Nancy Drew Knowledge

In 1899, author Edward Stratemeyer (1862-1930) founded the Stratemeyer Syndicate, the first-ever book packaging company to exclusively produce children's books. In 1929, having already successfully produced The Rover Boys, The Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift, and The Hardy Boys, Edward Stratemeyer wrote to his publishers at Grosset & Dunlap about an idea that he had for a book series about a teen sleuth, and Nancy Drew was born. In keeping with common practice for the dime novel industry at the time, the Syndicate hired ghostwriters for their novels and published each series under a pen name. Edward Stratemeyer contracted 24 year-old journalist Mildred Wirt Benson (1905-2002), who had previously authored other Syndicate titles, to write his girl detective series under the name Carolyn Keene. 

On April 28th, 1930, Nancy Drew made her debut in The Secret of the Old Clock. The next two volumes in the series, The Hidden Staircase and The Bungalow Mystery, were also published the same day. Sadly, Edward Stratemeyer died of pnuemonia just 12 days after the initial release of Nancy Drew. His two daughters, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams (1892-1982) and Edna Stratemeyer Squier (1895-1974) inherited the company and began running it together, with Harriet taking the lead. Nancy Drew turned out to be a great success for the Syndicate, and only grew in popularity with the rise of feminist movement. In 1938, book #10, Password to Larkspur Lane was adapted into the movie Nancy Drew... Detective starring Bonita Granville; three more movies soon followed.

Beginning in 1959, in response to the burgeoning civil rights movement and increasing complaints from parents, the Syndicate decided to re-write the first 34 Nancy Drew and 38 Hardy Boys volumes in an effort to remove stereotypes and prejudice from the storylines and character depictions. Having already severed ties with Mildred Wirt Benson, who wrote the manuscripts for 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drews, Harriet Stratemeyer Adams began writing many of the books herself. By the time book #35 was published, she had taken over the role of Carolyn Keene entirely. 

By 1974, Harriet made the decision to switch the Syndicate's publishing partner from Grosset & Dunlap to Simon & Schuster. In May of 1980, Grosset & Dunlap sued Simon & Schuster for copyright infringement. Eventually, it was ruled that Grosset & Dunlap would retain the rights to publish the existing Nancy Drew volumes, while Simon & Schuster could publish future books; this meant book #56 became the last of the "original" Mystery Stories, even though the Syndicate would continue to produce the series for several more years. 

In 1977, Nancy Drew found herself on-screen once again, this time on TV opposite The Hardy Boys and portrayed by Pamela Sue Martin. Harriet Stratemeyer Adams died in 1982, leaving her three surviving children and two Syndicate partners in possession of the company. In 1985, Simon & Schuster bought out the Syndicate. 

The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories had 175 volumes in total and ran from 1930-2003. The first 34 titles have both an Original Text and Revised Text, and the first 56 books were published by Grosset & Dunlap under the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Simon and Schuster published the Wanderer Editions (books 57-78, 1979-1985) for the Syndicate, and then continued with the Minstrel Editions (books 79-159, 1987-2001) and the Aladdin Editions (books 160-175, 2001-2003) after the buy-out. 

The Nancy Drew Files, a series aimed at young adults, first began in 1986 and ran until 1997 (124 books in the series). A year later, HeR Interactive, a small company founded with the aim of making computer games for girls, released the first-ever Nancy Drew PC Game starring Lani Minella as the voice of Nancy. HeR Interactive has released over 30 Nancy Drew games and is still releasing games today.

Nancy Drew returned to TV in 1995, this time portrayed by Tracy Ryan. The new millennium saw more movies: Maggie Lawson starred in a TV movie in 2002 and Emma Roberts played the girl sleuth on the big screen in 2007.

In 2003, Simon & Schuster decided to end the Mystery Stories series and replace it with Nancy Drew, Girl Detective. This series featured a modern-day Nancy and produced 51 volumes between 2004 and 2012. The series was not well-received by readers, and in 2013, was replaced with the Nancy Drew Diaries series. Similar to the Girl Detective Series, the Diaries are written from Nancy's point of view and are also set in modern day. There are currently more than 25 Nancy Drew Diaries and the series is still being published today. 

In 2019, Sophia Lillis starred as Nancy Drew in The Hidden Staircase movie. The same year, Kennedy McMann started her four-season run as a modern-day Nancy in the CW TV show. In 2023, it was announced that Nancy would soon be making her Broadway debut.

Today, in addition to the main series of books, Nancy Drew has spun-off into several series for young adults, series featuring elementary school-aged Nancy, graphic novels, Hardy Boys crossovers, short stories, board games, and more. There are over 600 Nancy Drew titles in total, and the books have been translated into 45 languages.