Elbridge Streeter Brooks facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elbridge Streeter Brooks
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| Born | April 14, 1846 Lowell, Massachusetts |
| Died | January 7, 1902 (aged 55) Somerville, Massachusetts |
| Occupation | author, editor and critic |
| Nationality | United States |
| Period | 1880 - 1902 |
Elbridge Streeter Brooks (born April 14, 1846 – died January 7, 1902) was an American author, editor, and critic. He is best known for writing many books, both fiction and non-fiction, especially for children. His stories often focused on history or patriotic themes. Most of his writings were published under the name Elbridge S. Brooks.
Contents
Life and Family History
Elbridge Streeter Brooks was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, on April 14, 1846. His father, Elbridge Gerry Brooks, was a minister, and his mother was Martha Fowle (Monroe) Brooks. As a child, Elbridge lived in different places like Bath, Maine, Lynn, Massachusetts, and New York City, because his father worked in various churches.
He went to public schools in Lynn and New York. In 1861, he started college at the Free Academy (which is now the College of the City of New York). However, he left during his third year to find work. Later, in 1887, he earned a master's degree from Tufts College.
As an adult, he lived in Philadelphia and New York City. In 1887, he moved to Somerville, Massachusetts, which was his mother's hometown. In 1870, he married Hannah-Melissa Debaun from New York. They had two daughters, Geraldine and Christine. Geraldine also became an author, and she even updated some of her father's books for new editions. Elbridge Streeter Brooks passed away on January 7, 1902, in Somerville and was buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery.
Elbridge Brooks' Writing Career
Brooks began his professional life in 1865, working as a clerk for a publishing company called D. Appleton & Company. He continued to work for various publishers and magazines throughout his life. He held different roles, including working for Ford & Company and Henry Holt & Company in the early 1870s. In 1876, he became the head of the English educational department at E. Steiger & Company.
Later, he joined the staff of Publishers Weekly in 1879. He also worked as a literary editor and critic for the Brooklyn Daily Times from 1883 to 1885. From 1884 to 1887, he was an associate editor for St. Nicholas Magazine, a very popular children's magazine. After that, he became an editor for D. Lothrop & Company in 1887 and stayed there until his death. He also edited a series called The Story of the States for Lothrop and was the editor of Wide Awake from 1891 to 1893.
Brooks started writing stories, poems, and plays for children in 1879. His work appeared in well-known magazines like St. Nicholas, Wide Awake, Harper's Young People, and Golden Days. Many of these stories were later put together and published as books. He wrote almost seventy books, mostly about history, especially American history. Some of his patriotic books were even supported by groups like the Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution. He also wrote some things for adults, including a biography about his own father.
Popular Book Series
Brooks wrote several popular series that taught young readers about American history and government.
- The Century Book for Young Americans; Showing How a Party of Boys and Girls Who Knew How to Use Their Eyes and Ears Found Out All About the Government of the United States (1894)
- The Century Book of Famous Americans; the Story of a Young People’s Pilgrimage to Historic Homes (1896)
- The Century Book of the American Revolution (1897)
- The Century Book of the American Colonies; the Story of the Pilgrimage of a Party of Young People to the Sites of the Earliest American Colonies (1900)
Biographies for Young Readers
He was well-known for writing biographies that made history exciting for kids.
- Historic Boys; Their Endeavors, Their Achievements and Their Times (1885)
- Historic Girls; Stories of Girls Who Have Influenced the History of Their Times (1887)
- The True Story of Christopher Columbus, Called the Great Admiral (1892)
- The True Story of George Washington; Called the Father of His Country (1895)
- The True Story of Abraham Lincoln, the American; Told for Boys and Girls (1896)
- The True Story of U. S. Grant, the American Soldier, Told for Boys and Girls (1897)
- The True Story of Benjamin Franklin, the American Statesman (1898)
- The True Story of Lafayette, Called the Friend of America (1899)
Other Works and Stories
Brooks also wrote other types of books, including adventure stories and plays.
- Chivalric Days; and the Boys and Girls Who Helped to Make Them (1886)
- In Leisler’s Times; an Historical Story of Knickerbocker New York (1886)
- A Boy of the First Empire (1895)
- The Long Walls; an American Boy’s Adventures in Greece; a Story of Digging and Discovery, Temples and Treasure (with John Alden) (1896)
- A Son of the Revolution; Being the Story of Young Tom Edwards, Adventurer, and How He Labored for Liberty and Fought it Out With His Conscience in the Days of Burr's Conspiracy (1898)
- The Master of the Strong Hearts; a Story of Custer’s Last Rally (1898)
- In Blue and White; the Adventures and Misadventures of Humphrey VanDyne, Trooper in Washington’s Life-Guard (1899)
- Stories of the Old Bay State (1899)
- With Lawton and Roberts : a Boy’s Adventures in the Philippines and the Transvaal (1900)
- Under the Allied Flags a Boy’s Adventures in the International War against the Boxers and China (1901)
