Edith Patterson Meyer
Edith Patterson Meyer was a notable American writer and children's librarian, born in 1895 in Chatham, Massachusetts. She began her career as the first assistant librarian at the public library in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, before becoming a children's librarian in Cleveland, Ohio. In the 1920s, she transitioned to writing and editing, working at the American Library Association and later at Rand McNally in their children's book division. After her husband's death in 1943, Meyer moved to New York City and became the editor of children's books at Abingdon Press until 1955.
Following her retirement, she focused on publishing her own children's books, primarily biographies and nonfiction, and traveled extensively for research. Notable works include "Go It Alone, Lady!" and biographies of Alfred Nobel and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Meyer's contributions to literature were recognized with awards, such as the Jane Addams Award for her book "Champions of Peace." Throughout her life, she remained an active member of various literary and library associations and published religious articles reflecting her devout Congregationalist faith. She passed away in December 1993 in Stamford, Connecticut.
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Edith Patterson Meyer
Author
- Born: June 2, 1895
- Birthplace: Chatham, Massachusetts
- Died: December 14, 1993
- Place of death: Stamford, Connecticut
Biography
Writer and children’s librarian Edith Patterson Meyer was born in 1895 in Chatham, Massachusetts. Her father, John Nelson Patterson, was a Congregationalist minister, and her mother assisted him in his ministry work. Meyer attended the Pratt Institute from 1915 until 1916 and then become the first assistant librarian at the public library in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. She held that position until 1918, when she enrolled in Western Reserve University (now Case Western Reserve University). She was the children’s librarian at the Cleveland, Ohio, public library from 1918 until 1921, the year she married Shelby Rider Meyer.
She and her husband moved to Chicago, where she found a job as a writer and editor at the American Library Association’s headquarters. She attended the University of Chicago for a brief period in 1922. From 1924 until 1944, Meyer worked as an associate editor in the children’s book division of Rand McNally and Co. In 1943, her husband died and she moved to New York, becoming the editor of children’s books at Abingdon Press, a position she held until 1955.
Meyer began publishing her own children’s books—primarily biographies and works of nonfiction—after her retirement from Abingdon, when she was free to conduct research when and where she liked. She traveled in the United States and abroad, researching her books and searching for interesting topics. She was always an avid reader, and she felt that her reading habit, combined with her career as a librarian, prepared her well for research and nonfiction writing.
She published her first book, Go It Alone, Lady! The Women’s Guide to European Travel, in1957, followed immediately by a book of Bible stories, published by Abingdon, in 1958. That same year, she produced two books about the Nobel Prize: a biography of Alfred Nobel, Dynamite and Peace: The Story of Alfred Nobel, and a collective biography of the Nobel Peace Prize recipients, entitled Champions of Peace: Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. Champions of Peace received the Jane Addams Award in 1960. Meyer published many other books in the 1960’s, including biographies of Oliver Wendell Holmes and Isabelle d’Este and a book about present and future libraries. In 1973, she published an autobiography about her Congregationalist New England childhood, For Goodness’ Sake! Growing up in a New England Parsonage, but returned quickly to biography, publishing “Not Charity but Justice”: The Story of Jacob A. Riis in 1974. During the American Bicentennial in 1976, she published Petticoat Patriots of the American Revolution. In Search of Peace: The Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize, 1901- 1975, a reworking of her earlier book about the prize winners, appeared in 1978.
A devout Congregationalist, Meyer also occasionally published religious articles in magazines. During her library career, she contributed extensively to professional journals and held memberships in the American Library Association, the Women’s National Book Association, and the Stamford Forum for World Affairs. She died in December, 1993, in Stamford, Connecticut.