author
Harriet Putnam
b. 1862
Known today through early-1900s children’s history books, this American writer introduced young readers to U.S. presidents and Abraham Lincoln in very simple, one-syllable language. Her surviving books suggest a talent for making big national stories easy for children to follow.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Very little confirmed biographical information about this author is readily available online beyond catalog records, so most modern references identify her mainly through her books rather than through details of her life. Library of Congress records list Harriet Putnam as born in 1862 and credit her as the author of Lives of the Presidents in Words of One Syllable (1903).
She is also credited with The Life of Abraham Lincoln for Young People, Told in Words of One Syllable (1905), another child-focused history book published by McLoughlin Brothers. These works were part of a style of educational writing that aimed to make biography and history approachable for beginning readers.
Because reliable sources with fuller personal details are scarce, her published work remains the clearest window into her career: concise, educational books designed to introduce children to important figures in American history.