Hope Emily Allen

Hope Emily Allen (1883–1960), an independent medieval scholar, is best known for her research on the 14th-century English mystic Richard Rolle and for her discovery of the Book of Margery Kempe.

Hope Emily Allen was born in Kenwood, Oneida County, New York, on November 12, 1883. Allen's parents, Henry Grosvenor Allen and Portia Underhill had previously lived for a time in the Oneida Community, an experimental group based on socialist principles, which broke up in 1880. Allen spent much of her life living on property which was originally part of the community. She also lived in Niagara Falls, Canada, attending Niagara Falls (Ontario) Collegiate.

Allen undertook her undergraduate studies at Bryn Mawr College with special interests in the study of Middle English literary texts, taught by medievalist Carleton Brown. She graduated in 1905 as one of "The Ten" top scholars. The next year she completed graduate work, also at Bryn Mawr, in English literature and Greek, earning a master's degree. After Bryn Mawr, she went to Radcliffe to begin studying for her Ph.D, during which time she enrolled at Cambridge University in 1910 to study English literature at Newnham College for a semester. That semester eventually became a period of three years.

After a period of illness, Allen returned to Oneida to recover. In September 1913, her mother died, and Allen assumed care of her father. During World War I, she remained in the United States, working on Rolle, frequently writing to her friends in England, and sending them care packages. On July 7, 1920 her father died. By 1921, Allen had returned to London, lodging at 116 Cheyne Row with a Cambridge friend, scientist-artist Marietta Pallis.

Allen's time in Britain allowed her to make a great number of personal and academic associations, as well as experience European culture. She was closely connected with a group of other women scholars on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, including Joan Wake and Dorothy Ellis. During her time in England, she pursued her two lifelong goals: medieval scholarship and feminism. Allen had great concern for women's values and identity and continued to fight for these issues throughout her life.

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