De Jong, Meindert (1906-1991) | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library

Name: De Jong, Meindert (1906-1991)

Historical Note: Meindert DeJong is the award-winning author of many classic books for children, including the Newbery Medal-winning The Wheel on the School and the Newbery Honor-winning Along Came A Dog, Shadrach, and The House of Sixty Fathers. DeJong (4 March 1906 - 16 July 1991) was born in the village of Wierum, Friesland, the Netherlands. His family immigrated to the United States in 1914. He attended Christian secondary schools and Calvin College, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and entered the University of Chicago, but left without graduating.He held various jobs during the Great Depression, and it was at the suggestion of a local librarian that he began writing children's books. While working toward becoming a full-time writer, Meindert held such diverse jobs as college professor, a gravedigger, a mason, a tinsmith, a sexton, and a bricklayer. He wrote several books before joining the US Army Air Corps during World War II serving in China. In 1962 DeJong was the first American author to win the International Hans Christian Andersen Award for his contributions to literature for young people; that year’s award was designated to be for an author’s entire works. On 6 July 1933, he married Hattie Overmeirer; they divorced in 1963. He moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and on 17 November 1978 married Beatrice DeClaire McElwee (d 11/17/1978).  In 1968, they moved to Chapel Hill, NC, and in 1973 to Allegan, Michigan. In 1989, he married Gwendolyn Jonkman Zandstra.  He died in Allegan.

Records or Manuscript Collections Created by De Jong, Meindert