Our Legacy

1832

The story begins

William Ticknor and his first partner buy the Old Corner Bookstore in Boston at the corner of Washington and School Streets and open their business as book publishers and sellers. The store becomes a place where writers, readers, and customers mingle and learn.

1845

A distinguished list

Ticknor and his new partner James Fields begin publishing well-known American authors, poets, and essayists like Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, upon whom their reputation is built.

1852

Our roots in technology

Henry Oscar Houghton establishes his printing company in an old building alongside the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, calling it Riverside Press. He quickly gains a reputation for quality printing as the company grows and expands. He branches out into book publishing as Hurd & Houghton in 1864, then buys Crocker & Brewster in 1872, gaining a distinguished list of educational titles.

1880

Houghton and Mifflin partner

Houghton Mifflin is born with the signing of partnership papers by Houghton and George Mifflin. The firm moves into Boston’s Park Street offices, where it stays for 112 years.

1882

Education market begins

The school and college market is growing rapidly. To meet the demand, Houghton Mifflin establishes a department devoted to it. Its first product solely for schools is the Riverside Literature Series, revolutionizing the teaching of literature in American high schools. Novels, poetry, and essays by American authors are presented in an affordable and portable format that was ideal for students and schools.

1887

Beautiful book bindings

Sarah Wyman Whitman is appointed principal book designer, the first woman at any publishing house to head the department. Whitman’s work is innovative in its simplicity, using mostly natural forms and a distinctive lettering style. She is also a stained-glass artist and made the window in the wall by the café on this floor.

1904

Education market booms

In the early years of the 20th century, the education department of Houghton Mifflin establishes itself as a true professional organization with an educational publishing culture. It hires teachers as editors and salespeople, starts a teacher professional development series, and begins to publish its own books with its own authors while no longer relying on the trade department’s back list. Innovations include having a teacher’s manual within the book and introducing a phonics book.

1919

Tools for teachers

In the early years of the 20th century, the education department of Houghton Mifflin establishes itself as a true professional organization with an educational publishing culture. It hires teachers as editors and salespeople, starts a teacher professional development series, and begins to publish its own books with its own authors while no longer relying on the trade department’s back list. Innovations include having a teacher’s manual within the book and introducing a phonics book.

1919

Harcourt, Brace & Co founded

After working for another publisher for 15 years, Alfred Harcourt and Donald Brace leave to start their own firm. Harcourt and Brace embrace the new ideas of the post-WWI world and introduce many British modernist (Virginia Woolf, T. S. Eliot) and Harlem Renaissance (Claude McKay, James Weldon Johnson) authors to the world.

1920

Modern era textbooks

Modern ideas are also pursued in Harcourt’s education books. Helen Gardner’s Art through the Ages is the first art history text to include non-Western art. Anthologies are introduced in the study of literature, and new topics in biology, like human sexual reproduction and anthropology, are included.

1935

Black reconstruction

Black Reconstruction by W. E. B. Du Bois, a groundbreaking historical study, is the first to argue against the perceived view of Reconstruction as a failure and for the need to eliminate racism for democracy to flourish. Du Bois, pictured above (right), follows Harcourt to his new publishing venture and publishes five books with him between 1920 and 1945.

1941

Curious George

Curious George is published in 1941, after its creators Margret and H. A. Rey escape wartime Paris via bicycle and eventually settle in New York City, signing a contract with Houghton Mifflin for four children’s books. Curious George goes on to become a timeless and beloved children’s character, embodying the curiosity and mischievousness of a child.

1941

Women promoted

During World War II, male editors at Houghton Mifflin join the war efforts, and women are finally promoted to editor roles, from which they had previously been excluded. When the war ends, they keep those positions. One remarkable editor is Dorothy de Santillana, who starts in 1940 and goes on to have a major impact. She brings on Margaret Walker and her best-selling novel Jubilee and fights to publish Julia Child.

1954

Environmental movement begins

Biologist Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring, published by Houghton Mifflin, documents the way pesticides pollute and destroy wildlife. As a direct result of her painstaking research, the US not only bans DDT but also passes the Clean Air Act in 1963, the Clean Water Act in 1972, and the Endangered Species Act in 1973, along with establishing the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.

1971

Houghton Mifflin reading

Houghton Mifflin had always been a leader in teaching reading and in 1971 introduces a new program with significant innovations in content and style. Popular literature is included after polling librarians to see what children are actually reading. Linguists contribute information on how language is acquired. A variety of illustrations, typefaces, and page layouts draw kids in, and the program is wildly successful.

1977

NWEA founded

Northwest Evaluation Association takes root when a few Portland, Oregon public school educators propose that a group of school districts in the Pacific Northwest collaborate to improve assessments. Under the guidance of founders Allan Olson and George Ingebo, this collaboration leads to a new organization committed to partnering with educators and districts to improve assessment tools and use data to help all kids learn.

1969

Heinemann US established

Heinemann UK, a British publishing company founded in 1890, sets up an office in Exeter, New Hampshire, and quickly realizes the US market requires its own materials. In 1983 it has its first major bestseller, Writing: Teachers & Children at Work by Donald Graves, and establishes itself as a company devoted to helping teachers.

1982

HBJ moves to Orlando

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich enters a period of expansion during the 1960s and 70s, acquiring both publishing and non-publishing companies, including Sea World. In 1984 HBJ moves its headquarters from New York City to Orlando, Florida.

1985

Computer aided instruction starts

There had always been ancillary materials like flash cards, math manipulatives, film strips, board games, and vinyl records sold along with educational programs. In 1985, the department that made those items changes to the software department and begins the process of integrating computers into instruction and assessment.

1986

First computerized tests

When Susan Smoyer, Ron Houser, and Gage Kingsbury join NWEA, they usher in a leap from paper-based to computer adaptive testing. Students in Portland, Oregon are the first to be given NWEA’s test on a computer. Over the next decade, with an increase in technological innovations, these tests evolve into MAP, or Measures of Academic Progress.

2002

Growth research database is launched

By the late 1990s, NWEA had grown to 17 employees, and in 2002, with a growing body of data on student academic progress, the organization is awarded a grant to build a new research database—providing one of the largest nationwide repositories of student test results. It becomes a vital part of the education research community and positions NWEA as a key education research organization.

2006

A pioneer in educational gaming

With Riverdeep come iconic educational gaming brands owned by subsidiary Brøderbund, which is later combined with Houghton Mifflin. The Oregon Trail, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, and Reader Rabbit were all created in the 1970s and 80s with the rise of the personal computer and have become some of the most well-known and best-selling educational games of all time.

2007

HMH is born

Houghton Mifflin acquires Harcourt Education from Reed Elsevier, officially becoming Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, or HMH. Each company came with strengths in K–12 and its own catalog of trade books, and combined, HMH becomes one of the largest educational publishers in the US.

2012

First HMH volunteer week

To demonstrate its values and foster employee engagement, HMH encourages all employees to volunteer their time during its first week of community service. Employees help out in classrooms, community gardens, and after-school programs.

2015

Scholastic EdTech acquired

HMH acquires Scholastic’s EdTech division and industry leading digital intervention programs Read 180 and Math 180, which use a blend of teacher-led instruction and adaptive technology to personalize instruction. With the acquisition also comes a strength in supplemental offerings and professional learning for educators, which would later form the foundation for HMH’s professional services business.

2017

A new vision

Jack Lynch joins HMH as CEO, putting into place a new vision for HMH’s K–12 business focused on using technology in a purposeful way to increase human connection between teachers and students. Based on the concept of “digital-first, connected,” Lynch underscores the need to create highly personalized learning experiences, ensuring HMH’s solutions work better together on one simplified platform.

2020

Meeting school closure challenges

When schools close due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HMH establishes a free collection of flexible learning opportunities to keep educators and students connected with effective, engaging, and equitable learning solutions. NWEA conducts the first research on disruptions to academic achievement, releasing a series of reports containing insights into where to focus recovery efforts.

2021

Books & media division sold

HMH sells the Books & Media division to HarperCollins, allowing for a focus on serving the large and growing K–12 education market and simultaneously extending its impact on student achievement. While this transaction marks the end of HMH’s presence in trade publishing, its literary legacy will always be central to HMH’s story.

2023

Pune Center of Excellence

HMH opens a new Center of Excellence in Pune, India, devoted to technological innovation, expanding HMH’s presence worldwide and joining other global technology companies.

2024

HMH's integrated strategy

Through the acquisition NWEA in 2023 and Classcraft and Writable in 2024, HMH expands its ability to serve teachers and students with differentiated and dynamic learning experiences. NWEA’s assessments and HMH’s curriculum combine to show how students are growing academically and what areas need focus. Teachers get access to both data insights and content recommendations, enabling them to address skill gaps and advance student learning.