Helen Eggleston Haskell

Class of 1891: Children’s Book Author

Helen Eggleston Haskell was the author of several well-known books for children in the first half of the 20th century and also contributed articles and poems to many of the leading magazines of the day.

She was born Nellie Blanche Eggleston March 21, 1869, in Fairwater, Fond du Lac County, and came to Ripon to live with her family on Watson Street the following year. Her father, Julian Alonzo Eggleston, had attended Ripon College before the Civil War.

At Ripon, she was known as Nellie Eggleston. She studied the Select Course and was a member of the Aeolian Society and president her senior year. She was one of seven graduates in the Class of 1891.

“Mrs. Clarissa Tracy was my favorite instructor and did more for me than any other member of the college faculty,” she said. In 1930, she added, “ … A young college professor … advised me to take up journalism as a career. His name was Brigham, John Brigham, I believe. He was at Ripon but a short time but, as he hailed from the East and was a Yale graduate, I had great faith in his judgment and decided to set out upon the path he indicated.”

She received Ripon’s Distinguished Alumni Citation in 1947.

She also studied at the University of Chicago in 1915-1916 and Columbia University in 1920.

Haskell began her literary career as a reporter and fashion editor of the Minneapolis Times. She married William E. Haskell, the publisher of the newspaper, and moved east with him when he became owner and publisher of the Boston Herald.

Her most prominent works were the Katrinka series of books: “Katrinka: The Story of a Russian Child” (1915); “Katrinka Grows Up” (1932); and “Peter, Katrinka’s Brother” (1933).

Other books include “Billy’s Princess” (1907), “O-Heart-San: The story of a Japanese Girl” (1908), “Holding a Throne” (1913), “Peggy Keeps House” (1935) and “Nadya Makes Her Bow” (1938).

Her publishers included Dutton, Appleton and Page Publishing Co.

Several of her books were translated into other languages and published in several printings, and “Katrinka: The Story of Russian Child” was dramatized.

She also published novelettes, short stories, poems and articles in leading magazines and newspapers, including the London Times.

Helen Eggleston Haskell was listed as a notable author by Marquis Who’s Who.

She died Feb. 25, 1963, at age 93.