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Melissa Croghan

Melissa Croghan (born September 10, 1952) is an American scholar, writer, and artist who pays particular attention to overlooked women leaders in America.

= Biography = Croghan was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Alexandria, Virginia and on Mackinac Island, Michigan.

She studied art and English at Temple University, where she received the President's scholar award and was graduated magna cum laude in 1976. As a single mother, she found work as a cow herdswoman in Pennsylvania, a clerk in fudge stores on Mackinac Island, Michigan, and eventually landed a job in publications at the Hagley Museum in Wilmington, Delaware. After museum work where she wrote business history articles, she attended graduate school at University of Pennsylvania. Croghan was awarded teaching fellowships and in 1992, a PhD in English and American Literature.

She received early recognition for her artwork and began publishing poetry. At Penn, she taught American Literature from 1986-1994. As an assistant editor at Boulevard Magazine, during her Penn years, she edited the works of Joyce Carol Oates and John Cheever.

Croghan spent a decade, 2001-2011 at work on her ‘Mother America’ series of paintings, which gave Americans the chance to grieve and move on after the September 11, 2001 tragedies.

Her novel, The Tracking Heart, was published in 2012. Kirkus Reviews said the book : “..is a hymn to nature, along with being a mystery and family story. This was followed by Cliff Walk, a book of original paintings paired with poems published by Antrim Press in 2014

Between 2015-17, Croghan traveled five times to Amman, Jordan to teach art and creative writing to the Syrian refugees. Croghan was Poet of the Month in the Hartford Courant’s Poetry corner, November- December, 2016. The nine published poems centered on the lives of the courageous refugees she worked with in Jordan.

She was interviewed by WNPR, January 10, 2017 about the global migrant crisis. During her years working with the Syrian refugees, Croghan’s article and artwork about social justice for the refugees was published by The Penn Gazette

These efforts illuminated the resiliency of the refugees, especially the children, amidst the tragedy of the Syrian civil war.

In 2019, Croghan created an exhibit, ‘The Unsung Stories of Women of Mackinac, 1800-1950,’ sponsored by Mackinac Island Community Foundation ( https://www.micf.org/ ) and the Mackinac Arts Council ( https://www.mackinacartscouncil.org/ ).

This exhibit led to her book, Great Women of Mackinac, 1800-1950. This history of linked biographies was published by Michigan State University Press in 2023.These Indigenous and white women were fur traders, farmers, writers, educators, and health care advocates who established the community of Mackinac Island.