Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard

Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard's grandfather was Cornelius "C.C." Fitzgerald.  His brother Will told stories about their childhood to his daughter who passed them along to the author.  Inspired by these stories, Elizabeth visited Jonesborough, Tennessee, a town seven miles form where her grandfather grew up.  There she learned about a school started by Quakers called the Warner Institute and wrote this story.  Elizabeth is the author of Chita's Christmas Tree, an ALA Notable Book and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  

From the dust jacket of Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys