Marie Van Vorst Marie Louise Van Vorst (1867-1936) was an American writer, researcher, painter, and volunteer nurse during World War I. Born in New York City to Hooper Cumming Van Vorst, a judge, and Josephine Adele Treat Van Vorst, she was raised in a socially promnent family. She began her career alongside her widowed sister-in-law, Bessie Van Vorst, co-writing several novels, including Bagsby's Daughter (1901). They also went undercover for The Woman Who Toils (1903), which offered an in-depth account of working women's lives in factories and mills across the United States, with an introduction by Theodore Roosevelt. Van Vorst's literary career also included writing novels, poetry, and articles for publications like Harper's Magazine and Good Housekeeping. Some of her novels, such as The Girl from His Town (1910), were later adapted into silent films. After the war, she worked with postwar relief efforts and exhibited her paintings in New York. In 1916, she married Count Gaetano Cagiati and later adopted a war orphan. Van Vorst died in 1936 in Florence, Italy. Read More Read Less