Emmett Langdon Avery (1903-1970), professor of English at Washington State University, conducted extensive research about a particular period during the life of American poet Nicholas Vachel Lindsay. Avery was interested in a time during the 1920s when Lindsay moved to Spokane, where he lived for several years. Avery published three articles on the subject, in 1949, 1957, and 1962.
Nicholas Vachel Lindsay was born on November 19, 1879, in Springfield Illinois. He attended Ohio's Hirman College, the Chicago Institute of Art, and the New York School of Art. Upon leaving school he toured for several years, both being supported by his parents and bartering his own work or poetry for room and board. Vachel Lindsay moved to Spokane, Washington in July of 1924, and lived there until 1929. It was there that he met and married Elizabeth Conner. He died at his home in Springfield, Illinois on December 5, 1931.
From the guide to the Emmett Langdon Avery Papers, 1947-1962, (Washington State University Libraries Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC))
