 |
 Katharine Lee Bates
is best known as the author of "America the
Beautiful," a poem inspired by her travels
across the country. The poem was first published
in 1895, revised in 1904 and 1913, and set to
music in the 1920's. |
 Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce
was the author of Nuggets and Dust Panned Out
in California, The Fiend's Delight,
Cobwebs from an Empty Skull, and several
other stories. As a journalist, he wrote a series
of columns that prevented the railroad interests
of California from gaining special treatment from
the federal government. |
 Charles Brockden
Brown decided to become an author at
a time when such an occupation was considered
little more than a hobby or pasttime. He became
the first American novelist to win an
international reputation. His best known works
include Wieland; or the Transformation; Arthur
Mervyn; Ormond; and Edgar
Huntly. |
 George Washington Cable
established the genre of southern local-color
fiction with the publication of Old Creole
Days in 1879. Although his works earned him
critical acclaim, they also earned him nasty
criticism from those who disliked his advocating
full civil rights for African-Americans. |
 Richard Harding Davis
filed some of the most enthralling news stories
during the Spanish-American War, many of which
were based on the exploits of Theodore Roosevelt
and the "Rough Riders." He also gained
fame as a novelist and playwright. |
 Paul Laurence Dunbar
became the first African-American to gain
national eminence as a poet, as well as the first
to be popular with both black and white readers,
with Majors and Minors, which was
published in 1895. In 1896, his Lyrics of
Lowly Life became the first work by an
African-American to be published by a major
publishing house. |
 Joel Chandler Harris
is best known for his Uncle Remus stories, which
first began appearing in serial form in the Atlanta
Constitution about 1876. |
 Julia Ward Howe
is best known for being the author of The
Battle Hymn of the Republic, which was
published in 1861. But, she was also openly
involved in a number of causes, including women's
suffrage and world peace. |
 William Dean Howells
helped introduce European writers to American
readers, and challenged American writers to
choose American subjects. Many of his novels deal
with various issues of his day in an increasingly
realistic manner, including: The Rise of
Silas Lapham, A Hazard of New Fortunes,
Annie Kilburn, and The Coast of
Bohemia. |
 Harriet Beecher Stowe
was inspired to write her most famous novel by
talking and listening to runaway slaves. Uncle
Tom's Cabin began as a serial that
eventually grew into a 40-chapter book. Published
in 1852, it was the first major American novel to
feature a black hero and sold over half a million
copies in the United States within five years. |
 Bayard Taylor
was a very popular journalist, traveler,
lecturer, poet, and translator. His trips to
Europe resulted in several well-received books,
including Views Afoot; or, Europe seen with a
Knapsack and Staff. A series of reports on
the California Gold Rush resulted in Tribune;
Eldorado, or, Adventures in the Path of Empire,
which was an immediate best-seller. |
 Ernest Lawrence Thayer
was a part-time humor columnist for the San
Francisco Examiner who gained fame after
revealing that he was the author of Casey at
the Bat, which was published by the Examiner
in 1888. Now an icon of the baseball world, the
poem actually became famous only after it was
turned into a stage performance. |
