This American publishing house specialising in children's literature was established in 1904 when Lee & Shepard purchased Lothrop Publishing Company and renamed the firm Lothrop, Lee & Shepard. The firm was purchased by Crown Publishers in 1943, and by Scott, Foresman and Company in 1966, becoming a division of William Morrow, subsequently a Hearst Corporation subsidiary. The Lothrop, Lee & Shepard imprint ceased with the merger of Morrow/Avon with Harper/Collins in 1999.