George Ade
George Ade was an influential American humorist, journalist, and dramatist, born in rural Kentland, Indiana, shortly after the Civil War. He graduated from Purdue University in 1887 and began his career in journalism at the Chicago Morning News, where he created the popular column "Stories of the Street and Town," featuring satirical "fables in slang." His 1899 book, "Fables in Slang," gained immense popularity and was even adapted into films, with notable acclaim from contemporaries like William Allen White. Ade also wrote farcical plays, including "The College Widow" and "The Sultan of Sulu," the latter critiquing American imperialism during the Spanish-American War.
Throughout his career, Ade used his writing to challenge societal norms and comment on American culture, often infusing humor with critical observations. Apart from his literary pursuits, he enjoyed entertaining at his estate, Hazelden Farm, and hosted several political events. Later in life, he traveled extensively and supported charitable initiatives linked to his alma mater, Purdue University. Ade's work remains a significant reflection of America's transition from a rural to an urban society, illustrating both the humor and complexity of the times.
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George Ade
Writer
- Born: February 9, 1866
- Birthplace: Kentland, Indiana
- Died: May 16, 1944
- Place of death: Brook, Indiana
Biography
American humorist, journalist, and dramatist George Ade was born in rural Kentland, Indiana just after the Civil War. He was one of the seven children of John Ade and Adaline Bush. After graduating from Purdue University in 1887, he joined his classmate, cartoonist John T. McCutcheon, on the staff of the Chicago Morning News (later renamed the Chicago Record) in 1890. There he composed a column called Stories of the Street and Town, which McCutcheon illustrated. An able recorder of America’s transition from a rural to an urban society, Ade incorporated in his column a series of satirical “fables in slang.” A book of that title was published in 1899 and was followed by other collections. Enormously popular, the fables were syndicated and even made into movies. Kansas newspaper editor William Allen White is quoted as saying, “I would rather have written Fables in Slang than be president.”
Ade also composed farcical plays and musicals. The College Widow (1904) was a comic account of football and college life on a small Indiana campus. The Sultan of Sulu (1903) was a satirical musical of a treaty between America and the Muslim ruler of the largest of the southern islands of the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. It enjoyed a successful run of 192 performances on Broadway as well as eleven weeks in Chicago.
Ade’s opposition to imperialism found expression in drama, fiction, and nonfiction during the Spanish-American War. In 1900, he joined McCutcheon in Manila. While there, he observed American military control of the Philippines and gathered material for further writing. Besides The Sultan of Sulu, which mocked a deal by which the Sultan renounced his title in favor of a “fixed salary” as governor, Ade composed a series of satirical articles entitled “Stories of Benevolent Assimilation.” These articles featured an American missionary attempting to acquaint a Filipino family with American cultural values. Having the missionary explain some of the most questionable aspects of American society, from corsets to commercialism, Ade raised doubts about the advisability, not to mention the ethicality, of the imperial project. In one story, “Mr. Kakyak Decides to Be a Republican,” the missionary explains the two major political parties, and the Filipino decides he many as well flip a coin to determine which party to belong to.
A bachelor, Ade preferred living in his own home and liked to entertain. His brother bought him a large tract of farmland near the town of Brook, Indiana, where Ade built an impressive English manor home, Hazelden Farm, which he used as a kind of national hospitality center. In 1908, he hosted a campaign stop for William Howard Taft; in 1912, he held a rally for Theodore Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party; and in 1919, he sponsored a welcome-home party for American servicemen. He devoted his later days to world travel and supporting, through charitable gifts, his college fraternity and Purdue University.