Elmer Hader

Berta Hoerner Hader (1890-1976) and Elmer Stanley Hader (1889-1973) were an American couple who illustrated more than seventy children’s books together, about half of which they wrote. They won the 1948 Caldecott Medal for The Big Snow, and were two Caldecott Award winners (in 1940 for Cock-a-doodle-doo and in 1944 for The Mighty Hunter).

Elmer Hader was born in Pajaro, California, but spent most of his life in San Francisco. He worked for a time as a railroad fireman and used his earnings to pay for his first semester at the California School of Design. He then received a scholarship, which enabled him to complete his studies.

Elmer was interested in theater, played in theater studios, including during his studies at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1912-14, participated in vaudeville productions and in the then popular sketches “Painting in a Minute”, which depicted famous canvases. This absorbed Elmer so much that he even decided to give up a career as an artist, but soon changed his mind, returned to San Francisco, equipped a studio in his parents’ attic, painted, taught and organized exhibitions. In 1918, he was drafted into the army and again went to France as part of the military corps. When Elmer and Bertha met in San Francisco, they were both already part of the artistic community, quickly got along and became good friends. And after his demobilization in 1919, Elmer, instead of returning to San Francisco, immediately went to New York, where Bertha drew for McCall’s magazine. In July of that year, they married and settled in a small rural town called Grand View-on-Hudson, on the west bank of the Hudson River. They spent the rest of their lives there. They built their house themselves, with the help of friends, and the construction took almost twenty years, and the house itself became something of an art project.

In the early twenties, the Haders had a son, Hamilton, who did not live long and died of meningitis shortly before his third birthday. The grieving couple left their home region for a while and temporarily settled with friends in Maine. Returning to New York, the Haders concentrated entirely on their artistic careers, took care of the house, illustrated for numerous publications and advertising agencies, painted miniatures (Bertha) and portraits (Elmer), and designed children’s sections in popular magazines.

In 1926, the Haders signed a contract with MacMillan to create a series of children’s books. The books were very popular, and from 1927 to 1931 the Haders managed to publish 34 editions, some of which they not only illustrated, but also wrote themselves.

The Haders illustrated books almost until the end of their lives, and were in great demand and popularity. Greatly impressed by their work, the writer John Steinbeck asked the illustrators to draw the cover for his new novel, The Grapes of Wrath (1939); they eventually designed two more books by the writer, East of Eden (1952) and The Winter of Our Discontent (1961).

The Haders were also known pacifists, animal rights activists, and environmentalists. These interests are reflected in some of their works (for example, in The Runaways and Two Is Company, Three’s a Crowd). In addition, they traveled a lot – to Mexico, Jamaica, and the northeastern United States.

In 1973, Elmer Hader died at his home on the Hudson, on his 84th birthday. Bertha lived another three years.