[citation needed] Riley was born March 18, 1863, on a farm near Morrison, Illinois, in Whiteside County, and died in Pasadena, California, in 1953.
[citation needed] At age 16 she saw her first play, Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser, performed by Gilmore's Band at the local opera house, which excited her enormously.
[citation needed] Alice and Harrison lived at 1822 Sheridan Road in Evanston, Illinois (now demolished), before retiring to Pasadena, California.
[3] Through the influence of her cousin Sara Collins, Riley moved to Chicago in 1885 to teach primary grade girls at the Park Institute finishing school.
Soon, the song received notoriety and they were approached by an agent from John Church Company of Cincinnati, Ohio, who wanted to publish a children's kindergarten book.
The resulting book, Playtime Songs,[4] was very successful all over the United States and in Canada, England, and English schools in Japan.
At the lecture, O'Donnell stressed that Chicago needed to develop an educated audience for drama and the immense influence women could bring toward this goal.
On a trip back to Evanston in September 1929, she outlined the plan for the Arts Center, collaborated with the library board and put through all resolutions and programs.
[citation needed] Her best known published works are: Songs of the Child World, Lilts and Lyrics, and The Lost Princess Bo-Peep, in collaboration with the composer, Jessie Gaynor (1863–1921).