Maud Hart Lovelace was born and grew up in Mankato, Minnesota during the early part of the twentieth century. She made Mankato famous as "Deep Valley" in her children's books. The Betsy-Tacy series were autobiographical children's books about Maud's childhood in Mankato.

Who was Maud Hart Lovelace?

Maud Hart Lovelace was born in Mankato, Minnesota on April 25, 1892 to Thomas and Stella (Palmer) Hart. She was the second of three daughters. Her older sister, Kathleen became a professional opera singer in Minneapolis, and her younger sister Helen, worked for the Minneapolis Public Library. When Maud was 10, her father had some of her poems printed in a booklet as a birthday present. She began to send her stories to magazines and sold her first story at the age of 18. After Maud graduated from high school, her family moved to Minneapolis.

Maud attended the University of Minnesota and served on the staffs of two student publications, the Minnesota Daily, and The Minnesota Magazine. In 1917, after a short study abroad, she married Delos Wheeler Lovelace. She wrote historical novels. When their daughter Merian was young, Maud began recounting stories of her childhood. These stories gave Maud the idea of writing the Betsy-Tacy books.

The first book, Betsy-Tacy was published in 1940. Although Maud did not intend to write any other books, readers were so insistent that she eventually wrote 12 other books about Betsy and her friends growing up in Deep Valley (Mankato).

Maud Hart Lovelace died on March 11, 1980 and is buried in the Glenwood Cemetary in Mankato. Her legacy lives on with each generation that love the Betsy-Tacy books and the magic of childhood.

If you are going to be in the Mankato area, you can download a map of the area with Betsy-Tacy sites highlighted.

Links to Betsy-Tacy Sites

Here you'll find a list of all the Books Lovelace wrote

Nava Cohen maintains the Betsy-Tacy Homepage which has more information about Mrs. Lovelace and the Betsy-Tacy series.

Yes there is a Besty-Tacy Society! It's located in Maud's hometown of Mankato, Minnesota and has semi-annual conventions. Click here to visit the Society's homepage.

Most of the people and places depicted in the Besty-Tacy series were real.

People of Deep Valley--find out the real names of the characters in the books and to find a brief account of what happened to each (when available)

Places in Deep Valley--find out the real names of the places that are depicted in the books, also a map that show where they're located

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