View source for Eleanor H. Porter

{{Short description|American novelist known for writing Pollyanna and Just David}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| birth_name       = Eleanor Emily Hodgman
| image            = EleanorH.Porter.jpg
| caption          = Porter, {{circa|1890–1900}}
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1868|12|19}}
| birth_place      = [[Littleton, New Hampshire]], U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1920|5|21|1868|12|19}}
| death_place      = [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| spouse           = {{Marriage|John Lyman Porter|1892}}
| name             = Eleanor H. Porter
| occupation       = Novelist
| years_active     = 1901–1920<ref name="Britannica"/>
| notable_works    = ''[[Pollyanna]]'' (1913)
}}
'''Eleanor Emily Hodgman Porter''' (December 19, 1868 &ndash; May 21, 1920) was an American novelist. She was best known as the creator of the ''Pollyanna'' series of books, starting with ''[[Pollyanna]]'' (1913), which were a popular phenomenon.<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web |title=Eleanor Hodgman Porter: American Author of Pollyanna & Beyond |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eleanor-Hodgman-Porter |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=[[Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Biography==
Eleanor Emily Hodgman was born in [[Littleton, New Hampshire]], on December 19, 1868, the daughter of Llewella French ({{nee}} Woolson) and Francis Fletcher Hodgman.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Eleanor H. Porter |url=http://www.online-literature.com/eleanor-porter/ |access-date=2024-08-08 |website=The Literature Network}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ancestry of Bill Richardson |url=http://www.wargs.com/political/richardson.html |website=wargs.com}}</ref> She was trained as a singer, attending the [[New England Conservatory]] for several years. In 1892 she married John Lyman Porter and relocated to [[Massachusetts]], after which she began writing and publishing her short stories and, later, novels.<ref name=":1" /> She died at her home in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], on May 21, 1920, and was buried at [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]].<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Grave Porter.JPG|thumbnail|Grave of Eleanor H. Porter, [[Mount Auburn Cemetery]]]]

==Works==
Porter wrote mainly [[children's literature]], [[Adventure novel|adventure stories]], and [[romance fiction]]. Her most famous novel is ''[[Pollyanna]]'' (1913), followed by a [[sequel]], ''[[Pollyanna Grows Up]]'' (1915).<ref name="Britannica" />

Her adult novels include ''The Turn of the Tide'' (1908), ''The Road to Understanding'' (1917), ''Oh Money! Money!'' (1918), ''Dawn'' (1919), ''Keith's Dark Tower'' (1919), ''Mary Marie'' (1920) and ''Sister Sue'' (1921); her short-story collections include ''Across the Years'' (c. 1919), ''Money, Love and Kate'' (1923), and ''Little Pardner'' (1926).<ref name="Britannica" />

Porter achieved considerable commercial success: ''Pollyanna'' ranked eighth among best-selling novels in the United States during 1913, second during 1914, and fourth during 1915 (with 47 printings between 1915 and 1920); ''[[Just David]]'' ranked third in 1916; ''The Road to Understanding'' ranked fourth in 1917; and ''Oh Money! Money!'' ranked fifth in 1918.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Burt
  | first = Daniel S.
  | title = The chronology of American literature: America's literary achievements from the colonial era to modern times
  | publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  | year = 2004
  | pages = 321, 328, 339
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VQ0fgo5v6e0C
  | isbn = 978-0-618-16821-7}}</ref>

==Bibliography==

===Short stories===
{{col-begin}}{{col-break}}
*''A Delayed Heritage''
*''A Four-Footed Faith and a Two''
*''A Matter of System''
*''A Mushroom of Collingsville''
*''A Patron of Art''
*''Angelus''
*''Crumbs''
*''Millionaire Mike's Thanksgiving''
*''That Angel Boy''
*''The Apple of Her Eye''
{{col-break}}
*''The Daltons and the Legacy''
*''The Elephant's Board and Keep''
*''The Folly of Wisdom''
*''The Glory and the Sacrifice''
*''The Indivisible Five''
*''The Lady in Black''
*''The Letter''
*''The Saving of Dad''
*''When Mother Fell Ill''
*''When Polly Ann Played Santa Claus''
*''Women in Black''
{{col-end}}

===Novels===
*''Cross Currents'' (1907)
*''The Turn of the Tide'' (1908)
*''The Story of Marco'' (1911)
*''Miss Billy'' (1911)
*''Miss Billy's Decision'' (1912)
*''[[Pollyanna]]'' (1913)
*''The Sunbridge Girls at Six Star Ranch'' (1913)
*''Miss Billy Married'' (1914)
*''[[Pollyanna Grows Up]]'' (1915)
*''[[Just David]]'' (1916)
*''The Road to Understanding'' (1917)
*''Oh, Money! Money!'' (1918)
*''The Tangled Threads'' (1919)
*''Dawn'' (1919)
*''Mary Marie'' (1920)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|wikt=no|n=no|author=yes|b=no|v=no}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/eleanor-h-porter}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=200 }}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Eleanor Hodgman Porter}} 
* {{Librivox author |id=1185}} 
* {{IMDb name|692108|Eleanor H. Porter}} 
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/pollyanna/forever_porter.html PBS biography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025639/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/pollyanna/forever_porter.html |date=2016-03-04 }}
* [http://ead.dartmouth.edu/html/ms796.html Papers at Dartmouth] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100711150634/http://ead.dartmouth.edu/html/ms796.html |date=2010-07-11 }}

{{Portal bar|Children's literature}}
{{Pollyanna}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Eleanor H.}}
[[Category:1868 births]]
[[Category:1920 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women novelists]]
[[Category:American women children's writers]]
[[Category:American women romantic fiction writers]]
[[Category:American women short story writers]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Auburn Cemetery]]
[[Category:New England Conservatory alumni]]
[[Category:People from Littleton, New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Writers from New Hampshire]]
[[Category:Pollyanna]]