Howard, Bronson

Howard, Bronson, 1842–1908, American dramatist, b. Detroit. His plays are important in the development of American drama. He was a newspaper reporter in New York until the success of his first play, Saratoga, a farcical comedy produced in 1870. He wrote 12 subsequent plays, including Young Mrs. Winthrop (1882), one of the first American dramas of social criticism; The Henrietta (1887), a satire on business practice; and by far his most popular play, Shenandoah (1888), a Civil War drama, first unsuccessfully produced but revived the following year with great success.

Bibliography

See his collected plays (ed. by A. G. Halline, 1941).

---

Howard, Bronson (Crocker) (1842–1908) playwright; born in Detroit, Mich. He was one of the first Americans both to use indigenous subjects and to make a living as a playwright. One of his best-known plays is The Young Mrs. Winthrop (1882).