MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982
Person
Dates
- Existence: 1892 - 1982
Archibald MacLeish, poet, playwright, and government official, was born on May 7, 1892, in Glencoe, Illinois. He graduated from Yale in 1915, entered Harvard Law School, and married Ada Hitchcock in 1916. After the United States entered World War I, he enlisted as a private in the army, served in the artillery in France, and was discharged with the rank of captain. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1919 and the next year joined the Boston law firm of Choate, Hall, and Stewart. In 1923 the MacLeish family moved to Paris, where they remained for five years. After returning to the United States, he travelled to Mexico to follow the route of Cortez's army in preparation for writing Conquistador.
During the 1930s MacLeish was an editor of Fortune magazine. He served as Librarian of Congress, 1939-44, Assistant Secretary of State for Public and Cultural Affairs, 1944-45, and Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Poetry at Harvard University, 1949-62. MacLeish's poetry and dramatic writings earned him Pulitizer Prizes in 1932, 1952, and 1959, the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award for poetry in 1953, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, and the National Medal for Literature in 1978. Archibald MacLeish died in Boston on April 20, 1982.
His major works of poetry include Tower of Ivory (1917), The Pot of Earth (1925), The Hamlet of A. MacLeish (1928), New Found Land (1930), Conquistador (1932), America Was Promises (1939), Collected Poems, 1917-1952 (1952), and Songs for Eve (1954). MacLeish also wrote several plays, some of the most important being Panic (1935), The Fall of the City (1937), Air Raid (1938), J.B. (1958), Herakles (1967), and Scratch (1971). Counted among his works of prose are A Time to Speak (1941), The American Story (1944), Poetry and Experience, (1960), and A Continuing Journey (1968).
During the 1930s MacLeish was an editor of Fortune magazine. He served as Librarian of Congress, 1939-44, Assistant Secretary of State for Public and Cultural Affairs, 1944-45, and Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Poetry at Harvard University, 1949-62. MacLeish's poetry and dramatic writings earned him Pulitizer Prizes in 1932, 1952, and 1959, the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award for poetry in 1953, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, and the National Medal for Literature in 1978. Archibald MacLeish died in Boston on April 20, 1982.
His major works of poetry include Tower of Ivory (1917), The Pot of Earth (1925), The Hamlet of A. MacLeish (1928), New Found Land (1930), Conquistador (1932), America Was Promises (1939), Collected Poems, 1917-1952 (1952), and Songs for Eve (1954). MacLeish also wrote several plays, some of the most important being Panic (1935), The Fall of the City (1937), Air Raid (1938), J.B. (1958), Herakles (1967), and Scratch (1971). Counted among his works of prose are A Time to Speak (1941), The American Story (1944), Poetry and Experience, (1960), and A Continuing Journey (1968).
Found in 5 Collections and/or Records:
Dean Gooderham Acheson papers
Collection
Call Number: MS 1087
Overview:
The papers include correspondence, writings, speeches, memoranda, and photographs, documenting Dean Acheson's life after leaving the U.S. State Department in 1953. Also documented is his work as a member of the Yale Corporation and his long friendship with Felix Frankfurter, Archibald MacLeish, and others. The correspondence and memoranda contain Acheson's views on many contemporary issues in American foreign policy such as Korea, the Middle East, NATO, Germany, the war in Vietnam, and Rhodesia...
Dates:
1898-1989
William C. Bullitt papers
Collection
Call Number: MS 112
Overview:
The papers consist of correspondence, government documents, writings, speeches, photographs, research materials, printed matter, motion picture film, and other material which document William C. Bullitt's career as a diplomat and journalist and his personal and family life.
Dates:
1813-1998, bulk 1909-1967
Found in:
Manuscripts and Archives
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William C. Bullitt papers
Ethel Fogg and William Brooks Clift memorial collection
Collection
Call Number: MS 817
Overview:
A collection assembled by John M. Whitcomb of the letters and other papers of European and American cultural and political figures from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. With the collection is the correspondence (1948-1989) of John M. Whitcomb with writers, historians and political figures on subjects such as the Russian Revolution, Communism, the Sacco-Vanzetti case, Woodrow Wilson, and American foreign policy. Also included is biographical material relating to Ethel Fogg Blair and...
Dates:
1769-1992
Jerome New Frank papers
Collection
Call Number: MS 222
Overview:
The papers consist of correspondence, legal material (including opinions, decisions, calendars, memoranda, and other papers), writings, speeches, Yale course materials, and family and personal papers of Jerome N. Frank, lawyer, government official during the New Deal, author, legal philosopher, teacher, and federal judge. The papers reflect Frank's wide range of activities, interests, and associations, and include important correspondence with many well known government officials, lawyers,...
Dates:
1918-1972, bulk 1929-1957
Found in:
Manuscripts and Archives
>
Jerome New Frank papers
Anson Phelps Stokes family papers
Collection
Call Number: MS 299
Overview:
The papers consist of correspondence, writings, subject files, memorabilia, photographs, financial records, and other papers detailing the professional career and personal life of Anson Phelps Stokes and family members, including Olivia, Caroline and Helen Stokes. Papers relating to Anson Phelps Stokes document his work with prominent educators, reformers, religious leaders, businessmen, and politicians. Stokes's work on behalf of black education, social issues, and the Phelps-Stokes Fund are...
Dates:
1761-1960, bulk 1892-1958