Bookplates

The Marguerite Henry Book Fund

July 1, 1992

Marguerite Henry (1902-1997) was a renowned children’s literature author and friend of Hamilton College. In 1992, she established this fund to be used for the purchase of children’s literature for the collection of Book Arts at the Burke Library. 

Marguerite Henry (born Breithaupt) discovered her passion for literature as a child stricken with rheumatic fever. Bedridden, Marguerite spent her time reading books and developing her passion for writing. Before beginning her career as a writer, she attended Milwaukee State Teachers College and married Sidney Crocker Henry. In 1940, she published her first book, combining her passion for writing with her love of animals. Throughout her 59 books, animals, particularly horses, were crucial elements of the texts, filled with historical and geographical facts. Misty of Chincoteague and King of the Wind were among her long list of books, the latter of which won her the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association. In 1991, she received an honorary degree from Hamilton College.