Teacher Guide

Our Town Lesson Plan

About the Author

Thornton Wilder was born in 1897 in Madison, Wisconsin. His mother, Isabella, was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, and his father, Amos, was a Yale-educated newspaper reporter. Thornton had a twin brother who died at birth, and Thornton would feel the presence of his twin throughout his life. He had one older brother, also named Amos, and three younger sisters, Charlotte, Isabel, and Janet. During Thornton's childhood, his father moved into state politics, and from there into international politics: through a Yale connection, he became the United States consul general at Hong Kong. Thus, the Wilder family moved to Hong Kong in 1906. This began a life in which Thornton would move...

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