Elsie Singmaster

Elsie Singmaster
A caucasian woman of approximately 40 with short hair looks away from the camera
Singmaster c. 1920
Born
Elsie Singmaster

(1879-08-29)August 29, 1879
Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedSeptember 30, 1958(1958-09-30) (aged 79)
Macungie, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationWriter
Writing career
Period1905–1950
GenresChildren's literature
Young adult fiction
Notable work

Elsie Singmaster Lewars (August 29, 1879 – September 30, 1958) was an American author from Macungie, Pennsylvania, who has been described as "perhaps Macungie's most famous citizen". She was a Newbery Honor recipient in 1934.

Early life and education

Singmaster was born on August 29, 1879, in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania, to parents of German ancestry. She was educated at Allentown High School and West Chester Normal School, before studying at Cornell University from 1898 to 1900. She then attended Radcliffe College, where she graduated in 1907.

In 1912, she married musician and English professor Harold Steck Lewars. She added his surname to hers but continued to publish as Elsie Singmaster. She was pregnant with Lewars' child when he died at the age of 33 in March 1915. Their baby, Singmaster's only child, died two months later in May.

Career

Singmaster wrote many short stories and books between 1905 and 1950. Her first published short story was The Lèse-Majesté of Hans Heckendorn, in the November 1905 issue of Scribner's Magazine. Her first published book was When Sarah Saved the Day, in 1909. Her 1924 short story The Courier of the Czar earned a position of merit in the 1924 O. Henry Award and, perhaps her most famous title, Swords of Steel, received a Newbery Honor in 1934. Her final work was "It Was Once a Jail", published in The Philadelphia Inquirer in January 1950.

An annotated bibliography of Singmaster's Gettysburg writings was published in 2015. Gettysburg College's Musselman Library digitized The Hidden Road in 2019 when the 1923 text entered the public domain.

Death

Singmaster died September 30, 1958, in Macungie, Pennsylvania, and was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Macungie.

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Elsie Singmaster Lewars (1879–1958)". Macungie Historical Society. 2011. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  2. ↑ Cornell University, Class Book 1902 (1902 yearbook): 157.
  3. ↑ Hill 2009, p. 190.
  4. ↑ Hill, Susan Colestock (2015). "Annotated Bibliography of Elsie Singmaster's Gettysburg Writings". Adams County History. 21: 59–77 – via The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College.
  5. ↑ Singmaster, Elsie (1923). The Hidden Road. Cambridge, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Sources