Archibald MacLeish

Archibald MacLeish (May 7, 1892–April 20, 1982) was an American poet, writer and the Librarian of Congress. He is associated with the modernist school of poetry. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize three hundred times. Archibald MacLeish from http://www. ... Archibald MacLeish from http://www. ... is the 127th day of the year (128th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... is the 110th day of the year (111th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Library of Congress, Jefferson building The Library of Congress is one of four official national libraries of the United States (along with the National Library of Medicine, National Agricultural Library, and National Archives and Records Administration). ... For Christian theological modernism, see Liberal Christianity and Modernism (Roman Catholicism). ... The Pulitzer Prize is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in print journalism, literary achievements, and musical composition. ...

Biography

MacLeish was born in Glencoe, Illinois. His father, Andrew MacLeish, worked as a dry-goods merchant. His mother, Martha Hillard, was a college professor. He grew up on an estate bordering Lake Michigan. Incorporated Village in 1869. ... Andrew MacLeish (26 June 1838, Glasgow - 14 January 1928, Glencoe) was born in Glasgow, Scotland to Archibald MacLeish and Agnes Lindsay. ... Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. ...

He attended the Hotchkiss School from 1907 to 1911, before moving on to Yale University, where he majored in English and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and selected for the Skull and Bones society. He then enrolled in the Harvard Law School.^[1] In 1916, he married Ada Hitchcock. The Hotchkiss School is an independent, American college preparatory boarding school located in Lakeville, Connecticut. ... Yale redirects here. ... The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S... The Phi Beta Kappa Society is an honor society which considers its mission to be fostering and recognizing excellence in undergraduate liberal arts and sciences. ... For the pirate flag, see Jolly Roger. ... Harvard Law School (colloquially, Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. ... Year 1916 (MCMXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Friday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ...

His studies were interrupted by World War I, in which he served first as an ambulance driver and later as a captain of artillery. He graduated from the law school in 1919. He taught law for a semester for the government department at Harvard, then worked briefly as an editor for The New Republic. He next spent three years practicing law. “The Great War ” redirects here. ... For other uses, see Artillery (disambiguation). ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... Harvard redirects here. ... For other uses, see New Republic. ...

In 1923 MacLeish left his law firm and moved with his wife to Paris, where they joined the community of literary expatriates that included such members as Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway. He returned to America in 1928. Year 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Eiffel Tower has become the symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... For the band, see Expatriate (band). ... Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American writer who became a catalyst in the development of modern art and literature. ... Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 — July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

From 1930 to 1938 he worked as a writer and editor for Fortune Magazine, during which he also became increasingly politically active, especially with anti-fascist causes. He was a great admirer of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who appointed him Librarian of Congress in 1939. According to MacLeish, Roosevelt invited him to lunch and "Mr. Roosevelt decided that I wanted to be librarian of Congress." MacLeish held this job for five years. Though his appointment was officially opposed by the American Library Association because of his lack of professional training as a librarian, he is remembered by many as an effective leader who helped modernize the Library. Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fortune magazine is Americas second longest-running business magazine after Forbes magazine. ... Members of the Dutch Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the US 101st Airborne in Eindhoven in September 1944. ... FDR redirects here. ... Library of Congress, Jefferson building The Library of Congress is one of four official national libraries of the United States (along with the National Library of Medicine, National Agricultural Library, and National Archives and Records Administration). ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... ALA Logo The American Library Association (ALA) is a group based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. ...

During World War II MacLeish also served as director of the War Department's Office of Facts and Figures and as the assistant director of the Office of War Information. These jobs were heavily involved with propaganda, which was well-suited to MacLeish's talents; he had written quite a bit of politically motivated work in the previous decade. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The United States Department of War was the military department of the United States governments executive branch from 1789 until 1949, when it became part of the United States Department of Defense. ... The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a government agency created during World War II to consolidate government information services. ... For other uses, see Propaganda (disambiguation). ...

He spent a year as the Assistant Secretary of State for cultural affairs and a further year representing the U.S. at the creation of UNESCO. After this, he retired from public service and returned to academia. The Assistant Secretary of State, from 1853 until 1913, was the second-ranking official within the American Department of State. ... Org type Specialized Agency Acronyms UNESCO Head Director General of UNESCO Koïchiro Matsuura Japan Status Active Established 1945 Website www. ...

Despite a long history of criticizing Marxism, MacLeish came under fire from conservative politicians of the 1940s and 1950s, including J. Edgar Hoover and Joseph McCarthy. Much of this was due to his involvement with anti-fascist organizations like the League of American Writers, and to his friendships with prominent left-wing writers. Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972), known popularly as J. Edgar Hoover, was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. ... This article is about the U.S. senator from Wisconsin (1947-1957). ... The League of American Writers was an organization of American writers with ties to the Communist Party USA. It was formed in April 1935 during the First Americans Writers Congress (April 26-27, 1935). ... Left wing redirects here. ...

In 1949 MacLeish became the Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard. He held this position until his retirement in 1962. In 1959 his play J.B. won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... I CAN BLOW!!! J.B. is a play in verse written by Archibald MacLeish and published in 1958. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918. ...

From 1963 to 1967 he was the John Woodruff Simpson Lecturer at Amherst College. Around 1969/70 he met Bob Dylan, who describes this encounter in Chronicles, Vol. 1. For other uses, see 1963 (disambiguation). ... Year 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. ... Amherst College is a private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA. It is the third oldest college in Massachusetts. ... This article is about the recording artist. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Literary work

MacLeish greatly admired T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, and his work shows quite a bit of their influence. In fact, some critics charge that his poetry is derivative and adds little of MacLeish's own voice^{[citation needed]}. For other persons named Thomas Eliot, see Thomas Eliot (disambiguation). ... Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (Hailey, Idaho Territory, United States, October 30, 1885 – Venice, Italy, November 1, 1972) was an American expatriate poet, critic and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in early-to-mid 20th century poetry. ...

MacLeish's early work was very traditionally modernist and accepted the contemporary modernist position holding that a poet was isolated from society. His most well-known poem, "Ars Poetica," contains a classic statement of the modernist aesthetic: "A poem should not mean / But be." For Christian theological modernism, see Liberal Christianity and Modernism (Roman Catholicism). ... Ars Poetica is a term meaning The Art of Poetry or On the Nature of Poetry. Early examples of Ars Poetica by Aristotle and Horace have survived and have since spawned many other poems that bear the same name. ...

He later broke with modernism's pure aesthetic. MacLeish himself was greatly involved in public life and came to believe that this was not only an appropriate but an inevitable role for a poet.

Awards

• 1933: Pulitzer Prize for poetry (Conquistador )
• 1953: Pulitzer Prize for poetry (Collected Poems 1917–1952)
• 1953: National Book Award ( Collected Poems, 1917–1952)
• 1953: Bollingen Prize in Poetry
• 1959: Pulitzer Prize for Drama (J.B.)
• 1959: Tony Award for Best Play (J.B.)
• 1965: Academy Award for Documentary Feature (The Eleanor Roosevelt Story)
• 1977: Presidential Medal of Freedom

Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The National Book Awards is one of the most preeminent literary prizes in the United States. ... Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bollingen Prize, awarded every two years by the Bollingen Foundation, is a prestigious literary honor bestowed on a poet in recognition of the best book of new verse within the last two years, or for lifetime achievement. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... The Academy Award for Documentary Feature is one of the most prestigious awards for documentary films. ... Also: 1977 (album) by Ash. ... The Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest civilian awards in the United States and is bestowed by the President of the United States (the other award which is considered its equivalent is the Congressional Gold Medal, which is bestowed by an...

Quotations

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Archibald MacLeish

"The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself." Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Wikiquote is one of a family of wiki-based projects run by the Wikimedia Foundation, running on MediaWiki software. ...

"We are deluged with facts, but we have lost, or are losing, our human ability to feel them. Which means that we have lost or are losing our ability to comprehend the facts of our experience."

"What is more important in a library than anything else — is the fact that it exists."

"A man who lives, not by what he loves but what he hates, is an ill man."

Listen to

• Archibald MacLeish's The Fall of the City, Columbia Workshop, CBS radio, 1937

“There are those I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American Dream.” – Archibald MacLeish

Literary Papers

Two collections of Archibald MacLeish's papers are held at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library: these are the Archibald MacLeish Collection (YCAL MSS 38)and Archibald MacLeish Collection Addition (YCAL MSS 269).

References

The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

External links

• Archibald MacLeish's Grave
• The Paris Review interview series