Mildred Burleigh

Not a whole lot is known about the life of Mildred Burleigh. What is known is that she was born in 1887 as Mildred E. Burley and lived in Indiana. In April 1908, the Grand Rapids Press published a staff change at a school in Carson City, Oregon.

 “…Miss Mildred Burley, teacher of drawing…will probably remain. The school year has been a very successful one. The senior class has seven members, one boy and six girls.”

Seven members. Imagine.

What else do we know? We know about this…

Pigtails was published in the Chicago Tribune from 1921 to 1923 and focused on the daily life of girls, both in school and at home. Pigtails was discontinued on April 19, 1923, but that didn’t stop Ms. Burleigh from moving on to another comic strip a week later. Kitty and Her Family proved popular and was described by the Tribune as “fun for everyone – man, woman or child.”

After Kitty completed its run on February 10, 1924, Ms. Burleigh moved on to places and ventures unknown, at least as far as history tells us a century later.

But there is one more breadcrumb dropped along the way. This came by way of a lithograph obtained by the University of Maryland Art Gallery and attributed to Mildred Burleigh. The lithograph itself doesn’t have a date, and it’s simply titled “Clown”. I’m sure it will leave an impression. Check it out…

Mildred Burleigh  (1887 – Date of Death unknown)