Dorothy Clarke Wilson was an American author and playwright.

Dorothy Clarke was born in Gardiner, Maine

Gardiner, Maine

Gardiner is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,198 at the 2000 census. Popular with tourists, Gardiner is noted for its culture and old architecture.-History:...

 in 1904. She attended Bates College

Bates College

Bates College is a highly selective, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine, in the United States. and was most recently ranked 21st in the nation in the 2011 US News Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings. The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists...

 and graduated Phi Beta Kappa

Phi Beta Kappa Society

The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an academic honor society. Its mission is to "celebrate and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences"; and induct "the most outstanding students of arts and sciences at America’s leading colleges and universities." Founded at The College of William and...

 in 1925 and married classmate, Elwin L. Wilson. After Elwin attended Seminary, they returned to Maine and were both engaged in various Methodist activities.

Clarke's first play that she sold was written for a church. Her best known book was, Prince of Egypt, which won the Westminster prize for the best religious book the year it was published and was also one of the sources for the film The Ten Commandments (1956 film)

The Ten Commandments (1956 film)

The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...

. Clarke was not a fan of the movie and used the term 'flimflammery' to describe the scene in which Moses parted the Red Sea. Wilson is also well known for her biographies about women such as Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American activist on behalf of the indigent insane who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums...

 and Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell

Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the United States and the first on the UK Medical Register...

 as well as Dolley Madison

Dolley Madison

Dolley Payne Todd Madison was the spouse of the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, and was First Lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817...

 and Martha Washington

Martha Washington

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...

.

The Wilson Center at the University of Maine

University of Maine

The University of Maine is a public research university located in Orono, Maine, United States. The university was established in 1865 as a land grant college and is referred to as the flagship university of the University of Maine System...

 was named in Dorothy and Elwin's honor. Dorothy Wilson received numerous awards through her lifetime before she died in 2003.

In addition to her many plays, essays, and lectures, Wilson's work includes:

• Twelve Months of Drama for the Average Church (1933; plays and worship services)
• The Herdsman (1946; novel about Amos)
• Prince of Egypt (1949; novel about Moses)
• House of Earth (1952, a novel about India)
• Fly with Me to India (1954; a travel book)
• That Heaven of Freedom: A One-Act Play of India (1954)
• Jezebel (1955)
• The Gifts: The Story of the Boyhood of Jesus (1957, fiction)
• Dr. Ida: The Story of Dr. Ida Scudder of Vellore [India] (1959)
• The Journey (1962)
• Take My Hands: The Remarkable Story of Dr. Mary Verghese (1963)
• The Tree Gifts (1963)
• Ten Fingers for God (1966/1983; about Paul Brand
  Paul Brand
  Dr. Paul Wilson Brand, CBE was a pioneer in developing tendon transfer techniques for use in the hands of those with leprosy. He was the first physician to appreciate that leprosy did not cause the rotting away of tissues, but that it was the loss of the sensation of pain which made sufferers...
  
  , a missionary to lepers in India)
• Handicap Race: The Inspiring Story of Roger Arnett (1967)
• Palace of Healing: The Story of Dr. Clara Swain, first woman missionary doctor, and the hospital she founded (1968)
• Lone Woman: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell
  Elizabeth Blackwell
  Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the United States and the first on the UK Medical Register...
  
  , the first woman doctor (1970; published in 1983 as I Will Be a Doctor! The Story of America's First Physician)
• The Big-Little World of Doc Pritham, a Greenville doctor (1971; only book set in Maine; reissued for fifth time in 1999)
• Hilary: The Brave World of Hilary Pole (1972)
• Bright Eyes: The Story of Susette La Flesche, an Omaha Indian (1974)
• Stranger & Traveler: The Story of Dorothea Dix
  Dorothea Dix
  Dorothea Lynde Dix was an American activist on behalf of the indigent insane who, through a vigorous program of lobbying state legislatures and the United States Congress, created the first generation of American mental asylums...
  
  , American Reformer (1975)
• Granny Brand: Her Story (1976; aka Climb Every Mountain: The Story of Granny Brand)
• Twelve Who Cared: My Aventures with Christian Courage (1977)
• Apostle of Sight (1980)
• Lincoln's Mothers (1981)
• Lady Washington (1984, about Martha Washington
  Martha Washington
  Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...
  
  )
• The Brother (1984, a novel about St. James)
• Queen Dolley: The Life and Times of Dolley Madison
  Dolley Madison
  Dolley Payne Todd Madison was the spouse of the fourth President of the United States, James Madison, and was First Lady of the United States from 1809 to 1817...
  
  (1987)
• Alice
  Alice Roosevelt
  Alice Lee Roosevelt may refer to:* Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt , the first wife of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt* Alice Roosevelt Longworth , born Alice Lee Roosevelt; the only child of Theodore Roosevelt and Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt...
  
   and Edith
  Edith Roosevelt
  Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt was the second wife of Theodore Roosevelt and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1901 to 1909.-Early life:...
  
  : The Two Wives of Teddy Roosevelt (1989)
• Leaves in the Wind: A Lifetime in Verse (1995)
• Live for Hundred Years: A History of the Maine Christian Association (1996)
• Union in Diversity (1999, 2nd ed., memoirs)