page_title: Horatio Alger, Jr.
section_title: Success with Ragged Dick
hierarchical_section_title: Horatio Alger, Jr. / Biography / Success with Ragged Dick
caption_attribution_description: English: Illustration from Ragged Dick
context_page_description: Horatio Alger, Jr. was an American writer. He wrote magazine stories and poems, a few novels for adults, and 100 plus boys' books. His boys' books were hugely popular.
  Alger was born in Massachusetts, and attended Harvard College. He became a Unitarian minister, but his career as a clergyman was brief. It ended when his congregation charged him with child molestation. Criminal charges were not placed against him, but his career in the church was finished.
  He moved to New York City to become a professional writer. In 1868, Alger found his place in the literary world with his fourth boys' book, Ragged Dick. This book is about a poor shoe shine boy in New York City who rises to middle class comfort and security through hard work, honesty, and a little luck. The book was a great success.
  Alger continued to write boys' books. They were similar to Ragged Dick in theme and other details. Characters such as the poor but honest boy, the snobbish youth, and the greedy lawyer appeared in one book after another. Details changed from book to book, but the essentials remained the same. Boys loved the books.
  By the 1870s, boys' tastes had changed. They wanted cowboys, hunters, and Indians.
context_section_description: In October 1866, Reverend Henry Morgan published Ned Nevins, the Newsboy; or, Street Life in Boston. It was a great success. Alger sharpened his pencils and began a similar story. He wanted readers to believe his story was a realistic picture of street life, but it was actually a sentimental story that carefully avoided any mention of the sex and violence that threatened street boys every day.
  In January 1867, Alger's Ragged Dick began serialization (publication in parts) in Student and Schoolmate. The story is about a poor shoe shine boy's rise to middle class comfort and security. The book was a huge success. Boys' loved it. It had all sorts of exciting adventures in a big city. It had lots of street slang. It exposed the swindles and crimes practiced by big city crooks. The story surprised and delighted boys in small town America. They had never read of such things.
  The parts of the story were gathered together and published as a book in 1868. It became Alger's all-time bestseller. It is the first in the 6-volume Ragged Dick Series. This series follows the further adventures of Ragged Dick and his friends. Alger wrote almost entirely for boys after the success of Ragged Dick. He had found his place in literary America.
caption: Illustration from the first edition of Ragged Dick, 1868
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