Louise Phelps Kellogg

Biography

Kellogg was born May 12, 1862 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The Women’s Education Association, Boston, granted Kellogg a fellowship that allowed her to continue her education in London and Paris. She earned her bachelors and doctorate degrees in 1897 and 1901 from University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she studied under Frederick Jackson Turner. She was one of a handful of students who participated in Turner's class on the west, the first ever offered at any U.S. college.

After graduation, she joined the State Historical Society of Wisconsin as library research assistant to Reuben Gold Thwaites. During this time the history profession was growing, especially in the areas of state history and of the West. Kellogg at the WHS quickly gained notoriety in this field and state historical societies often consulted with her. Through her research and publications she gained a reputation as one of the leading U.S. historians of the French and British eras in the Great Lakes. Her major works included the French Regime and Northwest and The British Regime in Wisconsin and the Northwest. She also contributed to The New Dictionary of America and volumes 17-20 of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin's collections.

The Wisconsin society credits Kellogg with adding immeasurable contributions that added so much good to the name of the society. She is also the recipient of the 1903 Justin Winsor Prize from The American Historical Association. She was also elected president of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association. She was awarded honorary degrees from the University of Wisconsin and Marquette University.

She died in Madison, Wisconsin on July 11, 1942 and is interred in Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee.

Works