McElderry, Margaret K. (1912–)
McElderry, Margaret K. (1912–)
American children's editor and publisher. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1912; graduated from Mt. Holyoke College, 1933.
For 9 years, assisted Anne Carroll Moore at New York Public Library; during WWII, served in Office of War Intelligence in London (1944–45); became head of children's department of Harcourt Brace (1945); along with May Massee, Ursula Nordstrom, and Elizabeth Reilly, was largely responsible for shaping the field of modern children's literature; edited Mary Norton's classic The Borrowers, and was a champion of both picture books and stories by foreign authors at a time when few American publishers looked beyond their own shores; forced to retire (1972), moved to Atheneum, where she became the 1st children's editor to receive her own imprint; moved to Simon & Schuster, where she was still working at age 90.
See also Women in World History.