The Mysterious History of Nancy Drew For over 80 years, Nancy Drew has trailblazed through generations , her enduring and forever timeless quality a huge part of her appeal . She endured through the depression era of the 1930's and the war-torn 1940's when many other series were discontinued and waned in popularity. There are many factors that have led to the success of Nancy . In the beginning she was just a name. Just a few pages of plot at the hands of creator Edward Stratemeyer and his Stratemeyer Syndicate . She debuted at a time when girls were ready for something different--something that gave them higher ideals . Nancy was the embodiment of independence , pluck , and intelligence and that was what many little girls craved to be like and to emulate . It was Mildred A. Wirt Benson, who breathed such a fiesty spirit into Nancy 's character. Mildred wrote 23 of the original 30 Nancy Drew Mystery Stories . It was this characterization that helped make Nancy an instant hit . The Stratemeyer Syndicate 's devotion to the series over the years under the reigns of Harriet Stratemeyer Adams helped to keep the series alive and on store shelves for each succeeding generation of girls and boys . Nancy was always Harriet 's favorite . Harriet 's dedication to the series helped tremendously in ensuring that Nancy is still around today and likely will be for many years to come. The original publishers , Grosset & Dunlap , played a huge role in the success of Nancy Drew . From their marketing strategies to their many salesmen, they kept the series in widespread distribution so that children from all around the country and later in foreign countries could discover Nancy 's exciting world. It was Grosset & Dunlap who helped choose the original artist, Russell H. Tandy , to illustrate the series . His illustrations have been a huge factor in Nancy 's success . They were sophisticated and classy . They brought to life the character of Nancy very memorably and no doubt helped sales as children were attracted to the glamorous covers . Each succeeding generation of women and men who read the books as children, have passed them down to siblings , to children, to grandchildren and have kept alive the memories of reading Nancy as a child . Nostalgia plays a large factor in the continuing success of the series , which is still published today by Simon & Schuster , who helped bring Nancy Drew into the modern era . This section will be a brief highlight of some of these key players in the success of the Nancy Drew series . A time line below will chronicle the major events in the history of Nancy Drew . Nancy Drew History In the Making Edward Stratemeyer was born in 1862, during the Civil War and a divided nation . It is fitting that having come from an era of a country divided, Edward's creations have brought so many diverse people from all walks of life together, all sharing a common love and nostalgia for children's books. Orphans , adventuresome youths , and often motherless sleuths have adorned the pages of Stratemeyer history in a common theme of overcoming life 's obstacles for a better and more brilliant future . Edward had been writing for quite some time when demand for books became overwhelming. To meet demand with a steady supply of new stories , he employed ghost writers and this successful ghost writer policy became a key part of the Syndicate 's success . Edward was a traditionalist as far as women and their place in society were concerned. When Nancy was created , it had only been nine years since women had been given the right to vote , having gained that Constitutional right in 1920. Many of the female heroines of Edward's pre-Nancy books had some independence and had their own adventures yet they were still more domestic and traditional . Grosset & Dunlap was run by Alexander Grosset and George Dunlap . Alexander had been a bookkeeper for U S Book Co . and Geoge a salesman for the company. After it failed , they rebound the paper-bound novels left in stock with cloths and boards and began a reprint business that expanded to juvenile series . They made a success of their company and helped make a success of Nancy and thus began a publishing phenomena . It was a phenomena and a success though, that Edward never got to fully realize , as he died of pneumonia just two weeks after his creation debuted. It was after their father died, that sisters Harriet Stratemeyer Adams and Edna Stratemeyer Squier took over the Stratemeyer Syndicate . It was through their efficient management that the Nancy Drew series was kept in production and survived for as long as it has. Being the traditionalist that he was, Edward had not approved of Harriet working outside the home and she helped edit for him at home until her marriage . Marriage and family kept her busy, but after her father 's death, she fulfilled her desire to write and played a very active role in the Syndicate , especially after Edna became a silent partner around 1942. In time , Nancy became Harriet 's baby --she considered Nancy like a daughter--and remained staunchly dedicated to the series . She wrote most of the series after Mildred quit writing for the Syndicate and in 1959 began a revision of the first 34 texts . The original Nancys were full of descriptive imagery and flow , suspense and drama , and more vividly brought to life the character of Nancy as opposed to the faster paced and less descriptive flow of the revisions . Most of the originals were the work of Mildred A. Wirt Benson, who wrote 23 of the first 30 books--1-7, 11-25, and 30. Tired of what she liked to call the "namby-pamby " style of girls ' series books, she had no intention of characterizing Nancy as namby-pamby . Nancy came to embody the feisty spirit of independence that emanated from Mildred . Mildred always felt that girls could do the same things as boys could and she lived her life that way. It was her take on Nancy that helped spark Nancy 's widespread popularity. Her ideas of what Nancy should be were different from the more traditional finishing-girl style of Harriet Adams , and as the series went on. As a result of these differences , Nancy underwent changes at the direction of Harriet and later under Harriet 's revision . For a brief period during the depression , due to pay cuts in ghost writer 's fees, Mildred declined to write any more Nancy 's after volume #7, The Clue in the Diary , and so the Syndicate hired Walter Karig briefly to write volumes 8-10 . Walter had served in World War I and was a journalist . He wrote books in other series for the Syndicate . After revealing his authorship to the Library of Congress in the mid 1930's, however, he was not in good graces with the Syndicate , for ghostwriters were not supposed to reveal their authorship of the books as part of a release they signed. These releases gave all rights to the stories to the Stratemeyer Syndicate . The ghostwriters were paid a one time fee. Russell H. Tandy was a commercial illustrator and an acquaintance of Edward. Edward submitted