Burton J. Hendrick facts for kids
Burton Jesse Hendrick (born December 8, 1870, died March 23, 1949) was an American writer from New Haven, Connecticut. He was known for his investigative journalism and for writing many important biographies. He even won the famous Pulitzer Prize three times!
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Burton Jesse Hendrick: A Writer's Life
Burton Jesse Hendrick had a long and interesting career as a writer. He started out working for newspapers and then became a special kind of journalist called a "muckraker." Later, he became famous for writing detailed life stories, known as biographies.
Early Life and Education
Burton Hendrick was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He went to Yale University, which is a very well-known school. While he was there, he worked as an editor for two student magazines: The Yale Courant and The Yale Literary Magazine. He finished his studies at Yale in 1895 and got his master's degree in 1897.
From Newspapers to "Muckraking"
After college, Hendrick started working for newspapers. He was an editor for the New Haven Morning News. He also wrote for The New York Evening Post and The New York Sun.
In 1905, he decided to leave newspapers. He became a "muckraker" for McClure's Magazine. A muckraker was a journalist who investigated and wrote about problems in society or business. They wanted to show people the truth about important issues. For example, in 1906, Hendrick wrote an article for McClure's called "The Story of Life-Insurance," which revealed problems in that industry.
After working at McClure's, Hendrick joined World's Work magazine in 1913 as an associate editor.
Writing Biographies and Winning Awards
In 1919, Burton Hendrick started writing biographies. A biography is a book about someone's life. His first biography was Ambassador Morgenthau's Story, which he wrote for Henry Morgenthau, Sr.. Sometimes, when someone helps write a book for another person, they are called a ghostwriter.
Hendrick became very successful at writing biographies and history books. He won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize three times!
- In 1921, he won the Pulitzer Prize for History for The Victory at Sea. He wrote this book with William Sowden Sims.
- In 1923, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for Life and Letters of Walter H Page.
- In 1929, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography again for The Training of An American.
Later Works and Unfinished Projects
In 1919, Hendrick also published Age of Big Business. This book looked at how large companies started in America and how the United States grew into a powerful country. He wrote this by telling the stories of different important people.
After writing a biography about Andrew Carnegie, a famous businessman, Hendrick started writing about groups of people or families. He worked on a biography of Andrew Mellon, another important figure, but this book was never published.
When Burton Hendrick passed away in 1949, he was working on a biography of Louise Whitfield Carnegie, who was Andrew Carnegie's wife.
Books by Burton Jesse Hendrick
Here are some of the books Burton Jesse Hendrick wrote:
- 1919 Ambassador Morgenthau's Story
- 1920 The Victory at Sea (with William Sims)
- 1923 Life and Letters of Walter H Page
- 1928 The Training Of An American: The Earlier Life and Letters of Walter H Page
- 1932 The Life of Andrew Carnegie
- 1935 The Lees of Virginia: Biography of a Family
- 1937 Bulwark of the Republic, A Biography of the Constitution
- 1939 Statesmen of the Lost Cause: Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet
- 1946 Lincoln's War Cabinet
