author
M. E. (Mary Elsie) Thalheimer
A 19th-century American writer of school history books, she helped make subjects like ancient history, England, and the United States more approachable for young readers. Her work also crossed into hymn writing, showing the same clear, teaching-minded style.
1 Audiobook
A Manual of Ancient History
by M. E. (Mary Elsie) Thalheimer
About the author
Born in New York in 1836, Mary Elsie Thalheimer became known as an American historian and hymn writer. She is associated with school-friendly history texts that were widely circulated in the late 1800s, including works on ancient history, England, general history, and the United States.
Title pages and library records show that she also taught history and composition at the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, which fits naturally with the practical, classroom focus of her books. Her writing was aimed at students, and the surviving editions suggest she specialized in presenting large historical subjects in a clear, structured way.
Thalheimer died in 1915. Today, her books remain accessible through public-domain and library collections, offering a glimpse of how history was taught to generations of American students.