Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale was an influential American writer, Unitarian clergyman, and social reformer, born in 1822 into a family with a strong legacy of public service and patriotism. He graduated from Harvard University in 1839 and began his career as a teacher before turning to the ministry. Hale is celebrated for his extensive body of work, which includes short stories, essays, novels, and sermons, with his most famous piece being "The Man Without a Country," written to inspire patriotic fervor during the American Civil War. He was also a pioneer in science fiction, credited with creating one of the first stories about an inhabited artificial satellite in "The Brick Moon." Throughout his life, Hale was dedicated to addressing social injustices and contributed to the formation of various charitable organizations. His writings often reflected moral and social themes, although these qualities might resonate differently with contemporary audiences. In recognition of his contributions, he received numerous honors, including honorary degrees and the position of chaplain of the United States Senate. Hale's legacy remains that of a passionate advocate for humanitarian causes and an engaging storyteller.
Subject Terms
Edward Everett Hale
Author
- Born: April 3, 1822
- Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts
- Died: June 10, 1909
- Place of death: Roxbury, Massachusetts
American minister and short-story writer
Identity: Christian
Biography
Edward Everett Hale’s father was editor of the Boston Daily Advertiser, his uncle was the distinguished orator Edward Everett, and his great-uncle was the legendary patriot Nathan Hale. His own career reflected the patriotic zeal, religious devotion, and humanitarian interests with which his family name had long been associated. Hale graduated from Harvard University in 1839, taught at the Boston Latin School, studied theology, and then entered the ministry as a Unitarian clergyman. Hale married Emily Perkins in 1852; one of their children was Edward Everett Hale, Jr., who later collaborated with his father.
Hale was a moralist and reformer who worked indefatigably as a preacher and as a founder and organizer of charitable societies, seeking to correct what he felt to be injustices in the American scene. He was most highly regarded as a writer of short stories, which often appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, though he also produced innumerable essays, novels, tracts, travel books, histories, children’s books, and sermons. His short story “The Man Without a Country,” probably his best-known work, was first published in 1863 and later appeared in If, Yes, and Perhaps; it was written to arouse patriotic sentiments and thus rally people to the faltering Union cause. The same volume also featured the story “My Double, and How He Undid Me.” The moral import of Hale’s stories and their pedagogical approach to social and moral problems is perhaps best indicated by the fact that several of them led to the formation of religious and charitable organizations; paradoxically, those same qualities may make his stories less compelling to modern readers. Another story, “The Brick Moon,” which appeared in His Level Best, and Other Stories, later attracted attention for being the first science-fiction story to describe an inhabited artificial satellite.
In Hale’s later years, he earned many honors, including honorary degrees from Harvard, Dartmouth, and Williams, and he served as chaplain of the United States Senate.
Bibliography
Adams, John R. Edward Everett Hale. Boston: Twayne, 1977. A good general study of Hale’s life and works.
Holloway, Jean. Edward Everett Hale: A Biography. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1956. A brief and readable biography.
Moskowitz, Sam. “The Real Earth Satellite Story.” In Explorers of the Infinite: Shapers of Science Fiction. 1963. Westport, Conn.: Hyperion Press, 1974. Discusses Hale’s story “The Brick Moon.”
Pearce, Colin D. “The Wisdom of Exile: Edward Everett Hale’s ‘The Man Without a Country.’” Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy 22, no. 1 (1994). Analyzes Hale’s best-known short story.
Weinstein, Cindy. The Literature of Labor and the Labors of Literature: Allegory in Nineteenth-Century American Fiction. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Discusses Hale’s 1859 commentary “Public Amusement for Poor and Rich.”