Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, better known by her pen name Susan Coolidge, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1835.Part of the influential Dwight family of New England, Coolidge had a privileged upbringing. She worked as a nurse during the Civil War, and began her writing career after the end of the conflict. She never married, but lived alone at her home in Rhode Island, and had an extensive writing career. Best known for her children’s novel What Katy Did and its sequels, Coolidge wrote several other children’s books, short stories, and poems, as well as editing several biographies and collections of letters.‍What Katy Did was based on her own childhood and experiences growing up as part of large family.