Will David Howe (1873–1946) was born on August 25 in Charlestown, Indiana, the son of Robert and Elizabeth Carr Howe. Howe received his bachelor’s degree from Butler University in 1893. He continued his studies at Harvard, where he earned both his A.M. (1897) and Ph.D. (1899).

Howe returned to Butler as a professor of English in 1899. During his time at Butler, Howe was secretary for the board of directors of the Irvington Athenaeum, which promoted the literary and social culture of its members. The Irvington area promoted itself as a cultural enclave “Free from rum and gambling,” embodying refinement and culture. Irvington was originally a suburb east of Indianapolis in the late 1800s before being annexed by the city.

Possessing a professional middle class character, Irvington was home to Butler College from 1873 to 1928, when the school moved to its present campus. In 1907 Howe accepted a position at Indiana University. During his thirteen years at IU, he was appointed head of the Department of English. Howe left the teaching profession to pursue a career in editing and publishing. After two years with Harcourt, Brace and Howe, he became the director and editor at Charles Scribner and Sons, where he worked for twenty-one years.

In addition to his teaching, publishing, and editing careers, Howe was the author of several books. The textbook series, The Howe Readers (1909), was used throughout elementary schools in Indiana. Some of his other works include Rhetoric (1909), Gate to English (1915), Modern Student’s Book of English Literature (1924), Literature of America, American Authors’ Books, and Charles Lamb and his Friends (1944). He also edited Longfellow’s Poems, Lowell’s Essays, Bryan’s Poems, and Sheridan’s Plays and contributed to The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. Howe was the founder of The American Scholar.