Leary, Lewis (Lewis Gaston), 1906-1990

Lewis Gaston Leary was an English professor and scholar. Leary taught English at the University of Miami, 1935-1941; Duke University, 1941-1951; Columbia University, 1951-1968, serving as department chairman, 1962-1968; and was William Rand Kenan Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1968-1976.

From the description of Lewis Gaston Leary papers, 1920-1985 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 25740293

An educator, writer, and critic, Leary taught at Duke and Columbia Universities, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

From the description of Lewis Gaston Leary papers, 1719-1986. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 45279916

From the guide to the Lewis Gaston Leary Papers, 1790-1986, (David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University)

Lewis Gaston Leary, Jr., son of Lewis Gaston, a Presbyterian clergyman, and Beatrice Knight Leary, was born 18 April 1906 in Blauvelt, New York. In 1928, he received a B.S. in education from the University of Vermont. He received an M.A. in English in 1932 and a Ph.D. in 1941, both from Columbia University. On 7 March 1932, he married Mary Warren Hudson. They had two children, Carolyn Warren (Mrs. William Bartholet) and Martha Hudson (Mrs. Ted Allen).

Leary was an instructor in English at the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, from 1928 to 1931. He taught English at the University of Miami from 1935 to 1941 and at Duke University, 1941-1951. In 1951, he returned to Columbia University as a professor of English, serving as chairman of the Department of English and Comparative Literature from 1962 to 1968. He was William Rand Kenan Professor of English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1968 until his retirement in 1976. In 1976, Leary received the Jay B. Hubbell Award for distinguished service in the study of American literature, presented by the American Literature Section of the Modern Language Association.

Leary wrote or edited numerous books on American authors, including works on Philip Freneau, Nathaniel Tucker, Mark Twain, John Greenleaf Whittier, Ezra Pound, Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and William Faulkner.

From the guide to the Lewis Gaston Leary Papers, 1920-1985, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)