HARPER LEE BIOGRAPHY
By: Katie McDonnell, Aleena Sharma, Max Blanche,
Joe Rose, & Jenna Ballarin
Early Life
Born April 28th 1926 (87 years old)
¨  Full name Nelle Harper Lee
¨  Born in Monroeville, Alabama (American)
¨  Youngest of 5 children of Amasa Coleman Lee and
Frances Lee
¨  Named after her grandmother, “Nelle” is her
grandmothers name spelt backwards (Ellen)
¨ 
Early Life
¨ 
¨ 
Lee’s mother was a homemaker and her father
was a former newspaper editor who practiced
law
¤  Lee’s father once defended two black men
accused of murdering a white store keeper.
The two men were hanged.
Lee went to Monroe County High School where
she was involved in glee club and the literary
honour society. She developed interest in
English literature. She graduated in 1944, and
went to an all female Huntingdon College in
Montgomery.
Huntingdon College
Early Life
¨ 
Lee transferred to the University of Alabama at
Tuscaloosa.
¤  At
first Lee was a loner and an individualist, however, she
did join a sorority for a while in attempt to be more social
¤  At UA Lee recognized her love for writing and contributed
to the schools humour magazine “Rammer Jammer” which she
eventually became editor of.
¤  In her Junior year, Lee was accepted into Law school, and
did an exchange program to Oxford University, However
she realized that writing was her true calling, dropped out
and left for New York to pursue her dreams.
Early Career
¨ 
6 months before finishing her studies, Lee went to New York to pursue a
literary career
¨ 
Lee struggled at first and worked as an airline clerk during the 1950s
¨ 
Lee wrote several long stories and then found an agent in November 1956.
¨ 
¨ 
While working at Michael browns, Lee received a years worth of wage,
and was told to take a year off to write whatever she pleases
Lee showed a manuscript of “To Kill a Mockingbird” to Tay Hohoff, an
editor at J.B. Lippincott & CO., it was just a string of stories. Then 2 years
later, with Hohoff’s guidance “To Kill a Mockingbird” was finally ready.
To Kill a Mockingbird
¨ 
¨ 
Published in 1961 “To Kill a Mockingbird” was an immediate best seller
To Kill a Mockingbird deals with issues of racism Harper Lee observed as a
child in her hometown
To Kill a Mockingbird
Immediately successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize
¨  Has become a classic of modern American
Literature
¨  The Plot and characters of the story are based on
Harper Lee’s own family and neighbours as well as
an event that occurred close to her hometown in
1936 (Lee was 10 years old)
¨ 
After “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Since “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Lee has done almost
no interviews or public appearances
¨  Except for a few essays, Lee has made no further
publications
¨ 
¤  “I
wouldn't’t go through with the pressure and publicity I
went through with ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ for any
amount of money. I have said what I wanted to say and
I will not say it again” –Lee on having no further
publications
Presidential medal of Freedom
¨ 
On November 5th 2007, George W. Bush presented
Lee with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her
contribution to literature. The Presidential Medal of
Freedom is the highest civilian award in the U.S.
References
http://www.biography.com/people/harperlee-9377021
¨  http://www.gradesaver.com/author/harper-lee/
¨  http://www.harperlee.com/bio.htm
¨  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harper_Lee
¨  http://www.neabigread.org/books/mockingbird/
readers-guide/about-the-author/
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