Grover, Edwin Osgood Collection

Edwin Osgood Grover, born in Mantorville, MN in 1870, received his education on the east coast at St. Johnsbury (Vermont Academy), Dartmouth College (Grover worked his way through undergraduate as a reporter for the Boston Globe), and Harvard, where he spent a brief period engaging in graduate work.  Shortly thereafter, Grover left for Europe for eight months where he enjoyed both study and travel. Upon his return to the U. S., Grover found employment as a college and high school representative in the Midwest for the text book firm Ginn & Company.  After four years he transferred to Boston with the same company but this time as advertising manager and assistant editor.  From this position he eventually moved on to Rand, McNally & Company in Chicago as an editor-in-chief, and then, in 1906, to his own publishing firm of Atkinson, Mentzer and Grover, where he served as both vice-president and editor.  After only seven years Grover sold his interest in this company to accept the presidency and to buy controlling interest in the Prang Company of New York and Chicago.  While with Prang, Grover became instrumental in promoting the industrial arts movement, an act that revolutionized the teaching of art in the American public schools. Outside of his professional pursuits, Grover also gained recognition for his educational endeavors.  He was a trustee of the Fairmont College and of the Congregational Training School for Women in Chicago, he was a member of the Advisory Board of Trustees of Oberlin College, and a life member of the Art Institute of Chicago. Shortly after retiring from the publishing business in 1926, Grover was called upon by Hamilton Holt to become the country's first "Professor of Books" at Rollins College, a position he eagerly agreed to fill.  During his time at Rollins, Grover also found himself as Director of the Rollins College Library for two years, Vice-President of Rollins College, sponsor of the undergraduate magazine The Flamingo, editor of the Rollins Animated Magazine, and the pioneer of a new method of teaching known as the conference plan.  He also taught at the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College and founded the Blowing Rock School of English in North Carolina.  Grover also founded Angel Alley Press, his private printing house that he named after the location of the printing house of his ancestors. Active in the communtiy, Grover boasted a list of memberships, including: Bibliographical Society of America and England, Midland Authors Society (Chicago), Advisory Board for the Florida National Youth Administration, Trustee at Bethune-Cookman College, Vice-President of the Seminole Indian Historical Association, New York Historical Society, Grolier Club, Phi Delta Theta, Superintendent at the Congregational Church Sunday School, Board of Deacons, Advertising Council and the Editorial Board at American Viewpoint.  Additionally, Grover authored numerous books and edited many more. In his personal life he was married to Mertie Graham Grover in June of 1900, who died as a result of being hit by a car in front of their Winter Park home in 1936, and the two had three children--Frances, Hester, and Graham.

Note written by Rebecca Rieve