author
Helen Nicolay
1866–1954
Remembered for lively, approachable history writing, she turned deep family ties to Abraham Lincoln’s world into books for young readers and general audiences. She was also an artist, and her work often brought personality and everyday detail to famous figures from American history.
2 Audiobooks
The Boys' Life of Lafayette
by Helen Nicolay
The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln
by Helen Nicolay
About the author
Born in Paris in 1866, Helen Nicolay was the daughter of John G. Nicolay, Abraham Lincoln’s private secretary and later one of Lincoln’s biographers. She grew up with unusually close access to Lincoln history, and that background shaped much of her writing life.
Nicolay became an author of American biography and history, with works that included books on Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Ulysses S. Grant. She also wrote Lincoln's Secretary, a biography of her father, and sources about her describe her not only as a writer but also as an artist.
Her papers and the historical record show a long connection to preserving Lincoln-related material as well as telling American stories for younger readers. She died in Washington, D.C., in 1954.