Milton Meltzer (1915–2009)
Author of Never to Forget: The Jews of the Holocaust
About the Author
Historian Milton Meltzer was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1915. He attended Columbia University, but had to leave during his senior year because of the Great Depression. He got a job writing for the WPA Federal Theater Project. During World War II, he served as an air traffic controller in show more the Army Air Corps. After the war, he worked as a writer for CBS radio and in public relations for Pfizer. In 1956, he published his first book A Pictorial History of the Negro American, which was co-written by Langston Hughes. They also collaborated on Langston Hughes: A Biography, which was published in 1968 and received the Carter G. Woodson award. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 110 books for young people including Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? about the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression; Never to Forget about the Holocaust; and There Comes a Time about the Civil Rights movement. He also addressed such topics as crime, ancient Egypt, the immigrant experience, labor movements, photography, piracy, poverty, racism, and slavery. He wrote numerous biographies including ones on Mary McLeod Bethune, Lydia Maria Child, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Sanger, and Henry David Thoreau. He received the 2000 Regina Medal and the 2001 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award for his body of work and his lasting contribution to children's literature. He died of esophageal cancer on September 19, 2009 at the age of 94. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Milton Meltzer in 1996 (Worcester Telegram & Gazette)
Series
Works by Milton Meltzer
The Amazing Potato: A Story in Which the Incas, Conquistadors, Marie Antoinette, Thomas Jefferson, Wars, Famines,… (1992) 85 copies
Gold: The True Story of Why People Search for It, Mine It, Trade It, Steal It, Mint It, Hoard It, Shape It, Wear It,… (1993) 48 copies
A Book About Names: In Which Custom, Tradition, Law, Myth, History, Folklore, Foolery, Legend, Fashion, Nonsense,… (1984) 22 copies
Violins & Shovels: The WPA Arts Projects A New Deal for America's Hungry Artists of the 1930's (1976) 17 copies
Nonfiction for the Classroom: Milton Meltzer on Writing, History, and Social Responsibility (Language & Literacy… (1994) 12 copies
Food : How We Hunt and Gather It, How We Grow and Eat It, How We Buy and Sell It, How We Preserve and Waste It, and How… (1998) 11 copies
Bound for the Rio Grande;: The Mexican struggle, 1845-1850 (The Living history library) (1974) 7 copies
Thoreau People Principles & Politics 2 copies
Associated Works
On the Wings of Peace: Writers and Illustrators Speak Out for Peace, in Memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (1995) — Contributor — 98 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1915-05-08
- Date of death
- 2009-09-19
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Place of death
- New York, New York, USA
- Places of residence
- Worchester, Massachusetts, USA
New York, New York, USA - Education
- Columbia University
- Occupations
- professor
historian
biographer - Organizations
- Works Projects Administration
U.S. Army Air Corps
CBS
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Authors Guild
American PEN (show all 7)
Organization of American Historians - Awards and honors
- Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (2001)
Regina Medal (2000) - Short biography
- After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, Meltzer became a radio writer and a public relations executive. At the age of 39, he decided to begin a career writing history books for adults and young people by working with Langston Hughes on A Pictorial History of the Negro in America (1956). In his obituary, The New York Times noted that Meltzer wrote in vivid, concise prose about slavery, witch hunts, the immigrant experience, the Depression, the Holocaust, the civil rights era, and the labor movement, among many other subjects.
Among the many honors for his books are five nominations for the National Book Award as well as the Christopher, Jane Addams, Carter G. Woodson, Jefferson Cup, Washington Book Guild, Olive Branch, and Golden Kite Award. Many of his books have been chosen for the honor lists of the American Library Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the National Council for the Social Studies, as well as for the New York Times Best Books of the Year list.
Members
Reviews
George Washington and the Birth of Our Nation by Milton Meltzer
“Three love affairs by the time he was twenty.” I’ll read this myself.
Presents a history of pacifism and those who have protested against war, concentrating on war resistance in the United States from colonial days to the present and concerns about nuclear arms and terrorism.
Lists
Awards
Gold: The True Story of Why People Search for It, Mine It, Trade It, Steal It, Mint It, Hoard It, Shape It, Wear It, Fight and Kill for It (365805)
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 120
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 4,607
- Popularity
- #5,461
- Rating
- 3.9
- Reviews
- 76
- ISBNs
- 269
- Languages
- 4
- Favorited
- 1