Hubbard Elbert: photo and biography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Hubbard Elbert, whose biography is described in this article, is an American writer. Author of the famous essay "Epistle to Garcia". Elbert was simultaneously a publisher, philosopher and artist. Hubbard became one of the key figures in the art.

Childhood

Elbert Green Hubbard was born on 1856-19-06 in Bloomington, Illinois. His mother was Juliana Frances Reid and his father was Silas. Albert was born in one place, but he grew up in another, in Hudson.

First business

Elbert started his first business in his hometown. Green was selling the products of one company. And thanks to this, Elbert ended up in the state of New York, in Buffalo. It was there that the main office of the company was located. Hubbard was very smart and came up with several innovations that pleased the head of the firm.

Own business

After some time Elbert created his own publishing house. This was inspired by the example of W. Morris. He also had his own publishing house, in which all operations with books were carried out, as in the Middle Ages, manually. And Hubbard Elbert opened his company Roycroft Press.

She edited and publishedfirst two magazines. The binding of one of them was made of wrapping paper. And the magazine published a crude satire. At the same time, Elbert's publishing house produced unusual but beautiful books that were printed on handmade paper.

Hubbard's company had two workshops (one for bookbinding) and a shop that made furniture. And also Green was the owner of workshops for the manufacture of forged copper products and leather dressing.

Roycroft Commune

In 1895, in East Aurora, Hubbard Elbert founded the community of Roycroft, intended for followers of the arts. This organization became the main supplier of furniture, which was produced by Hubbard. And his workshops are a meeting place for reformers, radicals, freethinkers and suffragettes.

Elbert was a popular lecturer, and his own philosophy became a passionate defense of American technology and free enterprise. Hubbard was often mocked by the press, claiming that Elbert had become a capitalist. There was heavy criticism in the media that Hubbard called the prison a socialist paradise.

Private life

Hubbard Elbert married in 1881 Bertha Crawford. At that time, he was still selling soap to one company. Hubbard's wife survived him by 31 years. Elbert and Bertha had four children. And Hubbard's wife was among the founders and leaders of Roycroft. But one day, Bertha found out about her husband's infidelity with a local teacher, Alice Moore. This discovery was followed by the Hubbard divorce.

Elbert immediately removed his ex-wife from managing the community and the company, replacing her with Alice Moore. Although Berta enjoyed great respect and influence. But their children, even after the death of their parents, subsequently managed the business and the commune for a long time.

In 1904, Hubbard Elbert married a second time. His chosen one was the writer and feminist Alice Moore, with whom he cheated on his first wife. She graduated from Emerson College of Public Speaking in Boston. Elbert's daughter Miriam was born from his second marriage.

Essay "Message to Garcia"

Elbert Hubbard was not only a talented businessman, but also an excellent writer. Many of his sayings and quotes have become winged. And are contained in numerous collections of aphorisms. The essay "Message to Garcia", which brought Hubbard worldwide fame, was written in a few hours. This is a summary of Elbert's conversation with his son about the outcome of the war in 1898

Hubbard Sr. believed that the conflict ended not through the efforts of politicians, but with the help of a simple officer E. Rowan, who completed the task by delivering a report to the Spanish General Garcia.

The New York Railroad Administration bought Hubbard's essay first. And then the essay was distributed to all conscripts during the wars without fail. The work even turned out to be included in the school curriculum.

Lusitania: Hubbard's tragic death

In May 1915, the Hubbards embarked on a sea voyage on the Lusitania. After six days of sailing, a Germansubmarine torpedo. The Lusitania sank off the coast of Ireland. The Hubbards died, as did 1,198 other passengers.

A friend of the family, E. Cooper, was on the dying ship. He was able to survive the tragedy and, after being rescued, wrote a letter to Elbert's son. Cooper said that when the torpedo hit the liner, the Hubbards came out on deck holding hands. That's how they always went. Despite the fact that the ship was sinking, the couple remained calm.

While Cooper was rescuing children by carrying them to lifeboats, the Hubbarts made a decision. And when Cooper was about to jump into a lifeboat, he saw the couple head to one of the nearby cabins and close the doors behind them. Apparently, Elbert and Alice decided it was better to die together than risk being separated or separated.

The sinking of the Lusitania occurred three years after the sinking of the Titanic. Hubbard was fascinated even at that time by Ida Strauss, who stayed with her husband, refusing to leave him and enter the lifeboat. Apparently, Elbert decided to repeat the heroic deed. And, as Cooper's account attests, Alice supported her husband as they made the last big decision of their lives together.