May Massee
| May Massee | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 1, 1881 Chicago, IL |
| Died | December 24, 1966 (aged 85) New York, NY |
| Occupation | Editor |
| Known for | Children's books |
May Massee (May 1, 1881 - Dec 24, 1966) was an American children's book editor. She was the founding head of the juvenile departments at Doubleday from 1922 and at Viking Press from 1932. Prior to working at Doubleday she had been the editor the American Library Association periodical Booklist.
May Massee was born the third of five children to Charlotte and Francis Massee in Chicago. When she was five, her family moved to Milwaukee where she attended the public schools. She graduated from high school at the age of sixteen and attended the state normal school there for two years before teaching elementary school for a year.
She worked with a librarian for some time in Wisconsin before attending the Wisconsin Library School in Madison. She worked in several libraries until she was encouraged to work in the children’s room while working for a public library in Buffalo, New York. While she enjoyed this work, she accepted the tempting offer to become editor of The Booklist forcing her to move back to Chicago in 1913. As the magazine’s reputation grew, so did Massee’s.
In 1922, Doubleday invited her to help them open and run their children’s department, the second in the nation. Accepting the offer, she moved to New York. She remained with the publisher until 1933 when she helped found the children’s book department for Viking Press. She worked with Viking Press as editor and director until her retirement in 1960, twenty-seven years later. However, she continued working with Viking Press as an advisory editor until her death from a stroke at her home in New York City.
Massee worked with many prominent writers and illustrators including the following:
The May Massee Collection at Emporia State University also names Kate Seredy, Don Freeman, Eyvind Earle, Marguerite de Angeli, Manning de Villeneuve Lee, , and Leo Politi.
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