Constance Cary Harrison, who often wrote under the pen name Refugitta or as Mrs. Burton Harrison, was an American novelist, playwright, and essayist. Born into a prominent Virginia family with ancestral ties to Thomas Jefferson, her early life was deeply impacted by the American Civil War. She and her cousins, known collectively as the "Cary Invincibles," sewed the first examples of the Confederate Battle Flag. After her family home was destroyed during the conflict, she traveled to Europe with her mother before returning to the United States to marry Burton Harrison, the former secretary to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.\n\nIn 1876, Harrison and her husband relocated to New York City, where she launched her literary career. Her home quickly became a vibrant social and literary hub for the city's creative class. She first gained public attention with her magazine article "A Little Centennial Lady," which paved the way for a prolific career spanning novels, short stories, essays, and theatrical adaptations. Many of her plays, such as The Russian Honeymoon, were adapted from French works.\n\nHarrison achieved widespread literary acclaim with her novel The Anglomaniacs, which was initially published anonymously in The Century magazine. The satirical work exposed the social ambitions of high-society Americans and established her reputation both at home and abroad. Her other notable writings include Flower de Hundred, The Story of Helen Troy, and various collections of fairy tales and domestic guides, cementing her status as a keen observer of late nineteenth-century American society.
