Horatio Alger, Jr.

Horatio Alger, Jr. was a prolific 19th-century American author, most famous for his novels following the adventures of bootblacks, newsboys, peddlers, buskers, and other impoverished children in their rise from humble backgrounds to lives of respectable middle-class security and comfort. His novels were hugely popular in their day.

Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of a Unitarian minister, Alger entered Harvard University at the age of 16. Following graduation, he briefly worked in education before touring Europe for almost a year. He then entered the Harvard Divinity School, and, in 1864, took a position at a Unitarian church in Brewster, Massachusetts. Two years later, he resigned following allegations he'd molested two teenage boys. He subsequently retired from the ministry entirely and moved to New York City where he formed an association with the Newsboys Lodging House and other agencies offering aid to impoverished children. His sympathy for the working boys of the city, coupled with the moral values learned at home, were the basis of his many juvenile "rags to riches" novels. He died in 1899.¹

Subjects

Fiction, Conduct of life, History, Juvenile fiction, Inheritance and succession, Orphans, Boys, Fiction, historical, general, Adventure and adventurers, Friendship, Success, Swindlers and swindling, Diligence, Fiction, general, Youth, Conduct of life in fiction, Poverty, Children's fiction, Young men, Gold mines and mining, Juvenile literature, Kidnapping, Criminals, Identity, Specimens

Places

New York (N.Y.), New York (State), California, United States, New York, West (U.S.), Australia, New England, Chicago (Ill.), Colorado, Boston (Mass.), Chicago, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Cincinnati (Ohio), East (U.S.), Illinois, India, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, New Jersey, Philadelphia (Pa.)

People

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), Daniel Webster (1782-1852), Horatio Alger (1832-1899), James A. Garfield (1831-1881), Horatio Alger Jr. (1832-1899)

Time

19th century, 1865-1898, 1775-1865, 1865-, Civil War, 1861-1865, 1846-1850, 1860-1890, 1890-1945, Late 19th century

ID Numbers

• OLID: OL316972A
• ISNI: 000000011944710X
• Library of Congress Names: n80010363
• LibriVox: 27
• Project Gutenberg: 168
• SBN/ICCU (National Library Service of Italy): UBOV021519
• VIAF: 64334817
• Wikidata: Q453251
• Inventaire.io: wd:Q453251

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Alternative names

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