Amanda Minnie Douglas

Amanda Minnie Douglas (July 14, 1831 – July 18, 1916) was an American writer of adult and juvenile fiction. She was probably best remembered by young readers of her day for the Little Girl and Helen Grant series published over the decades flanking the turn of the twentieth century.

Early life Born in New York City, the eldest daughter of John Douglas and Elizabeth Horton was raised in the city of her birth with the exception of several years spent on a farm near Poughkeepsie, New York. She studied art design at the City Institute of New York City for a time before circumstances forced her to fall back on her greater talent as a writer to help support her family. In 1853, Douglas and her family moved from New York City to Newark, New Jersey, where she would remain a resident for the balance of her life.

Career Douglas began by submitting short stories and poems to local publications. In time her stories appeared in editions of The New York Ledger, Saturday Evening Post and the Lady's Friend Magazine. Her first novel, In Trust, was published in 1866 and sold some 20,000 copies. Learning from this first experience, Douglas made sure to retain the copyrights on all of her future works. She would go on to publish at least a novel a year until her retirement in 1913.

A sampling of her works over a near fifty-year career would include: Claudia (1867); Stephen Dane (1867); Sydnie Adriance (1868); With Fate Against Him (1870); Kathie's Stories for Young People (6 vols., 1870-'71); Lucia: Her Problem (1871); Santa Claus Land (1873); Home Nook (1873); The Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe (1874); Seven Daughters (1874); Nelly Kinnard's Kingdom (1876); From Hand to Mouth (1877); Hope Mills (1879); Lost in a Great City (1880); The Heirs of Bradley House (1882); Osborne of Arrochar (1883); Whom Kathie Married (1883); Floyd Grandon's Honor (1883); Out of the Wreck (1884); Bertha Wray's New Name (1884); A Woman's Inheritance (1885); Foes of Her Household (1886); In the King's Country (1886); The Midnight Marriage; or, A Plot to Gain a Fortune (c. 1890); Floyd Grandon's Honor (1892); In Wild Rose Time (1894); Her Place in the World (1895); Sherburne Series (6 vols., 1895); A Little Girl in Old New York (1897); A Little Girl in Old Boston (1897); A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia (1898); A Little Girl in Old Washington (1899); A Question of Silence (1901); Almost as Good as a Boy (1901); A Little Girl in Old New Orleans (1902); A Little Girl in Old Detroit. (1903); A Little Girl in Old Chicago; A Little Girl in Old San Francisco; Helen Grant's School Days; Helen Grant's Friends (1904); Helen Grant at Aldred House (1905); Helen Grant in College (1906); A Little Girl in Old Quebec (1906); Helen Grant, Senior (1907); Helen Grant, Graduate (1908); Helen Grant, Teacher (1909); and A Little Girl in Old Pittsburg (1909). Her final works, published in 1913, were A Modern Cinderella and The Red House Children at Grafton. Douglas was a friend of Louisa May Alcott and an acquaintance of Edgar Allan Poe. She was an active member of the Ray Palmer Club, a Newark woman's literary group, and the New Jersey Women's Press Club.

Works The dates following the titles are publication and/or copyright dates.

The Kathie Stories Kathie's Three Wishes, 1873, 1883, 1898 Kathie's Aunt Ruth, 1871, 1873, 1883 Kathie's Summer at Cedarwood, 1898 Kathie's Soldiers, 1871, 1877, 2015 In the Ranks (AKA Kathie in the Ranks), 1872 Kathie's Harvest Days, 1883, 1889, 2009

Follow up to The Kathie Stories Whom Kathie Married, 1883, 1911, 2016

Sherburne Series Sherburne House, 1892, 2015 Lyndell Sherburne, 1893, 2010 Sherburne Cousins, 1894 A Sherburne Romance, 1895 The Mistress of Sherburne, 1896, 2016 The Children at Sherburne House, 1897 Sherburne Girls, 1898, 2016 The Heir of Sherburne, 1899 A Sherburne Inheritance, 1901, 1905 A Sherburne Quest, 1902, 2008 Honor Sherburne, September 1904 In the Sherburne Line, September 1907

A Little Girl Series A Little Girl in Old New York, 1896, 2016 A Little Girl of Long Ago; Or, Hannah Ann (AKA Hannah Ann: A Sequel to A Little Girl in Old New York), 1897, 1898, 1901, 2008, 2009 A Little Girl in Old Boston, 1898, 2016 (starring Doris) A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia, 1899 (starring Primrose) A Little Girl in Old Washington, 1900 A Little Girl in New Orleans, 1901 A Little Girl in Old Detroit, 1902, 2009, 2015 A Little Girl in Old St. Louis, 1903 A Little Girl in Old Chicago, 1904, 2016 (starring Ruth Gaynor) A Little Girl in Old San Francisco, 1905 A Little Girl in Old Quebec, 1906, 2015 A Little Girl in Old Baltimore, 1907 A Little Girl in Old Salem, 1908, 2015 (starring Cynthia Leveritt) A Little Girl in Old Pittsburg, 1909 (starring Daffodil)

The Helen Grant Books Helen Grant's Schooldays, 1903, 2017 Helen Grant's Friends, 1904 Helen Grant at Aldred House, 1905 Helen Grant in College, 1906 Helen Grant, Senior, 1907 Helen Grant, Graduate, 1908 Helen Grant, Teacher, 1909 Helen Grant's Decision, 1910 Helen Grant's Harvest Year, 1911

Little Red House Series The Children in the Little Old Red House, 1912 The Red House Children at Grafton, 1913 The Red House Children's Vacation, 1914 The Red House Children's Year, 1915 The Red House Children Growing Up, 1916

The Maidenhood Series (various authors) Seven Daughters, by Amanda Minnie Douglas, 1874, 2015 Our Helen, by Sophie May The Asbury Twins, by Sophie May That Queer Girl, by Miss Virginia F. Townsend Running to Waste, by George M. Baker Daisy Travers, by Adelaide F. Samuels

White Black and Gold Series (various authors) Heroes of the Crusades, by Amanda Minnie Douglas, 1889, 1892 Adventures of a China Man, by Jules Verne Fighting: The Life of Philip H. Sheridan, by Headley Perseverance Island or the Robinson Crusoe of the Nineteenth Century, by Douglas Frazar Our Standard-bearer: Olive Optic's Life of Gen. U.S. Grant, by Oliver Optic Lives of the Presidents: From Washington to Cleveland, by unknown

Altemus' Golden Days Series (various authors) An Easter Lily, by Amanda Minnie Douglas, 1906 Miss Appolina's Choice, by Ellen Douglas Deland A Boy Lieutenant, by F.S. Bowley Polly and the Other Girl, by Sophie Swett Herm, and I, by Myron B. Gibson Sam, by M.G. McClelland

Other Stephen Dane, 1867 Sydnie Adriance: Or, Trying the World, 1867, 1869, 2018 Claudia, 1868 In Trust; or, Dr. Bertrand's Household. A tale, 1868, 1872, 1891 Kept His Trust; or, The Doctor's Household, 1868 With Fate against Him, 1870 Lucia: Her Problem, 1872 Home Nook: Or, The Crown of Duty, 1874, 1893, 1901 The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe; Or, There's No Place Like Home, 1874, 1875, 2014, 2018 There's No Place Like Home, 1875 Drifted Asunder; Or, the Tide of Fate, 1876, 2013, 2015 Nelly Kinnard's Kingdom, 1876, 1904 From Hand to Mouth, 1878, 1905 Our Wedding Gifts, 1878 Hope Mills: Or, Between Friend and Sweetheart, 1879, 1880 Lost in a Great City, 1880, 1881, 1908, 2012 Floyd Grandon's Honor, 1883, 2015 Out of the Wreck, 1884, 1885 A Woman's Inheritance, 1885, 2016 Foes of Her Household, 1886, 2016 A Modern Adam and Eve in a Garden, 1888, 1889, 2010 The Fortunes of the Faradays, 1888 Osborne of Arrochar (Arrochan is a typo), 1889, 1890, 2016 Guilty or Not Guilty: A Novel. The Leisure Hour Library. Vol. III. No. 278. February 15, 1890 The Midnight Marriage; or, A Plot to Gain a Fortune, 1890, 1899 The Heirs of Bradley House, 1892 Bethia Wray's New Name, 1893 Larry, 1893 In the King's Country, 1894, 2016 In Wild Rose Time, 1894, 1895, 2015 Her Place in the World, 1897, 2015 Almost as Good as a Boy, 1900, 1901 A Question of Silence, 1901 How Bessie Kept House, 1903 A Little Missionary, by 1904 Clover's Princess, 1904 What Charlie Found to Do, 1906 A Modern Cinderella, 1913, 2013 The Girls at Mount Morris, 1914, 2015