Pen name Caroline Dale Owen Notable works Downright Dencey Occupation Writer Name Caroline Snedeker | Nationality American Role Writer Period 1911–1956 Awards John Newbery Medal | |
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Born Caroline Dale Parke
March 3, 1871
New Harmony, Indiana, U.S. ( 1871-03-03 ) Genre Children's historical fiction Died January 22, 1956, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, United States Books Theras and His Town, Downright Dencey, The Forgotten Daughter, The Spartan, A Triumph for Flavius | ||
Caroline Dale Snedeker née Parke (March 3, 1871 – January 22, 1956) was an American writer, primarily of children's historical novels. Two of her books, Downright Dencey and The Forgotten Daughter, were runners-up for the Newbery Medal. On occasion she used the pen name Caroline Dale Owen.
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Personal life
She was born on March 23, 1871 in New Harmony, Indiana, to Charles A. Parke and Nina Dale Owen. Her great-grandfather was Robert Owen, one of Britain’s first social reformers and industrialists. She grew up near Mount Vernon, Indiana, in a family with three sisters. They later moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she attended the College of Music. She and her sisters performed instrumental concerts to support the family after her father died. Caroline was the pianist in the group and later became a music instructor. She married Charles H. Snedeker in 1903, and they moved to Hempstead, New York. Eventually she moved to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and died on January 22, 1956, at the age of 84. Her body was buried at Live Oak Cemetery in Harrison County, Mississippi.
Career
Snedeker's writings consist of 12 or 13 novels for older children or teens and two or three books for adults, along with a handful of other articles, stories and poems. The majority of her novels were inspired by her love for the ancient world and are set in Greece or the Roman Empire. She also based a series on American history. The morals of her time can be found throughout her novels, especially in the texts aimed at young adults.
Snedeker's first book,The Coward of Thermopylae, appeared for adults in 1911. It gained popularity in 1912 when it was reissued for young adults and re-titled The Spartan. The novel is about an Athenian soldier named Aristodemos, who travels to Sparta and trains to fight in Thermopylae. At first considered a coward, he acquits himself with a noble death. The great response to these novels sparked requests for a children's version. In 1924 Snedeker published Theras and His Town (1924). Theras is an eleven-year-old boy who moved from Athens to Sparta where he experiences a brutal life under Spartan control and attempts to escape back to Athens. The Forgotten Daughter (1933) is also set in Ancient Rome, and is a Newbery Honor Book.
Snedeker also wrote novels based on American history. The best known is Downright Dencey, a 1928 Newbery Honor Book, which tells of a friendship between a Quaker girl and a waif in Nantucket at the early 19th century. In the sequel, The Beckoning Road (1929), Dencey's family moves to New Harmony.
Snedeker also wrote and published several successful romance novels. As a result of her popularity, some of her novels were translated into other languages, including Dutch and German.
Influences
Snedeker's mother and grandmother were influences on her career. She grew up listening to her mother's singing and to her grandmother's stories of New Harmony. This sparked Snedeker's interest in history, writing and music at an early age. Having a close relationship with her mother and grandmother led Snedeker to write Town of the Fearless (1931), about the history of her family and their relation with New Harmony.
Cultural impact
The works of Caroline Dale Snedeker are not popular in today's modern world due to the speed of the stories and "olde world" prose, but they were appreciated in their time. Ongoing themes in Snedeker's novels include nobility and "good, old-fashioned values", most likely due to the era in which they were written and having her grandmother as a huge influence in her life. Caroline Snedeker was exceptionally interested in history, literature and classical music, which is evidently shown throughout her earlier works.
Novels
Nonfiction
Snedeker's two non-fiction books in the LC online catalog both carry the Library of Congress Subject Heading "New Harmony (Ind.)—History".
Two of her novels also feature New Harmony, Indiana: Seth Way and the sequel to Downright Dencey, The Beckoning Road.