Maginel Wright Barney (1881–1966)

Maginel Wright Barney was born Margaret Ellen Wright. The name Maginel was a nickname from her mother. Her older brother was Frank Lloyd Wright. When she was two years old, the family moved from Massachusetts to Madison, Wisconsin; 10 years on, they moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Maginel attended the Chicago Art Institute. She married Walter J. Enright, an illustrator and political cartoonist, and it was under the name Maginel Wright Enright that she published during her artistic career. She illustrated more than 60 children's books, sometimes with other artists, and was acclaimed by critics and the public. Her works included illustrations for L. Frank Baum's Policeman Bluejay (1907), Johanna Spyri's Heidi (1921), and Mary Mapes Dodge's Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates (1918, with Edna Cooke). Besides fiction, she also illustrated textbooks for children. She also was in demand as a magazine illustrator and cover artist for publications such as McClure's and Ladies' Home Journal. After a divorce from her first husband, she married Hiram Barney, a lawyer. Her autobiography, The Valley of the God-Almighty Joneses, was published in 1965, a year before her death.