Harriet M. Lothrop
Harriet M. Lothrop, born Harriet Mulford Stone on June 22, 1844, in New Haven, Connecticut, was an influential American author known for her children's literature. Raised in a privileged environment, she demonstrated an early passion for reading and writing, leading her to contribute stories to the Boston-based magazine Wide Awake under the pen name Margaret Sidney. Her most notable work, "The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew," was first published in installments in 1880 and became a beloved series that depicted the struggles and resilience of the Pepper children's family life. Lothrop authored a total of twelve books in the Little Pepper series, alongside several other works aimed at moral education for children, appealing to both boys and girls.
In addition to her literary contributions, Lothrop was actively involved in patriotic organizations, founding chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution. She also took part in historical preservation efforts, restoring notable homes associated with famous authors in Concord, Massachusetts. After her husband Daniel Lothrop's death in 1892, she managed his publishing company for three years before selling it. Lothrop passed away on August 2, 1924, at the age of eighty, leaving behind a legacy that included forty-five published works and a lasting impact on children's literature, with her stories remaining in print over a century later.
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Subject Terms
Harriet M. Lothrop
Writer
- Born: June 22, 1844
- Birthplace: New Haven, Connecticut
- Died: August 2, 1924
- Place of death: San Francisco, California
Biography
Harriet M. Lothrop was born Harriet Mulford Stone on June 22, 1844, in New Haven, Connecticut. Her father, Sidney Mason Stone, was a well-known architect, and the family lived a life of luxury. Lothrop was named for her mother, who had been born Harriet Mulford. Lothrop attended the best private schools in New Haven and showed an early interest in reading and writing. She also enjoyed the outdoors and often asked to be taken for rides in the country.
In 1878, she started submitting stories to a children’s magazine called Wide Awake, published in Boston by the D. Lothrop Company. She used the name Margaret Sidney for these stories and all of her subsequent publications, choosing Margaret because she liked the name and Sidney because it was her father’s name. In 1880, the first two sections of what would become her most important work, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, appeared as short stories in Wide Awake. The editor, Daniel Lothrop, encouraged her to write more stories about the five plucky Pepper children, and she eventually gathered the stories into a coherent but episodic novel. The books were immediately well loved, by both girls and boys, and Lothrop ultimately published twelve Little Pepper books. Throughout the series, the fatherless Pepper children struggle cheerfully with their poverty, remain devoted to their mother, and eventually win the love of a wealthy benefactor. Lothrop also wrote several other books for children, including How Tom and Dorothy Made and Kept a Christian Home (1888), A Little Maid of Concord Town: A Romance of the American Revolution (1898), and Two Little Friends in Norway (1906).
She married Daniel Lothrop on October 4, 1881. The couple moved to Concord, Massachusetts, to a house called The Wayside, a former home of authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott. It was there that a daughter, named Margaret, was born. After Daniel died in 1892, Harriet ran his publishing company for three years before selling it. She became active in patriotic organizations, establishing in 1895 the Concord chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and another group, the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution. Her interests in history and in historical preservation led her to restore The Wayside and the house next door, Orchard House, where Alcott had written Little Women. Lothrop traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East and toward the end of her life spent winters with friends in California. She was in San Francisco when she died on August 2, 1924, at the age of eighty.
Under the name Margaret Sidney, Lothrop published forty-five books, mostly stories and poems of moral education for children. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she wrote stories about family life that appealed to boys as well as girls. In the 1940’s, four motion pictures were made from the Little Pepper books and more than a century after its first publication, The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew remains in print.