Jeanette Eaton (November 30, 1886 – February 19, 1968) was an American writer of

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, primarily biography and history. Four times she was one of the runners-up for the annual

Newbery Medal The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...

. She was a

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

Biography

Eaton was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. She received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely follo ...

in 1908 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1910. Eaton was a supporter of

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

since at least her college years, giving her first public suffragist speech soon after she finished college. In 1915 she co-authored, along with Bertha Morton Stevens, ''Commercial Work and Training for Girls'', which examined the harsh working conditions of women for that time period. In an article in ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' in August 1915 she argued that modern inventions, such as electricity, washing machines, and typewriters, were the "best friend" of women, not suffrage nor education. She also wrote at least one article for ''

The Masses ''The Masses'' was a graphically innovative magazine of socialist politics published monthly in the United States from 1911 until 1917, when federal prosecutors brought charges against its editors for conspiring to obstruct conscription. It was s ...

'', a periodical published from 1911 to 1917 which had

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, feminist, and free-love writings. By the late 1920s, she was becoming a recognized writer. She was also an editor for the children's magazine ''Story Parade''. She continued writing for feminist periodicals such as ''AWA merican Woman's AssociationBulletin'' and ''Woman's Journal''. Her strong feminist views were readily apparent in a November 1915 article she wrote for ''The Masses'':

"The woman's magazine is the savior of society, man's best friend, the final hope of our chivalric civilization. Woman's ambitions, her independence, the assertion of her own free personality are gradually but certainly inhibited by a few years of such reading".

Her writing, which included many biographies for young adults, has sometimes been thought "melodramatic" and to have "bordered on the overblown", but her biography of

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, '' Gandhi, Fighter Without a Sword'' (1950, a 1951 Newbery Honor book) "was written in a more muted and understated style". She was given the 1959 Ohioana Award for her 1958 young adult biography of

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

, ''America's Own Mark Twain''. Several of her books were positively reviewed in Boy's Life. She died in

Central Valley, New York Central Valley is a hamlet in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 1,857 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a census-designated place. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan St ...

. Her papers are held at the University of Minnesota Library, the Children's Literature Research Collections.

Selected works

* ''Commercial Work and Training for Girls'' (1915, coauthor with Bertha Morton Stevens) * ''The Story of Light'' (1927) * ''The Story of Transportation'' (1928) * '' A Daughter of the Seine: The Life of Madame Roland'' (1929) (NH 1930) * ''Jeanne d'Arc, the Warrior Saint'' (1931) * ''The Flame, Saint Catherine of Sienna'' (1931) * ''Young Lafayette'' (1932) * ''Herdboy of Hungary'' (1932) (collaboration with

Alexander Finta Alexander Finta (1881–1958) was a Hungarian-born American artist. Finta received his early education in Europe before moving onto Columbia University. He settled in Los Angeles, California in 1939 and proceeded to mainly create marble and bronz ...

) * ''Behind the Show Window'' (1935) * ''Betsy's Napoleon'' (1936) * '' Leader By Destiny: George Washington, Man and Patriot'' (1938) (NH 1939) * ''Narcissa Whitman: Pioneer of Oregon'' (1941) * ''Heroines of the Sky'' (1942) (coauthor with Jean Adams and Margaret Kimball) * ''Lone Journey'' (1944) * '' Lone Journey: The Life of Roger Williams'' (1944) (NH 1945) * ''David Livingstone, Foe of Darkness'' (1947) * ''That Lively Man, Ben Franklin'' (1948) * ''Buckley O'Neill of Arizona'' (1949) * ''Leaders in Other Lands'' (1950) * ''Washington, the Nation's First Hero'' (1951) * '' Gandhi, Fighter Without a Sword'' (1950) (NH 1951) * ''Lee, the Gallant General'' (1953) * ''The Story of Eleanor Roosevelt'' (1954) * ''Trumpeter's Tale: The Story of Young Louis Armstrong'' (1955) * ''The Golden Stamp Book of George Washington'' (1956) * ''America's Own Mark Twain'' (1958) NH: Four children's books by Eaton were among the annual Newbery Medal runners-up, now called Newbery Honor Books.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Jeanette 1886 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers American children's writers American non-fiction children's writers Newbery Honor winners Ohio State University alumni People from Orange County, New York Vassar College alumni Writers from Columbus, Ohio Writers from New York (state) 20th-century American women writers