Margaret Wise Brown Papers

Born May 23, 1910, in Brooklyn (NY), Margaret Wise Brown was the middle child of three. Her father, Robert Brown, worked for the American Manufacturing Company (NY) while her mother, Maude Johnson Brown, was a Hollins alumna, receiving an "Eclectic" degree at the Hollins Institute in 1899. Margaret, along with her sister, Roberta, attended numerous private schools both in the United States and abroad.

From 1928-1932, she attended Hollins College where she received a B.A. in English Literature. While at Hollins, Margaret took an interest in writing, encouraged by her literature professor, Marguerite Hearsey. A few years after graduation, she rented an apartment in New York's Greenwich Village and at the encouragement of a friend, decided to apply for the Student Teachers program at the Bank Street Cooperative School. Entering the program in the Fall of 1935, Margaret soon fell under the influence of Lucy Sprague Mitchell, "chairman" of the school. In addition to teaching, Margaret also became involved in the Bank Street Writers Laboratory, a group interested in applying the latest scientific theories to children's stories, and in 1837, published her first story, "When the Wind Blew" (Harper and Brothers).

She also occasionally employed pen names such as "Golden Macdonald," "Timothy Hay," and "Juniper Sage."