Leonard Bacon was born to Nathaniel Terry Bacon and Helen Hazard Bacon in Syracuse, New York on May 26, 1887. Bacon was a poet and literary critic who was class poet and editor of the Literary Magazine at Yale University, from which he graduated in 1909. Upon graduation, he taught English at the University of California, Berkeley until 1923 when he moved to Peace Dale, Rhode Island to concentrate on his writing. In 1940, he won a Pulitzer Prize in poetry for his work “Sunderland Capture.” Additionally, he was a literary critic for Saturday Review of Literature and Harper’s.
In 1912, Bacon Martha Stringham. The couple had three children: Helen, Alice, and Martha. He died January 1, 1954.
The collection consists of three original letters written by Leonard Bacon. One letter to “John” in 1951 discusses the poet David McCord, and how Bacon’s daughter has books accepted for publication. The other two letters are addressed to “Millie Knox.” One of the letters contains verse written by Bacon for Knox’s birthday in 1946 and the other letter contains three short poems for “Sandy” for his amusement in 1940. The subject of these poems consists of Nazis and Henry Ford.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research.
Leonard Bacon letters, MSS-0107, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The collection is arranged in the order in which it arrived in the Rhode Island College Special Collections.
The letters in this collection were purchased by Rhode Island College Special Collections in 1977 and 1981.
The collection was described by Special Collections intern, Melissa Moniz, in 2023 under the supervision of Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Veronica L. Denison.
Rhode Island College Special Collections contains another
Additionally, Yale University Manuscripts and Archives holds the
This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections.