24. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1940). Pueblo Indian stories. New York: Macmillan Co. OCLC 1157058834.
  25. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Neill, Elizabeth D; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1940). Fifty winters ago. New York: The Macmillan Company. OCLC 1862578.
  26. ^ Allen, Thomas H. (1945). "Review of The Pupils' Own Vocabulary Speller". The Elementary School Journal. 45 (6): 362–363. doi:10.1086/458434. ISSN 0013-5984. JSTOR 997918.
  27. ^ Arthur I. Gates, Miriam Blanton Huber (1945). Tags and Twinkle. University of Victoria Libraries. The MacMillan Company of Canada Limited.
  28. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1953). Good times together. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 5703654.
  29. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Payzant, Charles (1953). Robin fly south!. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 7595320.
  30. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys; Payzant, Charles; Eliot, Duval; Keller, Janet; Knight, John (1953). Sandy in the Green Mountains. OCLC 7595345.
  31. ^ Gates, Arthur Irving; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1957). The World I Know. Macmillan.
  32. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1957). The world I know. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 757234878.
  33. ^ Gates, Arthur I; Peardon, Celeste Comegys (1957). Good times tomorrow. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 6225879.
  34. ^ "Miss Celeste Comegys Will Become Bride of University Professor". The Rock Island Argus. 1926-06-03. p. 9. Retrieved 2022-07-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ "Thomas Preston Peardon". Harvard Class of 1960. Retrieved 2022-07-28.

External links edit