Dorothy Clarke Wilson

Who was Dorothy Clarke Wilson?

Dorothy Clarke Wilson was an American author and playwright.

Dorothy Clarke was born in Gardiner, Maine in 1904. She attended Bates College and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1925 and married classmate, Elwin L. Wilson. After Elwin attended Seminary, they returned to Maine and were both engaged in various Methodist activities.

Clarke's first play that she sold was written for a church. Her best known book was, Prince of Egypt, which won the Westminster prize for the best religious book the year it was published and was also one of the sources for the film The Ten Commandments. Clarke was not a fan of the movie and used the term 'flimflammery' to describe the scene in which Moses parted the Red Sea. Wilson is also well known for her biographies about women such as Dorothea Dix and Elizabeth Blackwell as well as Dolley Madison and Martha Washington.

The Wilson Center at the University of Maine was named in Dorothy and Elwin's honor. Dorothy Wilson received numerous awards through her lifetime before she died in 2003.

In addition to her many plays, essays, and lectures, Wilson's work includes:

Twelve Months of Drama for the Average Church