Five photographs of Esther Mary Clark Hill and friends, possibly taken at Mrs. Grubbs' house. Esther Mary Clark was born on December 3, 1876 near Chanute, Neosho County, Kansas. She attended the University of Kansas for awhile and later resided temporarily in Long Beach, California. While there she was homesick for Kansas and wrote the poem, "The Call of Kansas." This poem became the subject of controversy in 1914 when a resident of Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas said that she wrote it. This other person's claim was disproved.
In 1918 Esther Clark married Joseph E. Hill, who died shortly thereafter. Mrs. Hill spent most of the rest of her life in Kansas. She wrote prose and poetry for newspapers especially the Kansas City Star. She also briefly worked for the Kansas State Historical Society in the Archives.
Esther Mary Clark Hill died 21 March 1932 in Topeka, Kansas.
Kansas Memory
Kansas Historical Society
Esther Mary Clark Hill - Esther Mary Clark Hill seated on a porch possibly with Mrs. Grubbs.