Ellery Sedgwick (February 27, 1872 – April 21, 1960) was an American editor, brother of

Henry Dwight Sedgwick Henry Dwight Sedgwick III (September 24, 1861 – January 5, 1957) was an American lawyer and author. Early life Sedgwick was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the second of five children born to Henry Dwight Sedgwick II (1824–1903 ...

Early life

He was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to Henry Dwight Sedgwick II and Henrietta Ellery (Sedgwick), grand daughter of

William Ellery William Ellery (December 22, 1727 – February 15, 1820) was a Founding Father of the United States, one of the 56 signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, and a signer of the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Rho ...

. His ancestors, a leading family of

Stockbridge, Massachusetts Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,018 at the 2020 census. A year-round resort area, Stockbridge is ...

, established a tradition of literary achievement, including authors

Catherine Maria Sedgwick Catharine Maria Sedgwick (December 28, 1789 – July 31, 1867) was an American novelist of what is sometimes referred to as "sentimental novel, domestic fiction". With her work much in demand, from the 1820s to the 1850s, Sedgwick made a good liv ...

and Henry Dwight Sedgwick III.

Career

He graduated from

Groton School Groton School (founded as Groton School for Boys) is a private college-preparatory boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts. Ranked as one of the top five boarding high schools in the United States in Niche (2021–2022), it is affiliated ...

in 1890 and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

in 1894. He returned to Groton in 1894 and taught Classics there until 1896. Subsequently, he was assistant editor of the '' Youth's Companion'' at

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

(1896–1900) and in New York editor of '' Leslie's Monthly Magazine'' (1900–05) and the '' American Magazine'' (1906–07). He was associated with ''

McClure's Magazine ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism ( investigative, wat ...

'' for short periods and with the publishing house of D. Appleton & Co., in 1909 returning to Boston to be editor of the ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and president of the Atlantic Monthly Company. In 1915 he was elected to the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. From his pen came ''The Life of

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

'' (1899). When Sedgwick purchased the ''Atlantic Monthly'' in 1908, the monthly circulation was 15,000 and the magazine ran an annual deficit of $5,000. He worked quickly to reverse the trend and by 1928, he had increased circulation to 137,000. He has been credited with discovering many writers and with having the Atlantic Monthly to be the first national magazine to publish a work of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

's (the short story

Fifty Grand "Fifty Grand" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It was first published in ''The Atlantic Monthly'' in 1927, and it appeared later that year in Hemingway's short story collection '' Men Without Women''. "Fifty Grand" tells the story of Jack B ...

, July 1927). Sedgwick resigned as editor in 1938 and sold the magazine in 1939.

Personal life

Sedgwick married gardener and horticulturist Mabel Cabot in 1904. They had four children: Ellery Jr., Cabot, Theodora, and Henrietta. Mabel Sedgwick designed the gardens at Long Hill, the 114-acre home in Beverly, Massachusetts. She died in 1937. He remarried in 1939 to an Englishwoman, (Isabel) Marjorie Russell, who became a celebrated horticulturalist. Their summer home in Beverly Massachusetts was renowned for its extensive gardens, and is now the headquarters of the

Trustees of Reservations The Trustees of Reservations is a non-profit land conservation and historic preservation organization dedicated to preserving natural and historical places in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is the oldest land conservation nonprofit orga ...

. Sedgwick's son Ellery Jr grew to become a significant player in finance and investments, Cabot was a career diplomat with the US State Department and the father of actress and author

Paulita Sedgwick Paulita Sedgwick (December 7, 1943 – December 18, 2009) was an artist, actress, and independent filmmaker best known for her performances on stage and roles in several films by Ismail Merchant and James Ivory. Paulita Sedgwick was born on Dec ...

, Theodora worked extensively in South-East Asia and was the wife of Brigadier General William Bond, and Henrietta became a well known horticulturalist in her own right.

Death

Sciatica Sciatica is pain going down the leg from the lower back. This pain may go down the back, outside, or front of the leg. Onset is often sudden following activities like heavy lifting, though gradual onset may also occur. The pain is often described ...

made Sedgwick bedridden for a few months in 1938–1939, and he was also plagued with arthritis. He died in 1960 in Washington, D.C., and is buried in the Sedgwick family plot in Stockbridge.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sedgwick, Ellery Groton School alumni American magazine editors American biographers Harvard University alumni Writers from New York City American publishers (people) 1872 births 1960 deaths American people of English descent Sedgwick family The Atlantic (magazine) people Trustees of the Boston Public Library