Portrait of Theodore Dreiser

Birthday profile

Theodore Dreiser

Theodore Dreiser, American novelist and journalist (died 1945)

Born
August 27, 1871
Died
December 28, 1945
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1871

About Theodore Dreiser

Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm moral code, and literary situations that more closely resemble studies of nature than tales of choice and agency. Dreiser's best-known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925). During this period he published his first work of fiction, The Return of Genius, which appeared in the Chicago Daily Globe under the name Carl Dreiser. During 1899, Dreiser and his first wife Sara stayed with Arthur Henry and his wife Maude Wood Henry at the House of Four Pillars, an 1830s Greek Revival house in Maumee, Ohio. There Dreiser began work on his first novel, Sister Carrie, published in 1900. Dreiser's first commercial success was An American Tragedy, published in 1925.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Theodore Dreiser timeline

  1. During 1899, Dreiser and his first wife Sara stayed with Arthur Henry and his wife Maude Wood Henry at the House of Four Pillars, an 1830s Greek Revival house in Maumee, Ohio.
  2. There Dreiser began work on his first novel, Sister Carrie, published in 1900.
  3. Dreiser's best-known novels include Sister Carrie (1900) and An American Tragedy (1925).
  4. Dreiser's first commercial success was An American Tragedy, published in 1925.

The world when Theodore Dreiser was born

Theodore Dreiser was born in 1871. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineGreat Chicago Fire destroys 3.3 square miles
  • Technology milestoneFirst cable car in San Francisco proposed
  • World population~1.51B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderUlysses S. Grant
  • U.S. population39.4M

1871 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Theodore Dreiser's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18712026
Population39.4M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.