Armstrong, William H. (1914-1999), was an American author best known for his children’s novel Sounder (1969). The book won the 1970 Newbery Medal. This award is given annually to the best children’s book written by an American.
Sounder is the story of an African American sharecropper family who struggle to survive in the South during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Sounder is the family’s prize hunting dog. The novel is based on stories Armstrong heard as a boy from a Black man in Virginia, where the author grew up. Some critics complained that the author gave only the dog a name in the book. Armstrong wrote two sequels, Sour Land (1971), where the boy, named Moses Waters, is now a teacher, and The MacLeod Place (1972). Sounder was made into a motion picture in 1972 that received four Academy Award nominations, including best picture.
Armstrong wrote three biographies for young readers. Barefoot in the Grass: The Story of Grandma Moses (1970) is about a famous American folk artist. Hadassah: Esther the Orphan Queen (1972) tells about Queen Esther and her guardian, Mordecai, in the Bible. The Education of Abraham Lincoln (1974) is about the 16th president of the United States.
William Howard Armstrong was born on Sept. 14, 1914, on a farm near Lexington, Virginia. He received a B.A. degree from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia in 1936. Beginning in 1945, Armstrong spent 52 years teaching history at the Kent School, a private school for grades 9 to 12 in Kent, Connecticut. While at the school, he began writing. Armstrong raised sheep while living in Connecticut. Several of his early books were on education, beginning with Study Is Hard Work (1956). Armstrong died on April 11, 1999.
