Bess Streeter Aldrich (pen name, Margaret Dean Stephens; February 17, 1881 – August 3, 1954) was an American author. Aldrich began writing more regularly in 1911. She went on to become one of the highest-paid women writers of the period. Her stories often concerned the Heartland/Plains pioneer history and were very popular with teenage girls and young women. Aldrich received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in literature from the University of Nebraska in 1934 and was named into the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1973. Aldrich's papers are held at the Nebraska State Historical Society in Lincoln, Nebraska.