Background
She was born in Dayton, Ohio, and was orphaned at the age of three.
She was born in Dayton, Ohio, and was orphaned at the age of three.
She moved to Baltimore, Maryland, when she was twelve. She was an avid reader with a remarkable memory. She never published or copyrighted the poem.
The identity of the author of the poem was unknown until the late 1990s, when Frye revealed that she had written lieutenant
Her claim was confirmed in 1998 after research by Abigail Van Buren.
The poem for which she became famous was originally composed on a brown paper shopping bag, and was reportedly inspired by the story of a young Jewish girl, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who had been staying with the Frye household and had been unable to visit her dying mother in Germany because of anti-Semitic unrest.
