Harriet Stratemeyer Adams
Harriet Stratemeyer Adams was an influential figure in children's literature, born on December 3 or 11, 1892, in Newark, New Jersey. As the daughter of Edward L. Stratemeyer, a prominent dime novelist, she was immersed in literary pursuits from an early age. After graduating from Wellesley College in 1914, Adams began editing manuscripts for her father’s literary syndicate, which produced popular series like Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins. Upon her father's death in 1930, she and her sister took over the management of the syndicate, overseeing the creation of numerous beloved children’s books. Despite facing personal challenges, including the loss of family members and her husband, Adams adapted the syndicate's output to reflect societal changes while maintaining a focus on educational and moral content in literature for young readers.
Over the course of her career, she was recognized with several awards, including the Alumnæ Achievement Award from Wellesley College and the title of Mother of the Year in 1979. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams passed away on March 27, 1982, but her legacy endures through the vast number of books produced under her guidance, many of which continue to resonate with readers today.
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Harriet Stratemeyer Adams
Author
- Born: December 11, 1892
- Birthplace: Newark, New Jersey
- Died: March 27, 1982
- Place of death: Pottersville, New Jersey
Biography
Harriet Stratemeyer was born on December 3, or December 11, 1892, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of Magdeline Baker Van Camp Stratemeyer and Edward L. Stratemeyer, a dime novelist and a spellbinding storyteller. About 1906, her father founded the Stratemeyer Literary Syndicate, which developed series of books for children and young adults, paid writers to turn them out, and then marketed the completed works to publishers. Harriet often thought that she would like to try her hand at writing.
After graduating from Wellesley College in 1914, Harriet persuaded her father to let her edit manuscripts for him, though she had to work at home because he would not have women in the office. In 1915, she married Russell Vroom Adams, an investment broker, but she had to quit her job because her father did not approve of married women’s working. The Adamses had two sons and two daughters.
When Edward Stratemeyer died suddenly in 1930, leaving his syndicate to his invalid wife, Adams and her younger sister Edna Stratemeyer took over the management of the highly successful enterprise. Adams moved the syndicate offices from Manhattan to a location in East Orange, New Jersey, close to her home, and arranged for the care of her children. The sisters now took up their father’s tasks, developing new series, plotting books, hiring ghostwriters, editing manuscripts, and negotiating with publishers. After their mother’s death in 1935, Adams and her sister became the syndicate’s owners.
In 1942, Edna Stratemeyer, now Edna Squier, turned over the management of the enterprise to her sister. Over the years, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams weathered several personal crises, including the loss of a son in World War II, of her husband in 1965, and of her sister in 1974, and steered the syndicate through decades of radical change both in society and in the publishing business.
Although Adams planned, plotted, supervised, and edited the output of the Syndicate writers, scholars do not agree as to how many books she herself wrote. It has been established that she was the sole author of several Bobbsey Twins books and of a great many volumes in the Nancy Drew series, her favorite. She also participated in the rewriting and updating of early volumes in the Nancy Drew, Bobbsey Twins, and Hardy Boys series.
In 1978, Wellesley College presented Adams with its Alumnæ Achievement Award. The following year, the National Mother’s Day Committee named her Mother of the Year, and she received a special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for her Nancy Drew series.
On March 27, 1982, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams suffered a fatal heart attack at her home in Pottersville, New Jersey. She had been directly responsible for the production of most of the two hundred million books sold during the syndicate’s existence. Moreover, as times changed, she willingly modernized her characters, altered her plots, and adopted new formats. All the while, Adams steadfastly held to her deepest conviction—that books for the young should have educational value and a sound moral basis.