On July 11, 1960, American author Harper Lee saw her novel To Kill A Mockingbird hit shelves — and it became an immediate sensation. Set in Alabama during the 1930s, the story follows a young girl navigating childhood in a world rife with deep-seated prejudice. Drawing loosely from people and events in Lee's own life, this work of fiction dives into racism in the Deep South, social injustice, and the painful erosion of innocence. The book earned the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 for distinguished fiction, and by 1962, it had been transformed into a film that would go on to win an Academy Award. It remains a foundational piece of American literature to this day, showing up as required reading on school curriculums across the country.
Born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama — the very town that would serve as inspiration for the novel's setting — Nelle Harper Lee didn't publish To Kill a Mockingbird until she was in her thirties. Remarkably, it stood as her sole published book for decades, until Go Set a Watchmen arrived in 2015. That work was actually an earlier manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird. Over the years, Lee accumulated numerous accolades celebrating her literary contributions, among them the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she received in 2007. She passed away peacefully in her sleep in 2016, yet the enduring power of her writing ensures that her legacy in American literature lives on.