Historic Girl is written by E.S. Brooks and they are the tales of girls and women who bravely and boldly altered and shaped history as a companion to "Historic Boys." a compilation of tales from the 1887 issue of "Saint Nicholas" magazine. This volume seeks to tell girls and boys of today the stories of some of their sisters of long ago. Their stories are fruitful of varying lessons, for some were willful as well as courageous. Age and country make but little change in the real girl nature, that has ever been impulsive, trusting, tender, and true. The book has a story of Palmyra or Tadmor as it was originally called, which was one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Its palaces and temples sprang from the sand-covered desert like a sparkling mirage. Today, the lizard suns himself on its collapsed columns while the jackal prowls through its abandoned alleys. The ancient city of Tadmor was a tributary colony of Rome. But the yoke of vassalage was but carelessly worn and lightly felt. Tadmor became Adrianapolis and then Palmyra in manners as in name. And this influence touched even the children in the portico.
E. S. Brooks in full name, Elbridge Streeter Brooks was an American writer, editor, and critic who lived from April 14, 1846, to January 7, 1902. He is primarily renowned for writing numerous children's books, both fiction and nonfiction, many of which focus on patriotic or historical themes. Elbridge S. Brooks used it as his byline for most of his writing. Elbridge Gerry Brooks and Martha Fowle (Monroe) Brooks, both Universalist ministers, welcomed their son Brooks on April 14, 1846, in Lowell, Massachusetts. His father served at several churches in Bath, Maine; Lynn, Massachusetts; and New York City, where he was raised. In 1861, he enrolled in the Free Academy (later known as the College of the City of New York), which he left in his junior year to look for employment. He received his education in the public schools of Lynn and New York. Later, in 1887, he graduated from Tufts College with an A.M. He resided in Philadelphia and New York City as an adult before coming to Somerville, Massachusetts, the town of his mother, in 1887. In 1870, he wed Hannah-Melissa Debaun, a New Yorker. Christine Brooks and Geraldine were their daughters.
