Neihardt, John Gneisenau, 1881-1973

John G. Neihardt (1881-1973) was an American author (both poetry and prose), and an amateur historian, ethnographer, and philosopher.

From the guide to the John G. Neihardt Papers, unknown, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

American poet.

From the description of Papers of John Gneisenau Neihardt [manuscript], 1920-1966. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647814387

Author and editor John Gneisenau Neihardt was born and raised in the American midwest; he graduated from college at the age of sixteen, and lived among Sioux and Omaha Indians as a young man. He worked as newspaper editor and Indian agent, and once took an adventurous 2,000-mile trek down the Missouri River in a handmade canoe. Over his long and productive career, Neihardt wrote short stories, novels, plays, poetry, biography, and criticism, all generally influenced by the American west and Native American culture. His most representative works are the epic narrative poem Cycle of the West, and the widely-admired biography of a Sioux holy man, Black Elk Speaks, published in 1932 but a bestseller in the 1960s.

From the description of John Gneisenau Neihardt letter and poem, 1959-1968. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 68815707

John Gneisenau Neihardt was born to Nicholas Nathan and Alice Culler Neihardt on 8 January 1881 near Sharpsburg, Illinois. In 1891 the family relocated to Wayne, Nebraska. Neihardt completed the scientific course of studies at Nebraska Normal College in 1897. He obtained a Litt. D. from the University of Nebraska in 1917, an LL. D. from Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, and a Litt. D. from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1947. He served as a professor of poetry at the University of Nebraska beginning in 1923. In 1959 he was named a Fellow of the International Institute of Arts and Letters in Lindau, Germany. He received the citation and title Prairie Poet Laureate of America from the United States Poets Laureate International in 1968. Neihardt became Nebraska's poet laureate in 1921, an honor he held until 1973. He authored dozens of books between 1900 and 1972, including the successful Black Elk Speaks (1932), which has been translated into several languages. Neihardt died in Columbia, Missouri, on 3 November 1973.

From the guide to the John G. Neihardt Collection, 1912-1982