Lindsay, Vachel, 1879-1931

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born in Springfield, IL. He studied in Ohio, Chicago, and New York and acquired a reputation as a poet and lecturer. Lindsay became famous for his walk from Springfield, IL to New Mexico in 1912, and for an unusual method of writing poetry. In 1924 he arrived in Spokane where he worked as a columnist for the "Spokesman-Review". He returned to Springfield in 1929, and at the time of his death was a major figure in American poetry.

From the description of Collection, 1925-1972. (Eastern Washington State Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 42688105

American poet and speaker during the early years of the twentieth century, born in Springfield, Illinois, traveled extensively in Europe and walked around the United States performing poetry readings as payment for room and board. Studied at the Chicago Art Institute for three years. Introduced to English writer Stephen Graham, by Charlotte Rudyard and Robert Hallowell of "The New Republic". A member of the Disciples of Christ Church. Married Elizabeth Connor in 1925, had two children and committed suicide in 1931.

From the description of Papers, 1918-1932. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 52459524

Lindsay was an American poet.

From the description of Correspondence, 1918-1959. (Harvard University). WorldCat record id: 122468842

From the guide to the Vachel Lindsay correspondence, 1918-1959., (Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University)

Written at the time of "a Whimsies evening" at R. W. Cowden's home, on December 10, 1923.

From the description of Stanza, written for Dorothy Greenwald, 1923. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34368024

American poet and speaker during the early years of the twentieth century, born in Springfield, Illinois, traveled extensively in Europe and walked around the United States performing poetry readings as payment for room and board. Studied at the Chicago Art Institute for three years. A member of the Disciples of Christ Church. Married Elizabeth Connor in 1925, had two children and committed suicide in 1931.

From the description of Papers, 1914-1930. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 52459523

American poet.

From the description of Letter 1923 June 17 [manuscript]. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647827969

From the description of Photograph of St. Mary's Lake, Glacier Park, Montana [manuscript], 1924 July 10. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647833222

From the description of Letter, 1922 August 9, New York, to [Lytton?] Strachey [manuscript]. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647825688

From the description of Papers, 1913-1927 [manuscript]. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647821610

From the description of Postcard and photograph [manuscript], ca. 1908-1922. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647805134

From the description of Letter, 1916 Nov. 3, Springfield, Ill., to Irene Wharton Sutherlin, Gasden, Ala. [manuscript]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 647809680

From the description of Typed letter signed : Spokane, Wash., to John Drinkwater, 1925 Feb. 16. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270593349

From the description of The trial of the dead Cleopatra in her beautiful and wonderful tomb : typed poem signed : [Spokane, Wash.], [ca. 1924]. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270593316

From the description of Vachel Lindsay papers, 1912-1930. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 122556751

Illinois-born American poet, itinerant, and lecturer.

From the description of Typed letters signed (2) : Spokane, Washington, to Edward Wagenknecht, 1929 Mar. 11 and 28. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270868151

Vachel Lindsay was an American poet born in Springfield, Illinois in 1879. He was educated at Hiram College, Ohio and went on to study painting at the Chicago Art Institute from 1900 to 1903, and at the New York School of Art from 1904-05. He lived life as a troubadour, traveling through the south during 1906, and exchanging his poem The Tree of Laughing Bells for bed and board. He traveled through the West in 1912. His first volume of poems, General William Booth Enters into Heaven and Other Poems (1913), was followed by the successful The Congo and Other Poems (1914). He lectured and recited his own verses throughout the United States and by invitation at Oxford University. His later volumes include the Chinese Nightingale (1917), The Golden Whales of California (1920), Going-to-the-Sun (1923). Lindsay died in 1931.

From the description of Frances Leighton Lawler collection of Vachel Lindsay, 1879-1931. (Southern Illinois University). WorldCat record id: 311867164

Vachel Lindsay, American poet, was known for his efforts to create lyrical or jazz poetry. He was born in Springfield, Illinois and studied medicine and then art before moving on to poetry in 1905. Throughout his life, he took extensive tours throughout the United States, trading poems for food and lodging. His first poem was published in 1913. He achieved some success and published several collections of poems in his lifetime, but always had financial worries. In 1924 he moved to Spokane, Washington, where he lived in room 1129 of the Davenport Hotel until 1929. In 1925, he married Elizabeth Connor. They had two children, Susan Doniphan Lindsay, and Nicholas Cave Lindsay. In 1929, the family moved back to Springfield, where Lindsay committed suicide in 1931.

From the description of Collected materials, 1923-1929. (Spokane Public Library). WorldCat record id: 743223546

Poet, graphic artist and troubadour, performing his own poetry for the public. Attended Hiram College in Ohio, Chicago Art Institute, and the New York School of Art under William Merritt Chase and later devoted time to lecturing at colleges, universities and clubs throughout England and America. His best known poems are "The Congo" and "Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight."

From the description of Vachel Lindsay papers, 1926-1930. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122404036

American poet Vachel Lindsay was born in Springfield, Illinois; his parents, members of the Disciples of Christ church, pushed him to become a doctor, but after struggling with his studies he quit school. He sought to become an illustrator or poet, but had minimal early success, resorting to menial labor and occasional begging to get by. Eventually, his poems were published, and he became well known for the rhythm of his verse and his desire to bring poetry to the public. He was especially famous for poetry readings, and most of his poems were intended to be performed rather than read.

From the description of Vachel Lindsay letters and photo of his wife, 1920-1928. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 61856326

Vachel Lindsay, American poet and writer, was born on November 10, 1879, in Springfield, IL. He attended Hiram College (1897-1900), Chicago Art Institute (1900-1903), and New York School of Art (1904-1905). Lindsay married Elizabeth Conner in1925, and they had two children, Susan Doniphan and Nicholas Cave. Lindsay died in Springfield, IL on December 5, 1931.

From the guide to the Vachel Lindsay collection, 1913-1932, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born on Nov. 10, 1879 in Springfield, IL; attended Hiram College for three years, then studied art in New York with Robert Henri; walked from Illinois to New Mexico, reading his poems in exchange for food and lodging; in 1913 his poem, General William Booth enters into Heaven, appeared in Harriet Monroe's magazine, Poetry; other poems include The Congo (1914), Abraham Lincoln walks at midnight (1914), The Santa Fe Trail (1914), The Chinese nightingale (1917), Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan (1920), The golden age of Springfield (1920), The flower-fed buffaloes (1926), and Johnny Appleseed (1928); was highly successful on recital tours, especially from 1914-1920; his Collected poems appeared in 1923; he died on Dec. 5, 1931 in Springfield, IL.

From the description of Papers, 1910-1929. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 39000880

American author.

From the description of Letter to Edwin Markham, 1917 January 9. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 53046708

From the description of Lumberjack philosophy [manuscript], ca. 1920s. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647847721

From the description of Letter [manuscript] : New York, N.Y., to "My dear Mrs. Prince," 1920 February 12. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647829454

From the description of Papers, ca. 1922-1924 [manuscript]. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647810541

From the description of Lumberjack philosophy, ca. 1920s. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 34336550

From the description of Letters to Julia and Carl Vrooman, 1916-1929. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 54097475

Vachel Nicholas Lindsay was born in Springfield, Illinois in 1879. In Central Illinois tradition, Lindsay was schooled in the virtues of Abraham Lincoln, and like Lincoln developed a fascination with the lives of the common people. Lindsay attended Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, for three years before studying art in Chicago and New York City. He later turned to poetry, a medium in which he found much greater success. After college, Lindsay spent much of his life walking across the country, performing and distributing copies of his poetry in exchange for bed and board. Lindsay's verse is characterized by its lyric quality and its simple, forceful rhythms; his performances were remarkable for their animation. Among his volumes of poetry are The Congo and Other Poems (1914) and Every Soul Is a Circus (1929).

From the description of Lindsay collection, 1924-1933 (bulk 1924-1925). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 53378414

Poet. Full name: Nicholas Vachel Lindsay.

From the description of Papers of Vachel Lindsay, 1909-1942. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71015119

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born in Springfield, IL. He studied in Ohio, Chicago, and New York and acquired a reputation as a poet and lecturer. Lindsay became famous for his walk from Springfield, IL to New Mexico in 1912, and for an unusual method of writing poetry. In 1924 he arrived in Spokane where he worked as a columnist for the Spokesman-Review . He returned to Springfield in 1929, and at the time of his death was a major figure in American poetry.

From the guide to the Vachel Lindsay Collection, 1925-1972, (Eastern Washington State Historical Society/Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture Joel E. Ferris Research Library and Archives)

Vachel Nicholas Lindsay was born in Springfield in 1879. In Central Illinois tradition, Lindsay was schooled in the virtues of Abraham Lincoln, and like Lincoln developed a fascination with the lives of the common people.

Lindsay attended Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, for three years before studying art in Chicago and New York City. He later turned to poetry, a medium in which he found much greater success. After college, Lindsay spent much of his life walking across the country, performing and distributing copies of his poetry in exchange for bed and board.

Lindsay's verse is characterized by its lyric quality and its simple, forceful rhythms; his performances were remarkable for their animation. Among his volumes of poetry are The Congo and Other Poems (1914) and Every Soul Is a Circus (1929).

Excerpted from: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/lindsay

From the guide to the Vachel Lindsay Collection, 1924-1933, 1924-1925, (Amherst College Archives and Special Collections)

Lawrence H. Conrad (1898-1982) received a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. While at the University, he met visiting fellows Robert Frost and Vachel Lindsay and helped with their local arrangements. He also acted in a play written by Frost, A Way Out . Later, Conrad served as president of the Michigan Author's Association and arranged readings for the poets. In 1924, Conrad published a novel entitled Temper . He taught Rhetoric at the University of Michigan from 1923 to 1928, then led the English Department at the John Burroughs School in St. Louis, MO, from 1928 to 1930. Conrad served as an English professor at the New Jersey State Teachers College in Montclair (later renamed Montclair State University) from 1930 to 1963, where he focused on American literature and creative writing. In 1967, he took a position at the University for San Diego, where he worked until 1970 in the Educational Development Center. Conrad published several nonfiction books including Descriptive and Narrative Writing (1927) and Teaching Creative Writing (1937). He had two sons, Lawrence, Jr. and David, with his wife Roberta. Roberta died in 1955, and in 1960, Conrad married Marjorie Matthews, with whom he lived until his death in 1982.

Robert Frost (1874-1963), the American poet, was born in San Francisco on March 26, 1874. His father, William Prescott Frost, a journalist, died of tuberculosis in 1885. At age eleven he moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts with his mother Isabelle Moody Frost and sister Jeanie. He graduated from Lawrence High School in 1892, sharing honors as class valedictorian with Elinor Miriam White, who later became his wife. Frost enrolled at Dartmouth College and later, in 1897, at Harvard, but never earned a formal academic degree. After dropping out of college, he was a teacher, cobbler, editor and farmer. Frost's first published poem, "My Butterfly: An Elegy," appeared on November 8, 1894, in the New York newspaper The Independent. He and Elinor White were married in 1895. Through the next dozen years six children were born, two of whom died prematurely, leaving a surviving family of one son and three daughters: Carol, Lesley, Irma, and Marjorie.

From 1900 to 1909 Frost raised poultry on a farm in Derry, New Hampshire, and taught at the local school, Pinkerton Academy. In August 1912, he sold the property (newly owned) and moved the family to England, determined to establish himself in poetry in a country he thought was more receptive to his work. In England, he met and was influenced by Ezra Pound, Robert Graves, Rupert Brooke and Edward Thomas. Pound, in particular, was a supporter of Frost's work. In England he published A Boy's Will (1913) and shortly after that North of Boston (1914), both of which then came out in American editions. When he sailed back to the United States with his family in 1915, Frost's literary reputation was established.

A lecture he gave at the College in 1916 marked the beginning of a long relationship with the Amherst.

By the 1920s Frost had become one of America's most celebrated poets. Each new book of poems ( Mountain Interval (1916), New Hampshire (1923), West-Running Brook (1928), A Further Range (1936), A Witness Tree (1942), Steeple Bush (1947), and In the Clearing (1962)) met with unprecedented commercial sales and critical praise, including four Pulitzer Prizes. Frost resided in a succession of farms and houses in New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts (including Amherst). He frequently toured throughout the U.S. and in many foreign countries to do readings and to take up poet-in-residence appointments at a number of colleges and universities. His reading of the poem "The Gift Outright" at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961 was a memorable occasion.

Robert Frost died in Boston on January 29, 1963.

(Nicholas) Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) was born in Springfield, IL, in a house previously owned by Abraham Lincoln's sister-in-law and which the president had visited several times. He was exceptionally proud of this connection to Lincoln and wrote several poems about Lincoln. Lindsay attended Hiram College and later the Chicago Art Institute. When his attempts to find employment as a visual artist failed, Lindsay created illustrated pamphlets of his poetry and traveled around the Midwest, reciting his poems or trading his pamphlets in exchange for food and lodging. As his popularity grew, he took to performing his poetry, which he sang or chanted, in theaters or meeting halls. His two most well-known poems were "General William Booth Enters Heaven" and "The Congo," and he published several volumes of his poetry between 1913 and the 1920s. In 1915, he wrote a book entitled The Art of The Moving Picture, which has been called the first book of film criticism. Lindsay married Elizabeth Conner in 1925 and she gave birth to a daughter and a son within the next two years. He grew depressed as his popularity and ability to find work waned at the end of the 1920s, and on December 5, 1931 he killed himself by drinking a bottle of lye.

From the guide to the Lawrence H. Conrad Vachel Lindsay and Robert Frost Collection MA. 01014., 1928-1934, 1918-1966, (Amherst College Archives and Special Collections)

Biography

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born on November 10, 1879 in Springfield, Illinois; attended Hiram College for three years, then studied art in New York with Robert Henri; walked from Illinois to New Mexico, reading his poems in exchange for food and lodging; in 1913 his poem, General William Booth Enters into Heaven, appeared in Harriet Monroe's magazine, Poetry ; other poems include The Congo (1914), Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight (1914), The Santa Fe Trail (1914), The Chinese Nightingale (1917), Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan (1920), The Golden Age of Springfield (1920), The Flower-Fed Buffaloes (1926), and Johnny Appleseed (1928); was highly successful on recital tours, especially from 1914-1920; his Collected Poems appeared in 1923; he died on December 5, 1931 in Springfield, Illinois.

From the guide to the Vachel Lindsay Papers, 1910-1929, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born on 10 November 1879, in Springfield, Illinois. He attended Hiram College (1897-1900), and studied art at Chicago and New York (1900-1905). Afterwards, he tramped across the country, writing and performing his poetry, and became entranced by small-town life. From 1910 to 1922, he lectured and recited poems at universities. Beginning in 1914, he lectured on motion pictures at Columbia University and the University of Chicago. He became the first American poet invited to lecture at Oxford, England, in 1920. Ultimately, he became a poet in residence at Gulfport Junior College (1923-1924) and a journalist in Spokane, Washington (1924-1929). His poetic leaflets included The Tree of Laughing Bells (1905) and Rhymes to Be Traded for Bread (1912). With the publication of The Congo and Other Poems (1914), he was widely recognized as an exponent of “new poetry,” and became in great demand as a public reader of his works. He was the recipient of many awards, including Poetry magazine prizes (1913 and 1928), the Helen H. Levinson Prize (1915) for the “The Chinese Nightingale,” and others.

Lindsay married Elizabeth Conner on 19 May 1925, and together they had two children, Susan and Nicholas. He died of coronary thrombosis (or perhaps suicide by poison) on 5 December 1931; he was 52 years old.

From the guide to the Vachel Lindsay Collection, 1903-1930, (Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections)

Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931) was an American poet. Born Nicholas Vachel Lindsay in Springfield, Illinois, at an early age he developed a combined interest in religious poetry and art. After graduation from a local high school in 1897, he spent three years at Hiram College in Ohio, a Campbellite college, with the idea of entering the ministry. He then turned to art as a career. He attended the Chicago Art Institute from 1900-1903 and the New York School of Art from 1904-1905. It was also during this period that he experienced the first of his "visions" which were to inspire much of his poetry.

In the spring of 1906, he took his famous walking trip through the South, passing through Georgia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and ending back home in Springfield. Lindsay also devoted much of his time to lecturing and pamphleteering for causes such as the Anti-Saloon League and the eradication of racism (one of his self-published War Bulletins attacked greed, urbanization, and race prejudice).

His first book, published in 1913, was General William Booth Enters into Heaven and Other Poems . On 1 March 1914 at the Poetry banquet in Chicago he recited another of his well-known poems, "The Congo," inspired by a sermon on the drowning of a missionary in the Congo River. Lindsay soon became famous for his public recitations, for which he employed "a sort of ragtime manner" and which he called "Higher Vaudeville," considering them more of a performance than a simple recitation.

You must hear Mr. Lindsay recite his own "Congo," his body tense and swaying, his hands keeping time like an orchestral leader to his own rhythms, his tone changing color in response to the noise and savage imagery of the lines, the riotous picture of the negro mind set against the weird background of the primitive Congo, the "futurist" phrases crashing through the scene like a glorious college yell --you must hear this yourself, and learn what an arresting, exciting person this new indigenous Illinois poet is. [Randolph Bourne; quoted in Robert F. Sayre, "Vachel Lindsay: An Essay," p. 8]

Although these performances made up only a small part of his career, they were in great demand and were for many years a good source of income for him both on formal tours and during his peregrinations across the country.

Over Lindsay's career he wrote nine books of poetry, five prose works, and numerous short stories and articles. He received an honorary degree from Mills College in Oakland, California, and in 1930 was made Doctor Honoris Causa by Hiram College. Unfortunately, his mental health had begun to decline in the 1920s, and he eventually committed suicide on December 5, 1931, leaving his wife of six years and two young children.

From the guide to the Vachel Lindsay papers, 1921-1935, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)