SOURCE: "The Alger Hero," in Heroes of Popular Culture, edited by Ray B. Browne, Marshall Fishwick, and Michael T. Marsden, Bowling Green University Press, 1972, pp. 42–51.

In the following essay, Coad argues that though Horatio Alger's work has been relatively neglected by scholars, Alger's ideals are still reflected in America's materialistic culture.

Hidden on one of the inside pages of a recent edition of The New York Times was a small article announcing the recipients of the Annual Horatio Alger Awards, an event that has been going on for some years now.¹ Certainly few people would dispute that the day has passed when simple country boys can become sole owners of large enterprises merely by climbing through the ranks from errand-boy to president. And contemporary sociologists, supported by much impressive statistical data, have been quick to point out that the majority of successful businessmen do not, and never did...