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Notable people · Literature

Virginia Hamilton

Yellow Springs author of 41 books of Black American fiction, folktales and biography. First Black writer to win the Newbery Medal (1975, M. C. Higgins, the Great); also the Hans Christian Andersen Award (1992) and a MacArthur Fellowship (1995).

At a glance

Born
1936-03-12
Died
2002-02-19
Education
Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH, 1952-55
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 1957-58
The New School, New York, 1958-60
Known as
Literature

Life story

Virginia Hamilton was born in Yellow Springs in 1936, the youngest of five children. Her parents encouraged reading and storytelling.

She studied at Antioch College, Ohio State and the New School, and married the poet Arnold Adoff in 1960.

Her first book, Zeely, came out in 1967. M. C. Higgins, the Great won the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award in 1974.

The couple returned to live on the farm where she grew up. She died in Dayton in 2002. An award in her name is given by the American Library Association.

Timeline

  • 1936-03-12: Born (Yellow Springs, OH) source
  • 1952: Enters Antioch College (Yellow Springs, OH) source
  • 1960: Marries Arnold Adoff (New York) source
  • 1967: Zeely published (United States) source
  • 1971: The Planet of Junior Brown named Newbery Honor Book (United States) source
  • 1974: M. C. Higgins, the Great wins Newbery and National Book Award (United States) source
  • 1992: Hans Christian Andersen Award (International) source
  • 1995: MacArthur Fellowship and Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (United States) source
  • 2002-02-19: Dies (Dayton, OH) source

What Virginia is known for

  • Newbery Medal and National Book Award 1975 for M. C. Higgins, the Great
  • Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing, 1992
  • MacArthur Fellowship, 1995
  • Zeely (1967)
  • The Planet of Junior Brown (1971)
  • M. C. Higgins, the Great (1974)

Honors and things named for them

  • Newbery Medal (1975 ceremony, for 1974 book)
  • National Book Award
  • Hans Christian Andersen Award (1992)
  • MacArthur Fellowship (1995), first children's author
  • Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (1995)
  • Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award (ALA, 2010)
  • Virginia Hamilton Conference, Kent State University (since 1984)

Family

  • husband: Arnold Adoff
  • father: Kenneth James Hamilton
  • mother: Etta Perry Belle

Ohio places

Where Virginia Hamilton was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

  • Disputed: Wikipedia dates her Newbery-winning book to 1974, while the award itself was given in 1975.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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