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Whitman
Whitman, Walt
The Oxford Companion to United States History
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2001
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© The Oxford Companion to United States History 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information)
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Whitman, Walt (1819–1892), poet.Walt Whitman revolutionized
poetry by replacing conventional rhyme and meter with a free‐flowing, proselike poetic form that followed the natural rhythms of voice and feeling. Announcing himself as the representative American “bard,” he brought a new democratic inclusiveness to poetry, opening the way for later writers by his experimentation with novel social and sexual themes.
The third of seven children of Walter and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman, he was born in West Hills, Long Island. In 1823, the Whitmans moved to Brooklyn, where his carpenter father barely kept the family above the poverty level. His mother was an unlearned but imaginative woman with a gift for storytelling. Whitman left school at eleven to help support the family, working as a lawyer's assistant and then as a printer's apprentice for Brooklyn newspapers. In 1836 he began a five‐year stint as an itinerant teacher in rural Long Island. In 1838 he founded and briefly edited a newspaper,
The Long Islander.He moved in 1841 to Manhattan to pursue a career in journalism, contributing fiction, poetry, and nonfiction prose—most of it derivative and conventional—to local newspapers. From 1846 to early 1848 he edited the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, after which he spent three months in the
South writing for the
New Orleans Daily Crescent. Upon returning to Brooklyn, he worked as a freelance journalist, variety‐store manager, and carpenter.
Alarmed by intensifying sectional controversies, Whitman offered poetic healing to a nation on the verge of unraveling.
The proof of the poet, he wrote, “is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.” In the twelve poems of the first edition of
Leaves of Grass (1855), particularly the first one (later entitled
Song of Myself), he evoked nearly every cultural and social strand of the
Antebellum Era: Emersonian
transcendentalism; techniques of
photography and genre
painting; images from
spiritualism and pseudoscience; devices from popular
music and
opera; inflections from oratory; and the radical spirit of the
antislavery and
women's rights movements.
Although
Leaves of Grass was well received by Ralph Waldo
Emerson, who called it “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed,” and by most early reviewers, sales were slow, and objections were aired against its stylistic unconventionality and sexual frankness, including homoerotic allusions. He regularly added new poems to
Leaves of Grass, which appeared in five more editions in his lifetime.
In the late 1850s Whitman hobnobbed with bohemian artists and writers in Charles Pfaff’s Broadway restaurant. During the
Civil War he moved to
Washington, D.C., where he became a government clerk and a volunteer nurse in military hospitals. His collection
Drum Taps (1865) included two well‐known poems honoring the assassinated Abraham
Lincoln, “O Captain! My Captain!” and the elegiac “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd.” His prose essay
Democratic Vistas (1871) lamented the debasement of democratic ideals amid the crass materialism of post–Civil War America.
Partially paralyzed by a stroke in 1873, he moved from Washington to Camden, New Jersey, where he lived first with his brother George and then in his own home. Increasingly famous, he lectured widely in the United States and Canada until further strokes in the late 1880s left him confined to a wheelchair.
See also
Literature: Early National and Antebellum Eras.
Bibliography
Gay Wilson Allen , The Solitary Singer: A Critical Biography of Walt Whitman, 1955.
David S. Reynolds , Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography, 1995.
David S. Reynolds
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WHITMAN FINDS ANOTHER FAMILY WITH FOOTBALL.(SPORTS)(Correction notice)
Newspaper article from: Albany Times Union (Albany, NY); 11/22/1995; 700+ words
; ...RENSSELAER At least in his mind, D.J. Whitman is over his cancer. His mother's cancer...inside draws him back to the cemetery. Whitman has a collection of football plaques earned...Rensselaer Rams. From time to time, Whitman rounds up the plaques and carries them...
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Whitman's feeds on a customized market
Magazine article from: Vermont Business Magazine; 1/1/2002; ; 700+ words
; Back in 1945, Bernard Whitman's father gave him a canned milk route and he bought a truck...would dump the milk and give him the cans back," said Arthur Whitman of Whitman's Feed Store in North Bennington, now a $12 million company...
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Whitman and the Civil War
Magazine article from: Michigan Quarterly Review; 1/1/2000; ; 700+ words
; ...importance of the Civil War period in Walt Whitman's life. In this respect, her paper...critical and biographical literature on Whitman, which gives us the impression that the...War was a turning point of some sort for Whitman. There are at least two books on the...
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WHITMAN CONCILIATORY TOWARD GRANT
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 11/18/1994; ; 700+ words
; ...Bergen County, NJ) 11-18-1994 WHITMAN CONCILIATORY TOWARD GRANT -- RADIO STATIC...great deal of influence," Governor Whitman appeared on WABC Radio's Bob Grant show...s "divisive" dialogue. However, Whitman stopped short of confronting the conservative...
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WHITMAN'S LONG ROAD TO CANDIDACY
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 1/28/1993; ; 700+ words
; ...Bergen County, NJ) 01-28-1993 WHITMAN'S LONG ROAD TO CANDIDACY -- PLANS BEGAN...Star Early Biographical: CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN Notes: THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR TRENTON...H. Kean left office, Christine Todd Whitman -- at the time a relatively unknown appointee...
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WHITMAN: FLORIO CREW TRESPASSED
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 8/12/1993; ; 700+ words
; ...Bergen County, NJ) 08-12-1993 WHITMAN: FLORIO CREW TRESPASSED -- ESTATE FILMED...Wednesday of trespassing on Christine Todd Whitman's property to make pictures of her 200...feels like an invasion of privacy," said Whitman, who spotted a rented van on her property...
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WHITMAN'S POPULARITY SOARING
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 10/24/1994; ; 700+ words
; ...Bergen County, NJ) 10-24-1994 WHITMAN'S POPULARITY SOARING By EUGENE KIELY...before Election Day, candidate Christie Whitman was battling a perception that her campaign...squeaked out a victory, and today Governor Whitman stands as one of the most popular leaders...
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WHITMAN: IF I RAISE TAXES, THEN I'LL BE A LIAR
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 10/5/1993; ; 673 words
; ...Bergen County, NJ) 10-05-1993 WHITMAN: IF I RAISE TAXES, THEN I'LL BE A...gubernatorial candidate Christine Todd Whitman said Monday she should be branded a liar...raises taxes after promising a tax cut. Whitman has promised to cut the state income tax...
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WHITMAN NOW SAYS SHE MAY BACK A TAX CUT
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 8/19/1993; ; 700+ words
; ...Bergen County, NJ) 08-19-1993 WHITMAN NOW SAYS SHE MAY BACK A TAX CUT -- HAD...to promise tax cuts," Christine Todd Whitman said Wednesday that she and her economic...Day will include a tax-cut proposal. Whitman, who has been under pressure from people...
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WHITMAN'S ETHICS AGAIN UNDER FIRE
Newspaper article from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ); 3/19/1993; ; 700+ words
; ...Bergen County, NJ) 03-19-1993 WHITMAN'S ETHICS AGAIN UNDER FIRE -- ACCUSED...Star Early Biographical: CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN TRENTON -- State employees, working...gubernatorial candidate Christine Todd Whitman decide whether to install a satellite...
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Whitman, Walt
Encyclopedia entry from: U*X*L Encyclopedia of World Biography
Walt Whitman Born: May 31, 1819 West Hills, New...Camden, New Jersey American poet Walt Whitman is generally considered to be the most...speech. Childhood and early career Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills...
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Whitman, Meg 1956–
Book article from: International Directory of Business Biographies
Meg Whitman 1956 – President and chief executive...president and CEO of eBay, Margaret (Meg) Whitman helped the company to become the leading consumer e-commerce site in the world. Whitman's extensive knowledge in brand building...
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Whitman, Slim
Book article from: Contemporary Musicians
Slim Whitman Folk singer For the Record … Whitman ’ s Success Abroad Once dubbed “ America ’ s Favorite Folk singer, ” Slim Whitman was brought to the attention of a new generation of listeners...
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Walt Whitman
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
Walt Whitman Walt Whitman (1819-1892) is generally considered to be the most important American...of native American speech. In all, over a 37-year period, Walt Whitman published nine separate editions of his masterpiece, Leaves of Grass...
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Marcus Whitman
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
Marcus Whitman Marcus Whitman (1802-1847) was an American physician, missionary, and pioneer...territory. Born at Rushville, N.Y., on Sept. 4, 1802, Marcus Whitman was educated in Plainfield, Mass., and then studied medicine with...
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