Eric Philbrook Kelly (March 16, 1884 – January 3, 1960) was an American journalist, academic and author of
children's books
A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...
. He was a professor of English at
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
and briefly a lecturer at the
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...
in
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
. He won the 1929
Newbery Medal
The John Newbery Medal, frequently shortened to the Newbery, is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), to the author of "the most distinguished contr ...
recognizing his first published book, '' The Trumpeter of Krakow'', as the preceding year's most distinguished contribution to American children's literature.
Life
Kelly was born in 1884 in
Amesbury, Massachusetts
Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the ...
. Kelly graduated Dartmouth College in 1906 (BA). As a student, Kelly was a member of the French club and one of the first members of The Pukwana Club, which would eventually transition into the Delta Beta chapter of the
Sigma Nu
Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Since its founding, Sigma Nu has chartered more than 279 chapters across the United States and Ca ...
fraternity.
After "ten colorless, uneventful, and discouraging years working on newspapers", Kelly volunteered in 1918 to work with the welfare organisation Les Foyers du Soldat in Quentin, France. He found himself in charge of athletics and entertainment for 2,000 Polish soldiers in Haller's Army. In May 1919, Kelly was shipped across Germany to the newly recognised state of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
in a closed boxcar along with the Polish troops. His new base was established in the old Napoleonic fortress of Modlin, near
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. He wrote to his mother that "Warsaw is a beautiful city, reminds me in some ways of Denver."
During the 1919–1920
Polish–Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution.
After the collapse ...
, Kelly was posted at
Chełm
Chełm (; ; ) is a city in eastern Poland in the Lublin Voivodeship with 60,231 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is located to the south-east of Lublin, north of Zamość and south of Biała Podlaska, some from the border with Ukraine.
The ...
with Haller's Army on the
Bug River
The Bug or Western Bug is a major river in Central Europe that flows through Belarus (border), Poland, and Ukraine, with a total length of .Mercersburg Academy. During this period he wrote descriptions of his experience in Poland and warned against the dangers of
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
propaganda. Six months later, he was hired by his alma mater, Dartmouth College, where he would teach for 33 years. In 1924, he married his wife Katherine but, in spite of his fame as a children’s author, did not have any children of his own.
1925–1926 Kelly went to the Jagiellonian University in Kraków as the first American exchange scholar sent to Poland by the Kosciuszko Foundation. Kelly served as an instructor of American Literature and Institutions in the Department of English Philology under Prof. Roman Dybowski.
On 4 July 1926, Kelly ceremonially placed a vase filled with earth from
Tadeusz Kościuszko
Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...
Kościuszko Mound
Kościuszko Mound () is an artificial mound in Kraków, Poland. It was erected by Kraków, Cracovians in commemoration of the Polish national leader Tadeusz Kościuszko, and modelled after Kraków's prehistoric mounds of Krakus Mound, Krak and Wa ...
overlooking Kraków. That same year, he started work on ''The Trumpeter of Krakow'' which won the Newbery Medal for Children's literature in 1929. This novel contains the first known reference in any language to the now-popular legend of the hejnał trumpeter shot by a Tartar arrow.
Kelly spent 1930 as a researcher in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...
and 1931 in
Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
(both in Polish hands at that time). These inspired further Polish-themed children’s books: ''The Blacksmith of Vilno'' and ''The Golden Star of Halicz''. His 1932 book, ''The Christmas Nightingale'', was adapted as a play in 1935.
In 1943–1945, Kelly worked for the
US State Department
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
taking care of Polish refugees in
León, Guanajuato
León (), officially León de Los Aldama, is the most populous city and municipal seat of the municipality of León in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. In the 2020 census, INEGI reported 1,579,803 people living in the city of León and 1,721,21 ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
.''Newbery Medal Books: 1922–1955'', eds. Bertha Mahony Miller, Elinor Whitney Field, Horn Book, 1955, LOC 55-13968, pp. 67–69.
Kelly was chairman of the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
selection committee for the novel in the years 1951, 1952 and 1953. He retired from teaching in 1954, and retired to Chebeague Island, Maine, and
Ojo Caliente, New Mexico
Ojo Caliente is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Taos County, New Mexico, Taos County, New Mexico, United States, along the Rio Ojo Caliente.
Description
Ojo Caliente lies along U.S. Route 285 in New Mexico, U.S. Route 285 nea ...
.
Books
*'' The Trumpeter of Krakow'' (1929)
*''The Blacksmith of Vilno'' (1930)
*''The Golden Star of Halicz'' (1931)
*''Christmas Nightingale'' (1932)
*''The Girl Who Would be Queen'' (1934)
*''Three Sides of Angiochook'' (1935)
*''Treasure Mountain'' (1937)
*''At the Sign of the Golden Compass'' (1938)
*''On the Staked Plain'' (1940)
*''From Star to Star'' (1940)
*''In Clean Hay'' (1940)
*''Land of the Polish People'' (1943)
*''The Hand in the Picture'' (1947)
*''The Amazing Story of David Ingram'' (1949)
*''Polish Legends and Tales'' (1971)
References
Further reading
*"In Memoriam, Eric Philbrook Kelly '06", ''Dartmouth Alumni Magazine'' 2/1960
*Kelly, Eric P. "Papers, 1928–1964", archive in the collection of Dartmouth Library
*Kelly, Eric P. "Poland’s Great Refusal to Become a Bridge for Bolshevist Invasion of the Western World", ''Philadelphia Public Ledger'', 28 April 1921
*Mizwa, Stephen (ed.) "1956 K.F. Medal of Recognition Awarded to Professor Eric P. Kelly", ''Kosciuszko Foundation Monthly Newsletter'', September 1956