This post was written in September 2022. I softened the title (Seriously, I did!) and some of the phrasing so that I don't get into too much hot water. Even so, I'm prepared for possible attacks. People who hate Harriet Adams are combative with those of us who defend her.
In August [2022], a post was made in the Nancy Drew Book Fans group about how unfortunate it is that some fans pit Mildred Wirt Benson and Harriet Adams against each other. More specifically, these toxic fans hate Harriet Adams with every fiber of their being and cannot stand anyone suggesting that Harriet ever did anything right.
Most of the people who responded to the post were reasonable. One person took the opportunity to bash the Nancy Drew television series on The CW. That person first said that "we can all agree" that the original text Nancy Drew books are the best ones. They also said that the television series is "garbage."
First, I disagree with the blanket statement that the original text Nancy Drew books are the best in all cases. Many of them are the best, but not all of them, at least not for all fans. I don't like the original text Shadow Ranch or Broken Locket. I like the revised text stories better for those titles.
Second, it's okay not to like the current television series, but calling it "garbage" is toxic. Just say that you don't like it. You can say why you don't like it. Your opinion is 100% valid, because it is how you feel. But using a word like "garbage" immediately angers the people who like the show and causes them to disregard your opinion. That's not what you want.
By the way, another toxic word that has been used to describe the Nancy Drew revised text books is "abomination." That's going a bit far and is quite offensive to those of us who enjoy many of those books.
I responded to the post about Harriet Adams and Mildred Wirt Benson, since I take every opportunity I can to defend Harriet Adams. I feel like she needs to be defended, since so many people hate her.
I admire both women, and they cannot be compared. Their contributions were tremendous and completely different from each other. Mildred's writing is incomparable (aside from Walter Karig's excellent three books), but Harriet ran the Stratemeyer Syndicate for 50 years when women didn't run companies.
I have made fun of Harriet's writing (like when the Dana Girls leap into the air like giant grasshoppers), but I admire her so very much. It saddens me that so many people cannot look past her statements to the press during the 1970s. How sad that a very successful woman's life is judged solely by a few comments that she made.
Yes, Harriet didn't tell the truth. In a perfect world, she would have. This isn't a perfect world, and sometimes people say things that we wish they hadn't. Harriet thought that hiding the ghostwriters' existence was best for her company's legacy. She couldn't know how people would feel decades later.
I lean towards being Team Harriet, and I take any chance I can to defend her. She kept Nancy Drew going all those many years. If Harriet hadn't taken over the Syndicate and kept it going, Nancy Drew would have faded into oblivion right after her initial release. If Nancy had disappeared, I would have never read the revised text yellow spine books in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I would have never known of Nancy Drew. Thank you, Harriet, for keeping Nancy Drew alive.
Harriet's company did own the rights to the stories outright, so they could claim whatever they wanted. While I don't like reading the statements that Harriet made in the 1970s, my take is that she was doing what she thought was best. I believe that Harriet thought that the best way to protect her family's legacy was to pretend that the ghostwriters did not exist.
This person then responded that I and another commenter were giving Harriet too much credit. They related the story about how Harriet was surprised to see Mildred at the Grosset and Dunlap trial. Harriet allegedly told Mildred, "I thought you were dead." This person then read meaning into what Harriet said, saying that Harriet thought that she could get away with claiming to be the author since she thought Mildred was dead.
If Harriet thought that Mildred was dead prior to seeing her at the trial, she sure didn't just a few years before during the time that she made the false statements to the media. Mildred made contact with the Stratemeyer Syndicate during the late 1970s regarding the Nancy Drew television series. So, Harriet knew very well that Mildred was alive in the late 1970s. Aside from that...
Harriet was 89 years old and out of her gourd. Harriet's final story, The Secret in the Old Lace from 1980, had to be rewritten from start to finish by Nancy Axelrad after its rejection by Simon & Schuster.
In the comment thread in the group, I made one more attempt:
Harriet's mind had deteriorated by the time of the trial. I know this to be true because her writing had deteriorated by the time of the last few books that she wrote. There is a real difference in Harriet's final books as compared to the ones from five or more years before. Harriet's final book, Old Lace, had to be rewritten completely by Nancy Axelrad since it was unusable. Harriet wrote that book around the time of the trial. Harriet wasn't all there mentally, and that's why she made such a rude comment to Mildred.
And of course, the other person wouldn't let it rest and told me that I was wrong. I was told that Harriet lied about the authorship. I was told that I could spin it all I want, but "a lie is a lie."
I've been mulling this over ever since.
Gosh, how wonderful for some people that they have never made a mistake and never done anything less than perfect. They can be the judge and jury for the rest of us.
It's a shame that Harriet Adams has been vilified in the collecting community.
Look, Harriet lied. I admit that. I don't usually use that word, because it's too negative, too toxic.
In the late 1800s, author Horatio Alger wrote a large number of "rags-to-riches" books about young boys who succeed through hard work and perseverance. Horatio Alger's books were the predecessors to the output of the Stratemeyer Syndicate. In fact, Edward Stratemeyer read Alger's books when young and was inspired to write his own books.
During his life, Horatio Alger was accused of molesting young boys. He was forced to resign as minister of a church after the allegations surfaced. While we have no proof of whether the molestation actually occurred, the accusations sound credible.
Come on, people. If you're going to vilify a series book author, then Alger is the one to pick. Instead, we vilify Harriet Adams for lying when Alger allegedly molested young boys. Which is worse? Lying or molesting children? I hope your answer is molesting children. In the series book groups, Harriet's sin of lying is apparently the most despicable act that a human can possibly commit.
Horatio Alger and the 100-Year-Old Guilty Secret
Horatio Alger Entry in The New Encyclopedia of American Scandal
And yes, lying is bad, but I'm just saying that it's not the very worst sin that a person can commit. We need to keep this in perspective and not blow it out of proportion.
The problem with Harriet Adams is that she did something so public that everyone knows about it, and many collectors just can't see past it. I am able to see past it, so I will continue to stand up for her.
Harriet Adams was flawed, but I admire her for her huge contribution to the lasting legacy of series books. Sometimes we have to look past the flaws and accept that someone's lifetime contributions are worthy of being acknowledged.
3 comments:
I enjoyed reading this article.
As to seeing past what HSA lied about. I’ve never seen or heard any of her statements. All I know is that she was very protective of Nancy Drew. For that, we should be grateful.
I agree Jennifer. Mildred Benson Witt’s writing is fantastic and I do enjoy the volumes she wrote but the there would have been no ND after 1930 if Harriet Adams and to some extent her sister, hadn’t picked up the reigns. I’m sure not an easy task. We owe both women so much. All the other she said, he said pales in my enjoyment of ND for over 50 years. I prefer to give thanks and grace than to take sides.
The feelings expressed about Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and the reasons for those feelings and the explanations of how and why events may have occurred exactly mirror how I feel. I find it extremely unfortunate that some members of the series book collectors' community are so negative about her; perhaps, negative isn't strong enough and, sadly, toxic describes their feelings and reaction more appropriately.
Adams deserves credit for almost singlehandedly managing the Stratemeyer Syndicate after her father's death. Her sister, Edna Stratratmeyer Squire, and her father's secretary, Harriet Otis Smith, were working with her for a short time. Adams devoted over 50 years to working for the Syndicate.
Other people also deserve credit for the success of the Nancy Drew series. Squire and Smith, as mentioned previously, every ghostwriter, the staff and partners in later years of the Stratemeyer Syndicate, and the publisher and their staff which were assigned to work on the Nancy Drew series. There is enough glory for every person associated with the series to have her/his due.
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