Editing Dr. Seuss (section)

=== Early years ===

Geisel was born and raised in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], the son of  Theodor Robert Geisel and Henrietta Geisel (''[[Birth name|née]]'' Seuss).<ref name=ucdsbio>{{cite web|title=The Dr. Seuss Collection|url=http://libraries.ucsd.edu/locations/mscl/collections/the-dr-seuss-collection.html|publisher=UC San Diego|access-date=April 10, 2012|author=Mandeville Special Collections Library|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420174613/http://libraries.ucsd.edu/locations/mscl/collections/the-dr-seuss-collection.html|archive-date=April 20, 2012}}</ref><ref name="early">{{Cite book |first=Theodor Seuss |last=Geisel |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=Constance |title=Theodor Seuss Geisel The Early Works of Dr. Seuss |volume=1 |year=2005 |publisher=Checker Book Publishing Group |location=Miamisburg, OH |isbn=978-1-933160-01-6 |page=6 |chapter=Dr. Seuss Biography }}</ref> His father managed the family brewery and was later appointed to supervise Springfield's public park system by Mayor [[John A. Denison]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfIEAAAAYAAJ&q=Theodor%20Robert%20Geisel%20and%20John%20Denison%20mayor&pg=PA13 |title=Municipal register of the city of Springfield (Mass.)|via=Google Books |access-date=December 29, 2013|year=1912 |author=Springfield (Mass.)}}</ref> after the brewery closed because of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]].<ref name="beer">{{cite web | title=Who Knew Dr. Seuss Could Brew? | work=Narragansett Beer | url=http://www.narragansettbeer.com/2009/12/who-knew-dr-seuss-could-brew | access-date=February 12, 2012 | date=December 17, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208223413/http://www.narragansettbeer.com/2009/12/who-knew-dr-seuss-could-brew | archive-date=February 8, 2012 | url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Mulberry Street (Springfield, Massachusetts)|Mulberry Street]] in Springfield, made famous in his first children's book ''[[And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street]]'', is near his boyhood home on Fairfield Street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.seussinspringfield.org/who-dr-seuss/mulberry-street|title=Mulberry Street|date=March 17, 2015|website=Seuss in Springfield|language=en|access-date=March 4, 2019}}</ref> The family was of German descent.<ref>{{Cite journal|journal = PMLA|volume = 126|issue = 1|pages = 197–202|last=Pease|first=Donald|date=2011|language=en|jstor = 41414092|doi = 10.1632/pmla.2011.126.1.197|title = Dr. Seuss in Ted Geisel's Never-Never Land|s2cid = 161957666| issn = 0030-8129}}</ref> Geisel was raised as a [[Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod|Missouri Synod Lutheran]] and remained in the denomination his entire life.<ref name="stltoday2012">{{cite news |url= https://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/faith-and-values/civil-religion/happy-birthday-dr-seuss/article_e366a878-64b6-11e1-b91f-001a4bcf6878.html |title=Happy birthday, Dr. Seuss! |last=Scholl |first=Travis |work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |location=St. Louis |issn= |date=March 2, 2012 |access-date=April 3, 2022}}</ref>

Geisel was educated at Dartmouth College, graduating in 1925.<ref>Minear (1999), p. 9.</ref> At Dartmouth, he joined the [[Sigma Phi Epsilon]] fraternity<ref name="ucdsbio" /> and the humor magazine ''[[Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern]]'', eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief.<ref name="ucdsbio" /> While at Dartmouth, he was caught drinking [[gin]] with nine friends in his room.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2009-03/Questions.html |title=Impertient Questions |access-date=June 20, 2009 |last=Nell |first=Phillip |date=March–April 2009 |work=Humanities |publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities }}</ref> At the time, the possession and consumption of alcohol was illegal under Prohibition laws, which remained in place between 1920 and 1933. As a result of this infraction, Dean [[Craven Laycock]] insisted that Geisel resign from all extracurricular activities, including the ''Jack-O-Lantern''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/drseussmrgeiselb00morg |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/drseussmrgeiselb00morg/page/36 36] |quote= |title=Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel: a biography |access-date=September 5, 2010 |last1=Morgan |first1=Judith |last2=Morgan |first2=Neil |isbn=978-0-306-80736-7|year= 1996|publisher=Da Capo Press }}</ref> To continue working on the magazine without the administration's knowledge, Geisel began signing his work with the pen name "Seuss". He was encouraged in his writing by professor of rhetoric W. Benfield Pressey, whom he described as his "big inspiration for writing" at Dartmouth.<ref name="fensch-man-who-was-seuss">{{cite book | last = Fensch | first = Thomas | title = The Man Who Was Dr. Seuss | publisher = New Century Books | location = Woodlands | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-0-930751-11-1 | page = [https://archive.org/details/manwhowasdrseuss0000fens/page/38 38] | url = https://archive.org/details/manwhowasdrseuss0000fens/page/38 }}</ref>

Upon graduating from Dartmouth, he entered Lincoln College, Oxford, intending to earn a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] (D.Phil.) in English literature.<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0302.html |title=Dr. Seuss, Modern Mother Goose, Dies at 87 |last=Pace |first=Eric |work=[[The New York Times]] |location=New York City |issn=0362-4331 |date=September 26, 1991 |access-date=November 10, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Famous Lincoln Alumni|url=https://www.lincoln.ox.ac.uk/Famous-Lincoln-Alumni|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140130131102/http://www.lincoln.ox.ac.uk/Famous-Lincoln-Alumni|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 30, 2014|publisher=Lincoln College, Oxford|access-date=July 26, 2018}}</ref> At Oxford, he met his future wife [[Helen Palmer (author)|Helen Palmer]], who encouraged him to give up becoming an English teacher in favor of pursuing drawing as a career.<ref name="NYTObit" /> She later recalled that "Ted's notebooks were always filled with these fabulous animals. So I set to work diverting him; here was a man who could draw such pictures; he should be earning a living doing that."<ref name="NYTObit" />