Cornelia Lynde Meigs, the daughter of Montgomery and Grace Lynde Meigs, was born on December 6, 1884, in Rock Island, Illinois. As a member of a large family, she learned to tell stories by listening to her father and an older sister, then retelling the stories to the only family member younger than she.

Most of Meigs's childhood was spent in Keokuk, Iowa, where her father was in charge of engineering projects on the Mississippi River. The family spent the summers in New England, the original home of Meigs's parents' families.

In 1907 Meigs graduated from Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and from 1912 to 1913 taught English at St.

Katharine's School in Davenport, Iowa.

In 1932 she returned to Bryn Mawr to teach, remaining there until 1950. Her career as a scholar culminated with the publication of her Critical History of Children's Literature (1953). From 1942 to 1945, she also worked for the...