Elizabeth Raum

Elizabeth Raum is the author of several contributions to Heinemann Library's "American Lives" series, and has also penned a noteworthy biography of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Called by God she presents the life of a German Catholic who, unlike many in the Church, stood up to Hitler's treatment of the Jews during World War II and was ultimately put to death by the Nazis shortly before the end of the war. While Dietrich Bonhoeffer is written for adult readers, Raum has written about the lives of other heroic individuals for younger students. In Julia Ward Howe, for example, she relates the life of the woman who fought for the right of women to vote, established Mother's Day as a national holiday, and also wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." In Jane Addams Raum describes the efforts of another suffragist who also worked tirelessly on behalf of immigrant families and earned the Nobel Peace Prize, while the famous explorations of frontiersmen Lewis and Clark are described in Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Each of Raum's additions to the "American Lives" series contains maps, illustrations, information about the subject's early life, and a timeline that helps elementary school-aged readers put the subjects' lives and work into a historical context.

Career

Writer, educator, and librarian. Teacher at Mapleton High School, Mapleton, ND, 1976-77, and Madison High School, Madison, NJ, 1986-89; librarian at Hillside School, Livingston, NJ, 1989-91, and Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, 1993-2003.

Member

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Authors Guild, Author's League, American Library Association.

Writings

For Children

• Follow That Star: A Christmas Story, CandyCane Press (Nashville, TN), 2001.
• Anne Hutchinson, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.
• Clara Barton, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.
• Alice Paul, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.
• Jane Addams, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.
• Julia Ward Howe, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.
• Meriwether Lewis, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.
• Roger Williams, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.
• William Clark, Heinemann Library (Chicago, IL), 2004.

Other

• Every Day a Holiday: Celebrating Children's Literature throughout the Year, Scarecrow Press (Lanham, MD), 2001.
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Called by God, Continuum (New York, NY), 2002.

Work in Progress

The juvenile biographies Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Eileen Colins, John Glenn, Mae Jemison and Sally Ride, for Heinemann, 2005.

Biographical and Critical Sources

Periodicals

• Church History, March, 2004, Donald J. Dietrich, review of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Called by God, p. 221.
• Commonweal, November 8, 2002, Lawrence S. Cunningham, review of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, p. 40.

Online

• Heinemann Library Web site, http://www.heinemannlibrary.com/ (October 26, 2004).
• Elizabeth Raum Web site, http://www.elizabethraum.net/ (December 26, 2004).