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36-589: According to its Constitution, the Agassiz Association's purpose was "to collect, study, and preserve natural objects and facts." Each Chapter of the Association was allowed to choose its own officers and make its own by-laws. By 1880 there were chapters in Massachusetts, New York State, and Pennsylvania. By 1884 the Association had about 7000 members and about 600 Chapters. For some years, St. Nicholas Magazine

72-470: A circulation of 70,000 subscribers. In 1881, the Scribner publishing house withdrew from ownership of its two magazines, and they were purchased by The Century Company . Scribner's Monthly became Century Magazine , and St. Nicholas: Scribner's Illustrated Magazine for Girls and Boys became St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks . The printing and art facilities of the prosperous new owner

108-416: A few woodcuts. There were stories, poems, and nature stories by Harriet Mann , writing as Olive Thorne. George F. Root wrote songs for each issue. There was a puzzle page, and a science column by Dr. Worthington Hooker , writing as Uncle Worthy. The Little Corporal published works by Ohioan humor writer Rosella Rice , best known for her poems mythologizing the figure of Johnny Appleseed . In 1869

144-539: A few years it had acquired numerous competing children's periodicals. Magazines that merged with St. Nicholas were Our Young Folks and The Children's Hour in 1874, The Schoolday Magazine and The Little Corporal in 1875, and Wide Awake in 1893. From the start, St. Nicholas was beautifully printed with illustrations from a consistent group of artists and wood engravers, such as Walter James Fenn , used by Scribner & Company's other magazine, Scribner's Monthly . In 1899 St. Nicholas League began. It

180-625: A gold-stamped title. These bound volumes are available through used book sellers. Many anthologies of favorite St. Nicholas stories have been compiled. The two best-known collections were edited by Henry Steele Commager and published by Random House (the head of Random House, Bennett Cerf, had once been a St. Nicholas subscriber and (as noted above) contributor to the famous St. Nicholas League ). The St. Nicholas Anthology came out in 1948, followed by The Second St. Nicholas Anthology in 1950. Treasury of Best-Loved Stories, Poems Games & Riddles from St. Nicholas Magazine, edited by Commager,

216-709: A menu of online links. The Little Corporal The Little Corporal was a monthly children’s magazine published in Chicago Illinois from 1865 to 1875 and became the first children's periodical in the United States to gain a nation-wide readership. The magazine had a strong emphasis on patriotism and had the motto "Fighting against Wrong, and for the Good and the True and the Beautiful." It published works by popular writers of

252-410: A nationwide audience. Chicago businesses advertised in the magazine, but they would only pay small sums, for they were only interested in reaching the local market. The Little Corporal began to lose money. Subscription rates had already been raised, from a dollar a year to a dollar and a half, and it was felt the cost could not be raised again. The last issue was dated April 1875. On April 12, 1875

288-487: A newspaper and wrote a book about the fire. The Millers sent out a sample notice to newspapers and magazines, asking that they write of their problem, and request that readers write and give their names and addresses. In lieu of the November issue subscribers were sent a single sheet folded into eight pages that told of the fire and asked them to renew their subscriptions early, to help the magazine to be reestablished. After

324-460: A picture received the first issue of The Little Corporal magazine in July 1865. In that issue Sewell wrote: Sewell advertised that other children could join his fight for justice by sending in a dollar for a year’s subscription, and within one year the magazine had a circulation of 35,000 copies. The Little Corporal began as an octavo , 6 by 9 inches in size. The early issues were illustrated with

360-454: A scientific organization is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . St. Nicholas Magazine St. Nicholas Magazine was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873 and named after the Christian saint . The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge , who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1905. Dodge published work by

396-517: A subscription expired he asked the child to reenlist to continue to "battle for the right, the good and true – and to help to purify and glorify, by true living and doing, our free and freedom loving America." Eggleston had been regularly contributing Native American stories when Sewell asked him to work as an editor. In the June 1866 issue Sewell wrote: During his tenure as editor he wrote numerous short stories and articles, often using pen names, to hide

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432-413: Is no doubt about it," E.B. White wrote. "The fierce desire to write and paint that burns in our land today, the incredible amount of writing and painting that still goes on in the face of heavy odds, are directly traceable to St Nicholas." Many St. Nicholas League winners went on to achieve prominence. The most prolific poetry contest winner was Edna St. Vincent Millay , who had seven poems published in

468-458: Is noteworthy, but its nonscientific aims and aspirations are no less interesting. Not the least of these was promoting middle-class values, which had traditional Protestantism as their backbone. The choice of "Per Naturam Ad Deum" was a symbol to all that the Agassiz Association was a respectable organization: what more obvious sign of conformity could one have found than the promotion of a love of God among young people? This article about

504-581: The American Civil War . The children were asked to sell printed pictures of Old Abe , a bald eagle that was the mascot of an army regiment. Selling one picture would earn a child the rank of corporal in Sewell’s Army of the American Eagle, and higher ranks were earned by higher sales. Thousands of children joined Sewell’s "army" and raised $ 16,000. As a reward for their efforts each child who sold

540-474: The League . E.B. White and Bennett Cerf won essay contests. William Faulkner made the honor roll for his drawings, and F. Scott Fitzgerald was honored for a photograph. From 1873 until 1881, Mary Mapes Dodge was involved with the day-to-day operations of all aspects of St. Nicholas . She created the magazine departments, wrote the monthly column Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and contributed many stories and poems. In

576-655: The December 1871 issue came out the Chicago Tribune wrote: For a time after the Millers took over the magazine The Little Corporal appeared to prosper. In 1872 the magazine Work and Play was absorbed by the Corporal , and the puzzle column was renamed Work and Play. Subscriptions may have reached 100,000. While subscriptions increased advertising revenue did not. During the 1870s few businesses were interested in advertising to

612-500: The November 1885 issue. Her novella Sara Crewe appeared in the December 1887 issue. Other novels to be serialized in St. Nicholas were Louisa May Alcott 's Eight Cousins and Mark Twain 's Tom Sawyer Abroad . Dodge asked Rudyard Kipling to do a fiction series, and he sent her the Jungle Book stories. Within a few years, St. Nicholas increased in size to 96 pages, and reached

648-479: The author of children's novels, including the best-seller Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates . Dodge had specific ideas about what a children's magazine should and shouldn't be. She felt it must not be "a milk-and-water variety of the periodicals for adults. In fact, it needs to be stronger, truer, bolder, more uncompromising than the other.... Most children...attend school. Their heads are strained and taxed with

684-514: The country's leading writers, including Louisa May Alcott , Frances Hodgson Burnett , Mark Twain , Laura E. Richards and Joel Chandler Harris . Many famous writers were first published in St. Nicholas League , a department that offered awards and cash prizes to the best work submitted by its juvenile readers. Edna St. Vincent Millay , F. Scott Fitzgerald , E. B. White , and Stephen Vincent Benét were all St. Nicholas League winners. St. Nicholas Magazine ceased publication in 1940. A revival

720-574: The day's lessons. They do not want to be bothered nor amused nor petted. They just want to have their own way over their own magazine." The first issue of St. Nicholas: Scribner's Illustrated Magazine for Girls and Boys was dated November, 1873. It had 48 pages and a press run of 40,000 copies. Although St. Nicholas never reached the high circulation numbers of some other magazines (in the 1890s The Youth's Companion had 500,000 subscribers compared with St Nicholas's 100,000 in Christmas 1883 ), within

756-528: The day, including Harriet Mann Miller (writing as Olive Thorne), Sarah Chauncey Woolsey (writing as Susan Coolidge), Josephine Pollard and Harry Castlemon . The periodical merged with St. Nicholas Magazine in 1875. Publisher Alfred L. Sewell did not originally plan on starting a children’s magazine. In 1865 he enlisted an "army" of children to raise money for the United States Sanitary Commission , which helped wounded soldiers during

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792-521: The fact that several of his stories often appeared in the same issue. He soon discovered he was unable to support his family on his small earnings, so in December 1866 he accepted an editorial position at The Sunday School Teacher since it paid a higher wage. In July 1867 Sewell hired another regular contributor, Emily Huntington Miller , as a new editor. In the August 1867 issue Miller wrote her first editorial, which ended with: Miller began writing most of

828-458: The first issue she explained why she chose St. Nicholas for the name of the magazine: In order to retain her juvenile readers for many years, Dodge created departments for different age groups. For Very Little Folks (1873–1897) was a page of simple stories printed in large type. The Puzzle Box contained riddles, math and word games. Young Contributors Department (begun in 1875) encouraged the writing skills of older children. The Agassiz Association

864-471: The magazine became a quarto , 9.5 by 12 inches in size. There were more illustrations, and correspondence from readers was a new feature. That year circulation reached 80,000 copies. For the first year Sewell edited The Little Corporal on his own, while continuing to run his publishing business. Though the magazine’s content did not pertain to army matters Sewell used military terminology within it. Readers were referred to as soldiers or volunteers, and when

900-470: The magazine. Within a few years, St. Nicholas began a steady decline in circulation. In November 1927 George F. Thomson, the former editor of Our Young Folks (a magazine taken over by St. Nicholas in 1874) became editor. He was replaced after two years, and a rapid turnover of editors began. In 1930 St. Nicholas was sold to American Education Press , and the magazine's full name was changed to St. Nicholas for Boys and Girls . In 1935 St. Nicholas

936-536: The serialized stories for the magazine. At least one of them, The Royal Road to Fortune , was lengthened and published as a novel by Alfred L. Sewell & Co. It was announced as the first in the "Little Corporal Library." In 1870 her husband, John Edwin Miller, left his job as a teacher and became the magazine’s co-publisher. In June 1869 the magazine announced that: For a time the Little Pilgrim’s illustration

972-547: The staff of St. Nicholas . In 1878 he was promoted to associate editor. Starting in 1881, he took on more responsibilities when, upon the death of her son, Mary Mapes Dodge limited her work load. As editor, Clarke placed more emphasis on departments, perhaps because he lacked Dodge's close ties to famous authors. Departments devoted to short plays, science and philately (stamp collecting) were added to St. Nicholas . Circulation remained at about 70,000. In 1927, Clarke stepped down as editor. He retired in 1928, after 54 years with

1008-460: Was February 1940. With a March 1943 issue, St. Nicholas was brought back, in a format similar to early days. Its owner and editor was Juliet Lit Stearns; business manager was F. Orlin Tremaine . It failed after four issues. A popular service provided to St. Nicholas subscribers was that, for a small fee, six issues could be sent off to be bound into a hard-back volume, with crimson covers and

1044-411: Was attempted in 1943, but only a few issues were published before St. Nicholas folded once more. In 1870 Roswell Smith, cofounder of the magazine publishing company Scribner & Company, contacted Mary Mapes Dodge to inquire if she would be interested in working for a projected new children's magazine. At the time Dodge was an associate editor of the weekly periodical Hearth and Home , as well as

1080-431: Was begun in 1885 to develop the awareness of nature, and the importance of conservation. Hundreds of Agassiz chapters were organized across the nation, and reports of activities were printed in the department. Dodge knew many famous writers, and was able to persuade them to submit their work to her magazine. Frances Hodgson Burnett 's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy first appeared as a St. Nicholas serial, beginning in

1116-420: Was made available to St. Nicholas , and the magazine continued to thrive. Dodge's eldest son, Harry, died in 1881. In her grief she relinquished much of her responsibilities to her assistant editor, William Fayal Clarke. Though no longer in control of all day-to-day operations, Dodge continued working at St. Nicholas until her death in 1905. William Fayal Clarke was twenty years old when, in 1874, he joined

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1152-410: Was one of the magazine's most important departments, and had the motto of "Live to learn and learn to live." Each month contests were held for the best poems, stories, essays, drawings, photographs, and puzzles submitted by the magazine's young readers. Winners received gold badges, runners-up received silver badges, and "honor members", winners of both gold and silver badges, were sent cash prizes. "There

1188-788: Was published in 1978 by Greenwich House . The first two volumes were reprinted by Greenwich House in 1982 and 1984. In addition, Burton Frye compiled A St. Nicholas Anthology: the Early Years for Meredith House in 1969. In 2003 and again in 2004, William F. Buckley Jr. edited The National Review Treasury of Classic Children's Literature and The National Review Treasury of Classic Children's Literature: Volume Two, both with stories gathered from St. Nicholas. A number of St. Nicholas issues can be downloaded free of charge. Sources shown in External Links are Project Gutenberg and A Tribute to St. Nicholas: A Magazine for Young Folks , which contains

1224-496: Was shown on the puzzle page and the magazine’s cover, but by July 1870 his image was gone from the magazine. In October 1871 the Great Chicago Fire destroyed Alfred L. Sewell’s publishing company. All equipment was lost, as well as the magazine’s subscription records, manuscripts and illustrations. Sewell gave The Little Corporal to editor Emily Huntington Miller and her husband, and Sewell moved to Evanston, where he started

1260-474: Was sold to Educational Publishing Corporation. Editors under the last two owners were Albert Gallatin Lanier (1930), May Lamberton Becker (1930–32), Eric J. Bender (1932–34), Chesla Sherlock (1935), Vertie A. Coyne (1936–40), and Juliet Lit Sterne (1943). In 1940 the format was changed to a large-print picture-and-story-magazine, aimed at beginner readers. Slick paper was replaced with soft paper. The last issue

1296-605: Was the official organ of communication between the Association and its members. The Association was incorporated in 1892. Ballard's successor as president was Edward F. Bigelow. The American Fern Society and the Wilson Ornithological Society originated as Chapters of the Agassiz Association. One of the last shows of natural theology occurred in the Agassiz Association, which took as one of its two mottos "Per Naturam Ad Deum," or "Through Nature to God." The Association's fostering of careful scientific work by amateurs

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