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Vachel Lindsay Collection, 1924-1933 (Bulk: 1924-1925)
1 half archives box, 1 flat box, 1 map drawer folder (1.5 linear ft.)

Abstract:
Poet. Papers include correspondence, cards, newspaper and magazine clippings, programs, and a photograph, mostly sent to Eugenia Graham.

Terms of Access and Use:

Restrictions on access:

There is no restriction on access to the Vachel Lindsay Collection for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Restrictions on use:

Requests for permission to publish material from the Vachel Lindsay Collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Amherst College Archives and Special Collections

Biographical Note

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

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The papers include correspondence, cards, newspaper and magazine clippings, programs, and a photograph, detailing the life of poet Vachel Lindsay, mostly sent to Eugenia Graham, who later became Mrs. R.F. Leftwich.


Information on Use
Terms of Access and Use
Restrictions on access:

There is no restriction on access to the Vachel Lindsay Collection for research use. Particularly fragile items may be restricted for preservation purposes.

Restrictions on use:

Requests for permission to publish material from the Vachel Lindsay Collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

[Identification of item], in Vachel Lindsay Collection [Box #, Folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library

History of the Collection

The Vachel Lindsay collection was the gift of Frank Leftwich (AC 1958). The letters were written to Eugenia Graham, his mother, who met the poet while a student at Gulf Park Girls School and Junior College in Gulfport, Mississippi in the early 1920s. Lindsay was "touring" cities and schools in the south, reading his poetry at the time. Lindsay wrote to Eugenia Graham, who married R. Frank Leftwich in October 1924, over the course of several years. The letters were presented to Amherst College in June 2003.

Processing Information
Processed: 2003 June
By: Alicia Yang Cao (AC 2006), Student Assistant
Finding Aid: 2003 June
Edited by: Daria D'Arienzo, Head of Archives and Special Collections
Listed by: Alicia Yang Cao (AC 2006), Student Assistant
Graham Leach-Krouse (AC 2005), Student Encoding Assistant


Additional Information
Contact Information
Amherst College Archives and Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
PO Box 5000
Amherst, MA 01002-5000

Phone: (413) 542-2299
Fax: (413) 542-2692

Email Reference Form: http://www.amherst.edu/library/archives/askus
URL: http://www.amherst.edu/library/archives

Language
English.