Meltzer, Milton (1915–2009), was an American children’s author known for his nonfiction books about American history. Meltzer especially attacked social injustice in American society. His works explore such themes as poverty, crime, discrimination, and slavery. They reflect his desire to instruct young people about the past and its meaning in their lives. Meltzer was praised for his lively and passionate prose and the depth and accuracy of his research, using eyewitness accounts and personal documents.
Meltzer probed African American and Jewish life in several books. They include In Their Own Words: A History of the American Negro (three volumes, 1964, 1965, 1967) and The Jewish Americans: A History in Their Own Words 1650-1950 (1982). He wrote about American labor’s struggle for decent working conditions in Bread—and Roses: The Struggle of American Labor, 1865-1915 (1967). He wrote about the evils of child labor in Cheap Raw Material: How Our Youngest Workers Are Exploited and Abused (1994). In addition, Meltzer wrote many biographies of important American men and women.
Meltzer was born on May 8, 1915, in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was a self-taught historian. He never graduated from college, though he attended Columbia University from 1932 to 1936. He worked in public relations and publishing from 1947 until he became a full-time writer in 1968. During his long career, Meltzer wrote more than 100 books, most of them for young readers. He received the Children’s Literature Legacy Award in 2001 for his contribution to literature for children. Meltzer died on Sept. 19, 2009.
