Doris Gates
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Doris Gates (November 26, 1901 – September 3, 1987) was one of America's first writers of realistic children's fiction. Her novel ''
Blue Willow ''Blue Willow'' is a realistic children's fiction book by Doris Gates, published in 1940. Called the "juvenile ''Grapes of Wrath''", it was named a Newbery Honor book in 1941. Written by a librarian who worked with migrant children in Fresno, C ...
'', about the experiences of Janey Larkin, the ten-year-old daughter of a
migrant farm worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...
in 1930s California, is a
Newbery Honor book 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 cont ...
and
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...
winner. A librarian in
Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...
, California, Gates lived and worked among the people described in her novels. She is also known for her collections of
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
.


Life

Doris Gates was born on November 26, 1901, in
Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...
, the oldest daughter of Charles Obed and Bessie Louise (Jones) Gates. Her father was a small-town doctor; her mother had a BA from
Milton College Milton College was a private college located in Milton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1844 as the Milton Academy, it closed in 1982. Its campus is now part of the Milton Historic District. History The college was founded as the Milton Academy (high scho ...
in classical studies. When she was seven they moved to Charles' parents' prune ranch outside San Jose. It was there, at the age of eight, that Doris began school. According to Gates, her childhood, "even for those times, was unusually happy." She wrote about it in ''The Elderberry Bush''. Later the Gates family moved to
Los Gatos Los Gatos (, ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franci ...
. After graduating from high school, Gates found work in a library and a grocery store. Her father then moved the family to Fresno, and in 1924 she enrolled in Fresno State Teachers College. Two years later Gates attended Los Angeles Library School. She then became the assistant in the children's department of the Fresno County Free Library. After one year Gates took a leave of absence to study library science at Western Reserve University, (now
Case Western Reserve Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...
) in Cleveland. She returned to Fresno to work as the children's librarian at the Fresno County Library in
central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the state, north of Southern California, which includes Los Angeles, and south of Northern California, which includes San Francisco. It includes the northern portion of the San J ...
from 1930 to 1940.Some sources give the dates as 1931-1940. While in Fresno, Gates had a radio program telling stories to children. She also visited the schools erected for the children of workers displaced by the
Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) an ...
, telling stories and sharing books. Budget constraints caused the library to cut back its hours, so Gates used her extra day off to begin writing.Silvey, Anita, (editor), ''Children's Books and Their Creators'', Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1995, pp 267; Her first published book, ''Sarah's Idea'' (1938), is about a girl who wants to buy a
burro The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
and helps with the harvest on her family's prune ranch to earn the money she needs. Two years later ''
Blue Willow ''Blue Willow'' is a realistic children's fiction book by Doris Gates, published in 1940. Called the "juvenile ''Grapes of Wrath''", it was named a Newbery Honor book in 1941. Written by a librarian who worked with migrant children in Fresno, C ...
'', a book about the daughter of a
migrant farmer A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...
like those she worked with, appeared. Also in 1940, Gates began working for
San Jose State College San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...
, teaching children's literature and storytelling. Gates was a visiting lecturer at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
; the University of Southern California, Los Angeles; and the
University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...
. She also spoke around the country to groups of librarians and teachers. In the 1960s she worked for the textbook publishers Ginn and Company editing the Ginn Basic Readers, a series of reading textbooks for elementary schools.Chevalier, Tracy (editor), ''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers'', St. James Press, 1989, pp. 378; Married and later divorced, she moved to
Carmel Carmel may refer to: * Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea * Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea * Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order Carmel may also ...
, where she bought and rode horses. Several of her later books reflect this interest, including ''A Morgan for Melinda''. In 1971 and 1972 Gates made two trips to Greece, in preparation for a series of books retelling
Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
. As she later said, "I had a storyteller's knowledge rather than a scholar's knowledge of the myths". In 1972 she published the first two in a series of books based on Greek myths. She returned to Greece in 1983. Doris Gates died in Carmel, California, on September 3, 1987.Some sources say Monterey, CA. The children's room at the Central Fresno Library has been named the Doris Gates Room in her honor. Gates' papers are held at the
University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
and the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...
.


Influence

''
Blue Willow ''Blue Willow'' is a realistic children's fiction book by Doris Gates, published in 1940. Called the "juvenile ''Grapes of Wrath''", it was named a Newbery Honor book in 1941. Written by a librarian who worked with migrant children in Fresno, C ...
'' was a ground-breaking children's novel. "Many consider ''Blue Willow'' to have been the first realistic,
problem novel The social novel, also known as the social problem (or social protest) novel, is a "work of fiction in which a prevailing social problem, such as gender, race, or class prejudice, is dramatized through its effect on the characters of a novel". More ...
for children, and it was recognized both for its lasting literary merit and for its expansion of the range of subjects which could be explored in books for children." Children's literature expert
Anita Silvey Anita Silvey is an author, editor, and literary critic in the genre of children’s literature. Born in 1947 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Silvey has served as Editor-in-Chief of ''The Horn Book Magazine'' and as vice-president at Houghton Mifflin ...
says its realistic handling of modern social issues is a "significant contribution to children's literature". Christine Jenkins writes in ''Literary Trends'' that librarians for children especially appreciated its "combination of literary quality, child appeal, and positive values." The working class setting and portrayal of migrant families conditions were firsts for children's literature, and the fact that Gates made Janey's best friend a Mexican American was also groundbreaking. Jenkins says "the publication and professional recognition accorded Blue Willow was an affirmation of the value of both imaginative and realistic literature for children." When ''Blue Willow'' was published there was an ongoing debate among teachers and librarians about whether children's literature should be imaginative or realistic. ''Blue Willow'' was both; but the story of Janey, her father and step-mother, living in a shack in central California while working in the fields, was generally more recognized for its
realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...
.
Julia Sauer Julia Sauer (April 8, 1891 – June 26, 1983) was an American writer of children's fiction and librarian. Two of her books, '' Fog Magic'' and '' The Light at Tern Rock'' were among the annual Newbery Medal runners-up. Both are set in Canada, whe ...
, head children’s services librarian in Rochester, New York, was commissioned by the American Library Association to address the divisive issue. In ''Making the World Safe for the Janey Larkins'', Sauer wrote "We need many more books about the Janey Larkins in our literature for children. And when we get them we will need the courage to give them to our children." In ''Horn Book'', Jan/Feb 1945,
Howard Pease Howard Pease (September 6, 1894–April 14, 1974) was an American writer of adventure stories from Stockton, California. Most of his stories revolved around a young protagonist, Joseph Todhunter ("Tod") Moran, who shipped out on tramp freight ...
's essay "Without Evasion" says this: "Only at infrequent intervals do you find a story intimately related to this modern world, a story that takes up a modern problem and thinks it through without evasion. Of our thousands of books, I can find scarcely half a dozen that merit places on this almost vacant shelf in our libraries; and of our hundreds of authors, I can name only three who are doing anything to fill this void in children's reading. These three authors - may someone present each of them with a laurel wreath - are Doris Gates, John R. Tunis, and Florence Crannell Means."


Awards and reception

Several of Gates' books were recognized with awards. ''Blue Willow'' was one runner-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 ...
, was named to the
Lewis Carroll Shelf Award The Lewis Carroll Shelf Award was an American literary award conferred on several books annually by the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education annually from 1958 to 1979. Award-winning books were deemed to "belong on the same shelf" ...
list in 1961, and was named one of the Best Books of the Year by
Horn Book Magazine ''The Horn Book Magazine'', founded in Boston in 1924, is the oldest bimonthly magazine dedicated to reviewing children's literature. It began as a "suggestive purchase list" prepared by Bertha Mahony Miller and Elinor Whitney Field, proprietres ...
. It also won the silver
Commonwealth Club of California The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to everyone. Act ...
Book Award. ''Sarah's Idea'' and ''The Cat and Mrs. Cary'' were also named Horn Book Best Books of the Year, and ''Little Vic'' was given the
William Allen White Award The William Allen White Children's Book Award is a set of two annual awards for books selected by vote of Kansas schoolchildren from lists prepared by committee. As a single award it was established in 1952 by Ruth Garver Gagliardo, a children's ...
by the school children of Kansas. Gates' work was appreciated especially for its characterization and sense of place. ''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers'' praises her use of traditional story elements and strong sense of structure.Chevalier, Tracy (editor), ''Twentieth-Century Children's Writers'', St. James Press, 1989, pp. 379; According to another reviewer "Gates writes with integrity, combining strength of story line with well-developed characters, authentic settings, and themes of consequence." The reviewer goes on to say her excellent characterization and sensitivity toward her characters make her books "a solid contribution to American children's literature".Cech, John (editor), ''Dictionary of Literary Biographies: American Writers for Children, 1900-1960'', Gale Research, 1983, volume 22, pp. 209;


Selected works


Children's novels

* ''Sarah's Idea'',
Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquire ...
, 1938 (illustrated by Marjorie Torrey) * ''
Blue Willow ''Blue Willow'' is a realistic children's fiction book by Doris Gates, published in 1940. Called the "juvenile ''Grapes of Wrath''", it was named a Newbery Honor book in 1941. Written by a librarian who worked with migrant children in Fresno, C ...
'', Viking Press, 1940 (illustrated by Paul Lantz) * ''Sensible Kate'', Viking Press, 1943 (illustrated by Marjorie Torrey) * ''Trouble for Jerry'', Viking Press, 1944 (illustrated by Marjorie Torrey) * ''North Fork'', Viking Press, 1945 (illustrated by Wesley Dennis) * ''My Brother Mike'', Viking Press, 1948 (illustrated by Wesley Dennis) * ''River Ranch'', Viking Press, 1949 (illustrated by Jacob Landau) * ''Little Vic'', Viking Press, 1951 (illustrated by
Kate Seredy Kate Seredy (November 10, 1899 – March 7, 1975) was a Hungarian-born writer and illustrator of children's books. She won the Newbery Medal once, the Newbery Honor twice, the Caldecott Honor once, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. Most of her bo ...
) * ''Becky and the Bandit'', Ginn & Co., 1955 (illustrated by Paul Lantz) * ''The Cat and Mrs. Cary'', Viking Press, 1962 (illustrated by
Peggy Bacon Margaret Frances Bacon (May 2, 1895 – January 4, 1987) was an American artist, best known for her satirical caricatures. Bacon studied under Kenneth Hayes Miller at the Art Students League of New York, where she taught herself drypoint and ...
(US) and
Shirley Hughes Winifred Shirley Hughes (16 July 1927 – 25 February 2022) was an English author and illustrator. She wrote more than fifty books, which have sold more than 11.5 million copies, and illustrated more than two hundred. As of 2007, she lived i ...
(UK)) * ''The Elderberry Bush'', Viking Press, 1967 (illustrated by Lilian Obligado) * ''A Morgan for Melinda'', Viking Press, 1980 * ''A Filly for Melinda'', Viking Press, 1984


Myths and legends

* ''Lord of the Sky: Zeus'', Viking Press, 1972 (illustrated by Robert Handville) * ''The Warrior Goddess: Athena'', Viking Press, 1972 (illustrated by Don Bolognese) * ''The Golden God: Apollo'', Viking Press, 1973 (illustrated by Constantinos Coconis) * ''Two Queens of Heaven: Aphrodite and Demeter'', Viking Press, 1974 (illustrated by
Trina Schart Hyman Trina Schart Hyman (April 8, 1939 – November 19, 2004) was an American illustrator of children's books. She illustrated over 150 books, including fairy tales and Arthurian legends. She won the 1985 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustrat ...
) * ''The Mightiest of Mortals: Hercules'', Viking Press, 1975 (illustrated by Richard Cuffari) * ''A Fair Wind for Troy'', Viking Press, 1976 (illustrated by Charles Mikolaycak)


Textbooks

* ''Roads to Everywhere'', Ginn, 1961; * ''Trails to Treasure'', Ginn, 1961; * ''Wings to Adventure'', Ginn, 1961; * ''Along Story Trails'', Ginn, 1962; * ''Down Story Roads'', Ginn, 1962; * ''On Story Wings'', Ginn, 1962.


See also

*
Lois Lenski Lois Lenore Lenski Covey (October 14, 1893 – September 11, 1974) was a Newbery Medal-winning author and illustrator of picture books and children's literature. Beginning in 1927 with her first books, ''Skipping Village'' and ''Jack Horner's Pie: ...
, also known for her realistic children's regional fiction


Notes


References


External links

*
Doris Gates
at
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
Authorities — with 31 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, Doris American children's writers American librarians American women librarians Newbery Honor winners Writers from the San Francisco Bay Area 1901 births 1987 deaths People from Mountain View, California People from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California 20th-century American women 20th-century American people