Jean Lee Latham
Biographical Information
Jean Lee Latham was born on April 19, 1902, in Buckhannon, WV. Her father was a cabinetmaker, her mother a teacher. Latham grew up in Buckhannon, later attending West Virginia Wesleyan College, earning an A. B. in 1925. While at Wesleyan, she wrote plays and operated a linotype machine for the county newspaper. She then attended Ithaca Conservatory (now College), completing a B.O.E. in 1928, and Cornell University, earning an M.A. in 1930. At Ithaca, she taught English, history, and play production. She continued to teach at Ithaca while completing her degree at Cornell.After Cornell, Latham began work as editor-in-chief for Dramatic Publishing Company (Chicago), a position she held for 6 years. During this time Latham continued to write, primarily plays and radio shows. When she left Dramatic Publishing, Latham planned a career has a freelance play and radio writer, but World War II soon changed those plans. Shortly after the United States entered WWII, Latham took a course in radio maintenance and repair. With her knowledge of electronics, Latham soon landed an assignment with the U.S. Signal Corps Inspection Agency, training women inspectors. For her work, Latham was awarded a Silver Wreath, a civilian decoration from the U.S. War Department.
In 1945, Jean Latham resumed her freelance career. She shifted her writing focus from plays to narrative works after her brother, who worked in the magazine industry, told her that a publishing company was interested in biographical works for children. Latham wrote The Story of Eli Whitney, her first children's biography after much research, publishing it in 1953. Next came Medals for Morse: Artist and Inventor, published in 1954. Her next children's book was Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, the story of American astronomer and navigation expert Nathaniel Bowditch, who wrote a standard work on sailing in 1799. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch earned Latham the John Newbery Medal for distinguished contribution to children's literature (1956), the first West Virginia author to be so honored.
Jean Lee Latham continued to write biographies for children, exploring such people as Sam Houston, George W. Goethals, and David Glasgow Farragut, looking for people whose road to success included obstacles and setbacks. Jean Lee Latham died on June 13, 1995 at the age of 93. Her manuscripts are housed in the Kerlan Collection at the University of Minneapolis.
Critical Responses
In addition to her Newbery Award, Jean Lee Latham also received the Boys' Clubs of America Junior Book Award (1957, Trail Blazer of the Seas) and was named one of Dade County's Women of the Year (1961). Her work for children has been praised for both his subject matter and for the way Latham relates her subject matter to her young readers. Commenting in Social Studies, Peter C. Lawrence said "the problems [of a growing nation] are removed from text book sterility and made real through the author's skillful use of dialogue. "The adolescent of today can readily identify with [the characters who appear] to be the typical square peg in a round hole."
Works Published
For Children:555 Pointers for Beginning Actors and Directors
The Story of Eli Whitney
Medals for Morse: Artist and Inventor
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
Trail Blazer of the Seas
This Dear-Bought Land
Young Man in a Hurry: The Story of Cyrus W. Field
On Stage, Mr. Jefferson
Drake, The Man They Called a Pirate
Samuel F. B. Morse: Artist-Inventor
Wa O' Ka (Translator)
The Dog That Lost His Family
When Homer Honked
The Cuckoo That Couldn't Count
The Man Who Never Snoozed
Man of the Monitor: The Story of John Ericsson
Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
The Chagres: Power of the Panama Canal
Sam Houston: Hero of TexasRetreat to Glory: The Story of Sam Houston
George W. Goethals: Panama Canal Engineer
The Frightened Hero: A Story of the Seige of Latham House
The Columbia: Powerhouse of North America
David Glasgow Farragut: Our First Admiral
Anchor's Aweigh: The Story of David Glasgow Farragut
Far Voyager: The Story of James Cook
Rachel Carson: Who Loved the Sea
Who Lives Here? (verse)
What Tabbit the Rabbit Found
Elizabeth Blackwell: Pioneer Woman Doctor
Jean Lee Latham also wrote many plays for children and adults as well as radio plays for various networks. See the Literature Resource Center for a complete list.
Selected Bibliography
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch (book review). Booklist. 52(4), October 15, 1955. pp.82.Cosgrove, Mary Silva. Jean Lee Latham Wins Newbery Medal. Library Journal. 81(6), March 15, 1956. pp.738-39, 747.
Drake, The Man They Called a Pirate (book review). Virginia Kirkus' Service. 28(3), February 1, 1960. pp.96.
Medals for Morse: Artist and Inventor (book review). Virginia Kirkus' Service. 22(14), July 15, 1954. pp.439.
This Dear-Bought Land (book review). New York Herald Tribune Book Review. May 12, 1957. pp.29.
Trail Blazer of the Sea (book review). Virginia Kirkus' Service. 24(18), September 15, 1956. pp.707-8.
Young Man in a Hurry (book review). The Booklist and Subscription Books Bulletin. 55(3), October 1, 1958. pp.80.
Author Website
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