Franklin Folsom

Franklin Brewster Folsom (21 July 1907 – 30 April 1995) was an American writer of popular books, many for children and young people, on archaeology, anthropology, and other subjects – he had over 80 titles published both under his own name and various pseudonyms – and a pro-Soviet political activist.

Folsom graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 1928, and taught at Swarthmore College for two years before matriculating at Merton College, Oxford in 1930 on a Rhodes Scholarship.^[1] After graduation, he dedicated himself to a career as a professional writer, and began publishing books on history and archaeology (some of which were co-authored by his wife, Mary Elting Folsom). He also worked as a guide in the Rocky Mountains. He served as an able bodied seaman in the US Merchant Marine during the Second World War.^[2]

His interest in the rights of Native and Black Americans led to his extensive involvement in radical leftist organizations in the US. He was one of the founding members of the League of American Writers, and served as its executive secretary from 1937 to 1943, following the resignation of Waldo Frank, who had expressed doubts about Stalin's show trials in Moscow. The League closely cooperated with the Communist Party, and Folsom himself was an active party member.

During the McCarthyism campaign he published his books under various pseudonyms: Benjamin Brewster, Chase Elwell, Michael Gorham, Lyman Hopkins, Horatio D. Jones, Troy Nesbit, and Philip Stander.

His wife Mary Elting (1906—2005) was also a writer and a journalist. They had a son, Michael (1938-1990), and a daughter, Rachel (born 1944).

• María Elting, Franklin Folsom y Michael Folsom
• Breve biografía de F. Folsom
• Memorias en honor a Franklin Folsom