1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frying. It would 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: be really hard to grow up in the United States 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: and not at least hear of What Whitman. I'm trying 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:25,400 Speaker 1: to think of how that would work if you were 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: in any sort of public school system. M hmm. It's 8 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: it's such an alien concept that you would miss it 9 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: that I'm trying to figure out if there's any weird 10 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: pocket where that could happen. Your biographical summaries of him 11 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,280 Speaker 1: kick off with descriptions like arguably the best and most 12 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,240 Speaker 1: influential poet to hail from the United States, Like is 13 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: some kind of requirement, like that is the first first 14 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: sentence every time is glowing praise for what Whitman? And 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: then poems like beat Beat Drones and I hear America 16 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:00,400 Speaker 1: singing and when Lilacs Last in the dooryard whomed are 17 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: staples of English classes. And then some of those same 18 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: ones also run alongside history lessons on the Civil War. Uh, 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 1: And then of course there's oh Captain, My Captain, which 20 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: is deeply rooted in pop culture thanks to dead poets 21 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: society well, and I think people even invoke it without 22 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: having any idea really what it is or what it's 23 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: from sometimes like or who wrote it. So apart from 24 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: all of this work that is such a staple in 25 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,959 Speaker 1: mainstream English and history classes, Walt Whitman's life ran alongside 26 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,240 Speaker 1: and interacted with a lot of US history and a 27 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: lot of in a lot of ways. His poetry was 28 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: like about America and an attempt to embody the United 29 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: States and this really utopia kind of idealistic way. So 30 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:51,200 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about that intersection of history and 31 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: his life and work today. And this is also a 32 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: listener request from Molly, who sent us an email not 33 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: too long ago, uh, just sort of dropping at the 34 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: end that she would love to hear podcast about Walt Whitman, 35 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:03,880 Speaker 1: and that kind of tickled in the back of my 36 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: brain for a while. And then by total coincidence, he 37 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: came up recently on our a couple of different podcasts. 38 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: He came up in our live show on HP Lovecraft, 39 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 1: who was similarly self promotional, and then he also came 40 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: up in our Prospect Park podcast about Brooklyn because that 41 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,320 Speaker 1: is where he lived for much of his life uh 42 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: and and Walt Whitman started that life when he was 43 00:02:27,840 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: born on May thirty one, eighteen nineteen. His parents were 44 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: Walter Whitman and Luisa van Velsor. Walt was named after 45 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: his father. Walter Sr. Made his living as a carpenter 46 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: and as a farmer, and young Walt was their second child, 47 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: and he would ultimately have eight siblings who survived their infancy. 48 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:51,080 Speaker 1: This family was both proud and patriotic. Walt and his 49 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,799 Speaker 1: older siblings were named after parents and grandparents, and three 50 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: of his younger brothers were named for Andrew Jackson, George Washington, 51 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: and Thomas Jefferson. Kind Of as a side note, uh, 52 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson Whitman was actually born before Andrew Jackson became 53 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: president or was even u elected president. He was at 54 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: that point better known as a national hero for his 55 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,600 Speaker 1: victory over the British in New Orleans during the War 56 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: of eighteen twelve. They're also the details are a little 57 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: bit hazy, but but Walt's youngest brother, Edward, was the 58 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: only one of the Whitman children who wasn't named after 59 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: a family member or a prominent political figure. He was 60 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 1: disabled from birth and required care for the whole of 61 00:03:30,919 --> 00:03:33,760 Speaker 1: his life. When Walt was four, the family moved from 62 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: their home in West Hills on Long Island to Brooklyn. 63 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:39,560 Speaker 1: And Brooklyn is now one of the boroughs of New 64 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: York City, but at the time it was a separate city, 65 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: and Walt's father was hopeful that Brooklyn's rapid growth would 66 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: bring him work as a carpenter or a prophet as 67 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,600 Speaker 1: a land speculator, and neither of those really worked out, 68 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: and consequently the family moved around a lot, and they 69 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: really struggled to make ends meet. When Walt was about six, 70 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: the Marquis to laugh Yet arrived in Brooklyn as part 71 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: of his grand tour of the United States. I kind 72 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: of want to do an episode on this whole tour. 73 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: It was in part for the fiftieth anniversary of the 74 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: nation's founding. He was met with huge fanfare and with 75 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:20,280 Speaker 1: enthusiastic receptions all over the country, with Rhodes and squares 76 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: being renamed in his honor. In Brooklyn, Lafayette was to 77 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: lay the cornerstone of a new free public library, and 78 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: while he and other men who were there were basically 79 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: picking children up and moving them out of the way 80 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 1: of this hole that hid been zug Lafayette picked up 81 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,440 Speaker 1: the young Walt Whitman and gave him a hug and 82 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:41,039 Speaker 1: a kiss before putting him down again. Was something he 83 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: would remember for the rest of his life and at 84 00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: some points kind of add a almost prophetic layer to 85 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:53,039 Speaker 1: how he was being blessed for democracy. Walt's only real 86 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: formal education took place in Brooklyn's newly founded public schools, 87 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: which he attended for about six years. He also took 88 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: steps to educate himself outside of schools, through nearby libraries, theaters, 89 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: and museums, as well as by attending lectures. The Whitman 90 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:14,040 Speaker 1: family wasn't a member of any religious denomination, but Elias Hicks, 91 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: a Quaker and abolitionist, lived in New York, and Walt 92 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:22,160 Speaker 1: attended his lectures. When the young Walt began his apprenticeship 93 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:24,920 Speaker 1: as a type setter at the Long Island Patriot at 94 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: the age of twelve, he left school to do so, 95 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: and at that point he had more formal education than 96 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: either of his parents. He continued, though, with just voracious 97 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,400 Speaker 1: reading and self education, and he started writing as well, 98 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: both for the Patriot and for other newspapers. When his 99 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:45,200 Speaker 1: family moved back to Long Island in eighteen thirty three. 100 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: He stayed behind in Brooklyn, and he continued to learn 101 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: and work. In addition to his journalistic writing for the 102 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: newspapers where he was working in other newspapers in the area, 103 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: he was also starting to write poetry, although at this 104 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:03,040 Speaker 1: point most of his poem followed the very conventional patterns 105 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: of meter and rhyme that were pretty much standard in poetry. 106 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty five, the Great Fire of New York 107 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:14,920 Speaker 1: derailed Walt's career in printing in journalism. This fire started 108 00:06:14,960 --> 00:06:17,400 Speaker 1: in a warehouse, but it spread rapidly due to a 109 00:06:17,440 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: combination of high winds and bitter cold that made it 110 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: nearly impossible for firefighters to draw water from the East River. 111 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 1: In addition to engulfing warehouses, newly built shops, and the 112 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,159 Speaker 1: Merchant Exchange, the fire gutted the offices of most of 113 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: the city's newspapers and journals. New York's printing industry was 114 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: virtually destroyed. This is one of a number of fires 115 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: that just really gutted the printing industry and other industries 116 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: in New York and Brooklyn, and so women had to 117 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 1: find another job. He embarked on a new career as 118 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: a teacher at the age of seventeen. Although he did 119 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:57,039 Speaker 1: have an interest in education and in how people learn, 120 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,240 Speaker 1: this was not a job he was very enthusiastic about. 121 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,800 Speaker 1: It was either that or go back home to work 122 00:07:02,839 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 1: on his father's farm, which he did not want to do. 123 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,039 Speaker 1: At one point he did try to start his own newspaper, 124 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: The Long Islander, which ran for about a year beginning 125 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen thirty eight, but otherwise he spent five fairly 126 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 1: unhappy years after the fires as an itinerant teacher. He 127 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: taught in small, generally one room schools on Long Island. 128 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: To him, these rural communities paled in comparison to the 129 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,600 Speaker 1: bustle and excitement of New York. He wrote of one 130 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 1: of them, quote, Ignorance, vulgarity, rudeness, conceit, and dullness are 131 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: the reigning gods of this deuced sink of despair. And 132 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: it was all the worse because he felt like he 133 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:44,680 Speaker 1: was spending the best years of his youth in remote, 134 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: backwater parts of New York doing work that he didn't like. 135 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: He also really wasn't what these communities expected in a 136 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: country teacher, rather than the memorization and repetition, and wrote 137 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:01,080 Speaker 1: recitations that were common in the classroom. He favored the 138 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: techniques that were advocated by the educational reformers of the day, 139 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: including a more holistic approach to the classroom, open ended 140 00:08:09,160 --> 00:08:11,920 Speaker 1: discussions and games. It was a lot more like the 141 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: classroom under past podcast subject Bronson Alcott, who Whitman did 142 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: meet later on in his life. And there are rumors 143 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: that Whitman's career as an educator came to a scandalous 144 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: end that at the age of twenty one or twenty two, 145 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: he was tarred, feathered, and run out of town on 146 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: a rail after being sexually involved with a male student. 147 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: But while this story has become a persistent part of 148 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: the oral history of the coastal town of south Old, 149 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: Long Island, there's actually no documentation that it ever happened, 150 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: or of woman ever having been a teacher there. There is, 151 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:50,360 Speaker 1: on the other hand, documentation that Whitman's time as a teacher, 152 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: including during the winters of eighteen forty or eighteen forty 153 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:56,840 Speaker 1: one when the incident allegedly took place, was spent on 154 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: the other end of Long Island, fifty miles or more 155 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:04,559 Speaker 1: a way He also vacationed in Southhold after that point, which, uh, 156 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,640 Speaker 1: as we said earlier, is on the coast, and he 157 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: did that in later years, which would have been kind 158 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: of an odd choice if he had previously been tarred 159 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: and feathered there. Regardless, in the early eighteen forties, Whitman 160 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,199 Speaker 1: did give up teaching, and he moved to New York City, 161 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: this time to try to pay his bills through a 162 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: combination of journalism and fiction writing. And we're going to 163 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: talk about his return to journalism. After we first paused 164 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:35,200 Speaker 1: for a little sponsor break in the first half of 165 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: the eighteen forties, Walt Whitman kept up a steady stream 166 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: of short stories, published in more than twenty magazines, journals, 167 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,880 Speaker 1: and newspapers. He published longer works as well. His first novel, 168 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: Franklin Evans The Inebriate, came out in eighteen forty two. 169 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: This was written both to try to earn money from 170 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:57,120 Speaker 1: having written a novel and also to support the temperance movement. 171 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:02,280 Speaker 1: Walt Whitman was not in favor of drunkenness or abuses 172 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 1: stemming from drunkenness. Although he was able to publish regularly, 173 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 1: his income from doing so was not particularly regular. In 174 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,599 Speaker 1: eighteen forty five, he moved back to Brooklyn, where he 175 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:16,439 Speaker 1: could live a little more frugally and have less competition 176 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: for writing jobs. By eighteen forty six, he had taken 177 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,840 Speaker 1: over as chief editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, a position 178 00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:26,479 Speaker 1: he was ultimately fired from over the issue of slavery. 179 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,520 Speaker 1: He was opposed to it, but the papers publisher Isaac 180 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: van Anden backed pro slavery political candidates. At this point 181 00:10:34,840 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: in his life, Walt Whitman's opposition to slavery was a 182 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: lot more pragmatic than humanitarian. He wasn't at all an abolitionist. 183 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: He was actually pretty sure abolitionists were going to destroy 184 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,560 Speaker 1: the country by forcing the issue of ending slavery. But 185 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,800 Speaker 1: a lot of his work in journalism was geared towards 186 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: educating and improving the lives and communities of working class 187 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,680 Speaker 1: white people through his daily reporting, his human interest stories, 188 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: and other tidbits this uh. For this reason, he was 189 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:09,080 Speaker 1: against the expansion of slavery into the western territories, and 190 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:12,200 Speaker 1: he was against the idea of slavery being allowed in 191 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:16,080 Speaker 1: states that were newly admitted into the Union, largely because 192 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: of what the presence of slavery would do to the jobs, 193 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: job prospects, pay, and working conditions of white citizens. So 194 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: he was against the expansion of slavery, but not for 195 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: reasons that one might consider to be particularly humanitarian at 196 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: this point, at least not when it came to the 197 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:41,679 Speaker 1: lives of the people who were enslaved. In eighty eight, 198 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: a couple of weeks after having been fired from the 199 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:47,960 Speaker 1: Brooklyn Eagle, a chance meeting connected Whitman to J. E. McClure, 200 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,160 Speaker 1: who hoped to start a newspaper in New Orleans. For 201 00:11:51,200 --> 00:11:53,560 Speaker 1: the first time in his life, Whitman left the state 202 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: of New York to edit the New Orleans Crescent. He 203 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 1: quickly discovered that he loved New Orleans, particularly the melding 204 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:04,440 Speaker 1: of French, English, and Spanish languages and the multiple cultures 205 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:08,560 Speaker 1: in one place. However, it was also there that he 206 00:12:08,679 --> 00:12:12,240 Speaker 1: really first witnessed the institution to which he had previously 207 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: been so pragmatically opposed. Slavery did still exist in New 208 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:19,440 Speaker 1: York when Walt Whitman was born, but thanks to a 209 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: gradual emancipation Act that had been passed in seventeen ninety nine, 210 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,480 Speaker 1: his experience with it had been pretty limited. But in 211 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:30,240 Speaker 1: New Orleans in eighteen forty eight, slavery was flourishing, and 212 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,280 Speaker 1: there was a functioning auction site just down the road 213 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,319 Speaker 1: from where Whitman and his younger brother were staying. So 214 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: while the idea of slavery he had been sort of 215 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:43,439 Speaker 1: something he was opposed to in theory because of how 216 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: it affected white working class citizens, he now witnessed some 217 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:54,439 Speaker 1: of its horrors firsthand. Although Walt Whitman was very fond 218 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,959 Speaker 1: of New Orleans, his time at the Crescent didn't really 219 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: work out for reasons that aren't entirely clear. It's possible 220 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,040 Speaker 1: that the point of contention was once again slavery, with 221 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: the Crescent's owners afraid of what Whitman's clearly anti slavery 222 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 1: viewpoint would do to their paper. When Whitman returned to 223 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,640 Speaker 1: New York that same fall, he established the Brooklyn Weekly Freeman, 224 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,719 Speaker 1: a free soil newspaper which primarily works to support politicians 225 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: who were running on anti slavery platforms. He did most 226 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: of the writing and editing himself, and he may have 227 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: even done all of the type setting. He was really 228 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:31,520 Speaker 1: into setting type and thought it was really important that 229 00:13:31,559 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: things be set in a way that contributed to the 230 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 1: overall quality of the publication, but his goal at expanding 231 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,720 Speaker 1: the Brooklyn Weekly Freeman to a daily paper was once 232 00:13:43,760 --> 00:13:47,280 Speaker 1: again thwarted by a fire, which destroyed his office the 233 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,640 Speaker 1: day after the paper's first issue came out. He was 234 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 1: able to start over that November, although he could only 235 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: keep the paper going for about a year. There's a 236 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: bit of a gap in Walt Whitman's life after his 237 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: return from New Orleans in eighteen forty eight. We do 238 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: know that he published the novel Life and Adventures of 239 00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:08,400 Speaker 1: Jack Angle and Autobiography, in which the reader will find 240 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: some familiar characters. That whole thing is the title. He 241 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:15,680 Speaker 1: published that in eighteen fifty two. That manuscript was rediscovered 242 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: in but otherwise there's a lot less documentation about where 243 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,240 Speaker 1: he was or what he was doing during that time. 244 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: But somewhere in there he shifted. When he reappears in 245 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty five, it's with his first manuscript of Leaves 246 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: of Grass. Written in that seemingly reclusive interim, Leaves of 247 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:41,880 Speaker 1: Grass abandoned all the formal conventional systems of meter and 248 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 1: rhyme that had been part of his earlier work and 249 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:48,000 Speaker 1: part of pretty much the English language poetic tradition at 250 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: that point. Instead, the twelve untitled poems that were included 251 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: in the first edition were all over the place in 252 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: terms of length. The lines themselves were often so long 253 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: that Whitman actually had the book printed on oversized paper. 254 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: These poems took on a lot of the same subject 255 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: matter that he had been writing about as a journalist, 256 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: but they did so in a way that was meant 257 00:15:11,840 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: to be all enveloping and all encompassing. And their voice 258 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:18,760 Speaker 1: was not that of a writer who was cerebrally against 259 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,560 Speaker 1: slavery because of its effects on the white working class. 260 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: It was a voice that embraced and welcomed all people 261 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:30,120 Speaker 1: of all races into one relentlessly optimistic vision. At this point, 262 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: the United States was increasingly divided over the issue of slavery, 263 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,440 Speaker 1: and Leaves of Grass seemed to be an attempt to 264 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:41,440 Speaker 1: unite the whole nation in a poetic democracy. He published 265 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,960 Speaker 1: it himself, having seven nine copies printed, which was all 266 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: he could afford, but his budget hadn't actually included binding 267 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: those seven copies, so he did that piece meal as 268 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: he had the money to do it. He sent copies 269 00:15:56,360 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: to other writers and poets but the only one who 270 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:02,440 Speaker 1: responded it was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who sent him a 271 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:04,920 Speaker 1: letter that began quote, I greet you at the beginning 272 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: of a great career. Emerson's praise of Whitman is completely unsurprising. 273 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:14,480 Speaker 1: In eighteen forty four, he had published an essay called 274 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:18,200 Speaker 1: The Poet, in which he called for the United States 275 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:21,720 Speaker 1: to have its own poet to record and reflect upon 276 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: and shape the young nation's consciousness. Emerson's description of what 277 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: this poet's work would be like is uncannily like Leaves 278 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:33,880 Speaker 1: of Grass, to the point that some critics suggest that 279 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: Whitman read this essay and then decided to go do 280 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: that thing, which would be really astute uh For the 281 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: rest of his life. One of Whitman's major ongoing endeavors 282 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: would be rewriting and revising Leaves of Grass. The second edition, 283 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,080 Speaker 1: which came out in eighteen fifty six, had that line 284 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: from Emerson's letter about the beginning of a great career 285 00:16:55,840 --> 00:17:00,000 Speaker 1: printed on the spine with Emerson's name, but without his permission. 286 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: He printed the whole letter at the back of the volume, 287 00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: also without permission. Whitman also included a collection of reviews 288 00:17:08,080 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: of the first edition. In the second edition, most of 289 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: them negative, but the three he wrote himself were full 290 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,639 Speaker 1: of phrase. Uh. He also insisted that the first edition 291 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: had sold out, even though its sales had been quite poor. 292 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: He promoted himself a lot. One of my literature professors 293 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:29,840 Speaker 1: in college said that he would basically go out in 294 00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,680 Speaker 1: the streets of New York and sort of announce America's 295 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: great poet has arrived. Like I didn't. I didn't find 296 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: that confirmed in my research for this, but I would 297 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: not put it past him. He talked himself up a 298 00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: lot and wrote positive reviews of his own work. Uh It. 299 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 1: It didn't work out all that well in the short 300 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:56,760 Speaker 1: term for making his work more popular, though. The eighteen 301 00:17:56,800 --> 00:18:00,399 Speaker 1: fifty six edition, which had twenty more poems than eighteen 302 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: fifty five edition, was printed on much smaller paper, his 303 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,120 Speaker 1: idea being that you could put it in your pocket 304 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: and read it out in the world. He added titles 305 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,360 Speaker 1: to the poems from the first edition. Many of these 306 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,200 Speaker 1: titles would change in future editions, and he also put 307 00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:19,280 Speaker 1: the word poem in all the titles, apparently in response 308 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,639 Speaker 1: to the many critics who had basically said they weren't 309 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 1: sure what that was In the eighteen fifty five edition, 310 00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:30,160 Speaker 1: but it was definitely not poetry, and now he could 311 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: say yes, huh it says so in the title. Uh. 312 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:38,400 Speaker 1: This time he had a thousand copies printed. Those also 313 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:43,320 Speaker 1: sold terribly. Yeah. He was not not doing well, and 314 00:18:43,359 --> 00:18:46,040 Speaker 1: around this time Whitmen became part of New York City's 315 00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: bohemian crowd, frequenting Five Saloon and becoming connected with other 316 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 1: writers and artists, as well as abolitionists and women's rights workers. 317 00:18:56,359 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: Even though his own work wasn't selling well or being 318 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: reviewed very well out in the rest of the world, 319 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,600 Speaker 1: he became something of a celebrity within the New York 320 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,959 Speaker 1: bohemian scene, in part because of his work sexual overtones, 321 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:14,919 Speaker 1: especially since sometimes these overtones were somewhat homo erotic. Whitman's 322 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:17,919 Speaker 1: plan for his next edition of Leaves of Grass was 323 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: to once again publish it himself, but in eighteen sixty 324 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: he was contacted by William Thayer and Charles Eldridge, who 325 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: were abolitionist publishers. They offered him a book deal, and 326 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: Walt Whitman immediately took them up on it, and he 327 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,919 Speaker 1: traveled to Boston to oversee the type setting himself, something 328 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,040 Speaker 1: that he had done for all his prior books, and which, 329 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,000 Speaker 1: as Tracy mentioned earlier, he thought was critical to the 330 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:45,520 Speaker 1: work as a whole. The eighteen sixty edition of Leaves 331 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,960 Speaker 1: of Grass, against the advice of Ralph Waldo Emerson, went 332 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,200 Speaker 1: even further than the first two had uh and those 333 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,639 Speaker 1: have been labeled as a scene in some circles, and 334 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: its inclusion of sexuality that included Children of Adam, which 335 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 1: was all about the physical body and a celebration of 336 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,120 Speaker 1: sex between men and women, and the Calamus Cluster, which 337 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,679 Speaker 1: was a celebration of love between men. Because it was 338 00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: more sexually explicit, Children of Adam got way more criticism, 339 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,879 Speaker 1: and the eighteen sixty edition of Leaves of Grass stoked 340 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,880 Speaker 1: a lot more controversy than the previous two had. And finally, 341 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:24,679 Speaker 1: the eighteen sixty edition of Leaves of Grass both sold 342 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,159 Speaker 1: well and garnered praise, even as people who objected to 343 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,239 Speaker 1: its sexual content called for it to be banned and 344 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: sometimes successfully. The first printing of a thousand copies sold 345 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:39,879 Speaker 1: out and the publisher ordered another run. Although it seemed 346 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,840 Speaker 1: like women's literary star was finally rising, this didn't last long. 347 00:20:44,359 --> 00:20:47,280 Speaker 1: His publisher went bankrupt and they sold the plates for 348 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: Leaves of Grass to another publisher who kept using them 349 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,359 Speaker 1: to print more copies. Even as Whitman was trying to 350 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: work on new editions of the book, his family also 351 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,000 Speaker 1: started to have a lot of problems there had This 352 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,840 Speaker 1: was not completely new. There had been problems within the 353 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: family before, but it seems to start to come to 354 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:10,439 Speaker 1: a head. His sister was in an abusive marriage, and 355 00:21:10,600 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 1: his brother had increasingly violent tendencies and seemed to have 356 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,520 Speaker 1: some kind of mental illness happening. But these problems went 357 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: beyond his personal concerns. The Civil War began in eighteen 358 00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: sixty one, and this would radically change Whitman's life and work, 359 00:21:26,119 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that after we have 360 00:21:28,359 --> 00:21:38,200 Speaker 1: a little sponsor break. Prior to the Civil War, Whitman's 361 00:21:38,240 --> 00:21:41,560 Speaker 1: poetry was full of themes of union and connection. It 362 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,359 Speaker 1: was like a love song to a nation that was 363 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: full of diverse people's and perspectives and promise, but everyone's 364 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,760 Speaker 1: still remaining united. A nation at war with itself was 365 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 1: the antithesis of what he had been celebrating and praising 366 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: and sort of optimistically believing that the nation could achieve 367 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,680 Speaker 1: eve As a writer, compounding the actual horrors of war, 368 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:09,080 Speaker 1: which were awful, was a sense that the nation he 369 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,920 Speaker 1: had been crafting through poetry had literally torn itself into 370 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: In December of eighteen sixty two, Whitman saw the name G. W. 371 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 1: Whitmore on a newspaper list of men who had been 372 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 1: wounded at Fredericksburg. He was afraid that it was a 373 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:28,479 Speaker 1: misspelling of his younger brother's name, George Washington. Whitman had 374 00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: enlisted in the Union Army at the start of the war, 375 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: and Walt Whitman went to Washington, d c. Personally to 376 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:38,120 Speaker 1: see if he could find his brother. His brother, as 377 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: it turned out, had indeed been wounded, but his condition 378 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 1: was not serious. But soon after that Whitman saw a 379 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,399 Speaker 1: pile of amputated limbs outside of a mansion that was 380 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:52,360 Speaker 1: being used as a field hospital. He was sickened by 381 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:55,240 Speaker 1: this site, and he decided to stay in Washington and 382 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,880 Speaker 1: do something that had already been part of his typical 383 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: routine for years, which was sitting sick and injured people 384 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:06,400 Speaker 1: at the hospital. There are accounts that describe Whitman as 385 00:23:06,440 --> 00:23:09,119 Speaker 1: a nurse, but for the most part, he really wasn't 386 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 1: doing that sort of hands on medical care that you 387 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: would think of with the word nurse. He was visiting 388 00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,600 Speaker 1: and talking to people and offering comfort and bringing gifts. 389 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: His work was tireless necessary, and garnered praise, but he 390 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: was more of a companion rather than a caregiver. He 391 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: also ran errands and wrote letters on behalf of the 392 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,920 Speaker 1: sick and injured, and he also assisted in burying the dead. 393 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,560 Speaker 1: His original plan had been to go to Washington confirm 394 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,000 Speaker 1: whether his brother was okay, and then go back to 395 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:42,679 Speaker 1: New York. Instead, he stayed in the capital for eleven 396 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: years until long after the war was over. While he 397 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,200 Speaker 1: still made trips home to New York and also to Boston, 398 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:51,920 Speaker 1: he started to think of Washington and not New York, 399 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: as his home. During this time, he also developed close, 400 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,920 Speaker 1: loving relationships with several of the men he visited, including 401 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:01,720 Speaker 1: Confederate soldiers who were being held as prisoners of war. 402 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:05,119 Speaker 1: Although he'd let his family know that he would be 403 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,919 Speaker 1: staying in Washington for a while, he didn't really have 404 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,600 Speaker 1: the funds to support himself while working in the hospitals, 405 00:24:11,640 --> 00:24:14,159 Speaker 1: so he worked a variety of jobs, including at the 406 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 1: Paymaster's office and at the Indian Bureau of the Department 407 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: of the interior. He was eventually fired from that when 408 00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:22,840 Speaker 1: his boss realized that he was the guy who wrote 409 00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: Leaves of Grass. There's some accounts that say it was 410 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:29,439 Speaker 1: because that he found a copy of Leaves of Grass 411 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,919 Speaker 1: on his desk. Either way, he got fired because of 412 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: Leaves of Grass. Women's Civil War experiences would lead to 413 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:41,240 Speaker 1: one of his few, originally not Leaves of Grass, publications 414 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,320 Speaker 1: of poetry, and that was Drum Taps. He signed a 415 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: contract for its publication near the end of the war, 416 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: and it was already ready to go to print when 417 00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:53,320 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, although he was able to write 418 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 1: and add Hushed be the Camps Today, which was dedicated 419 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: to Lincoln before the book went to the type setter 420 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,800 Speaker 1: bike a incidence. Whitman was at his mother's house in 421 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,479 Speaker 1: April of eighteen sixty five when Lincoln was assassinated. He 422 00:25:06,520 --> 00:25:08,679 Speaker 1: had also been away from Washington, d c. When it 423 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: was attacked by the Confederate army, and when the war 424 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:15,040 Speaker 1: officially ended, it was his mother's door and Lilacs that 425 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 1: featured in his elegiate poem When Lilacs Last in the 426 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: dooryard bloomed that poem and Oh Captain, My Captain were 427 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: later published in a volume called Sequel to Drum Taps. 428 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: Around the end of the war, Whitman met Peter Doyle, 429 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,639 Speaker 1: a former Confederate soldier originally from Ireland. He was working 430 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,679 Speaker 1: as a street car driver. Doyle would later describe it, 431 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 1: we fell to each other at once. Women and Doyle 432 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:43,639 Speaker 1: never lived together, although Whitman often wrote of wanting to, 433 00:25:44,080 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: and their relationship continued for most of the rest of 434 00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:50,359 Speaker 1: Whitman's life, although it did cool after he left Washington 435 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: After the war, Whitman had to figure out what to 436 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:57,600 Speaker 1: do with his poetry. Leaves of Grass had been a 437 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: celebration of a grand, chaotic, all welcoming spirit of democracy 438 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: and of a young nation growing up into a country 439 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: that was dynamic and energetic and free. The post Civil 440 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: War nation didn't feel like that at all. The eighteen 441 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: sixty seven edition of Leaves of Grass that followed was 442 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:20,200 Speaker 1: full of errors and assembled in multiple configurations. Some versions 443 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,399 Speaker 1: included Drum Taps and Sequel to Drum Taps, but others 444 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: did not, and their ordering changed from one to another. 445 00:26:27,280 --> 00:26:29,360 Speaker 1: It was as though the book had been torn up 446 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,600 Speaker 1: and then haphazardly put back together. Whitman seemed to approach 447 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:36,479 Speaker 1: Leaves of Grass as though the book of poems was 448 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,560 Speaker 1: the United States, and in future editions he would continue 449 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:41,879 Speaker 1: to try to figure out how to unite all of 450 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,919 Speaker 1: his work from both before and after the war into 451 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:48,760 Speaker 1: one unified whole that still made sense. He wrote other 452 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:52,400 Speaker 1: work as well, including Democratic Vistas and Passage to India, 453 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:56,159 Speaker 1: which came out each of them in eighteen seventy. On 454 00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:01,359 Speaker 1: January eighteen seventy three, waltwit And had a serious stroke. 455 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,199 Speaker 1: That may his mother's health began to fail, and he 456 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: managed to make it to Camden, New Jersey to see her, 457 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: just three days before she died. After trying to go 458 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,920 Speaker 1: back to Washington, he soon wound up in Camden again 459 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 1: to live with his brother George and George's wife, lou 460 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:21,520 Speaker 1: The Whitman's health continued to decline, he kept publishing both 461 00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: poetry and prose, including a revised Memoranda during the War, 462 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:30,040 Speaker 1: which came out as part of American Centennial celebrations, along 463 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,960 Speaker 1: with a slightly revised centennial version of Leaves of Grass. 464 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,679 Speaker 1: His health did eventually start to improve, and he was 465 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: able to have a pretty active life for a while. 466 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: In Camden. By the eighteen eighties, Whitman's work had gained 467 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:47,560 Speaker 1: international attention, and ardent admirers from Europe came to the 468 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: United States to visit him. One was Anne Gilchrist, who 469 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,560 Speaker 1: published an essay called a Woman's Estimate of Walt Whitman, 470 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,919 Speaker 1: which included the line quote for me the reading of 471 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 1: his poems as truly a new birth of the soul. 472 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:05,080 Speaker 1: Gil Christ and Whitman maintained a multi year correspondence before 473 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: he sent her a ring as a symbol of friendship, 474 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: and she came to the United States with her children 475 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,960 Speaker 1: and stayed for eighteen months. Another visitor was Oscar Wilde, 476 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 1: who made not one, but two stops in Camden, saying quote, 477 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,600 Speaker 1: before I leave America, I must see you again. There 478 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,840 Speaker 1: is no one in this wide, great world of America 479 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: whom I love and honor so much. The gay rights 480 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 1: movement did not yet exist, and the word homosexual would 481 00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:36,160 Speaker 1: not even be coined until eight the year that Walt 482 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: Whitman died, but there were laws in place already that 483 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 1: criminalized same sex behavior and people fighting against those laws. 484 00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:48,480 Speaker 1: Whitman's visitors from England included Edward Carpenter, who was living 485 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: openly with another man, and who credited Leaves of Grass 486 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:55,200 Speaker 1: with having inspired him to leave university, give away his money, 487 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:59,040 Speaker 1: and work toward the betterment of mankind, and today Carpenter 488 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 1: is considered one of the first gay rights activists. In 489 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,320 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one, Boston publisher James R. Osgood and Company 490 00:29:07,400 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: decided to publish a new edition of Leaves of Grass, 491 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: but Boston District Attorney Oliver Stevens wrote to Osgod saying 492 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:18,240 Speaker 1: that the book was obscene. Whitman, thinking that they were 493 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: asking for minor alterations, suggested that he might be willing 494 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:23,840 Speaker 1: to make changes to get the book in print, but 495 00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,880 Speaker 1: when he saw this lengthy list of poems that would 496 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: have to be removed entirely, he replied, quote the list 497 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,560 Speaker 1: whole and several is rejected by me and will not 498 00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 1: be thought of under any circumstances. Leaves of Grass then 499 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: became one of the books infamously banned in Boston and 500 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:45,800 Speaker 1: wal Whitman lived in Camden for the rest of his life, 501 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: eventually moving into a house of his own after his 502 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: brother moved into the country. He died on March two, 503 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: at the age of seventy two. You can read basically 504 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: every walp Woman poem there is on the internet for free, 505 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:05,239 Speaker 1: because it's all in the public domain now. But I 506 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 1: wanted to end with one, so I have a short one, 507 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: because today's episode is a little on a longish side, 508 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: and this is long too long America, long too long, America, 509 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:21,200 Speaker 1: traveling roads all even and peaceful. You learned from joys 510 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: and prosperity only, but now now to learn from crises 511 00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: of anguish, advancing, grappling with direst fate and recoiling not 512 00:30:32,800 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: and now to conceive and show to the world what 513 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,920 Speaker 1: your children on Mass really are. For who except myself 514 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,000 Speaker 1: has yet conceived what your children on Mass really are? 515 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:49,560 Speaker 1: That is what Whitman? Do you also have listener mail? 516 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: Sure do? Uh? This quick from Lydia. It's on a 517 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: New London school. When we talked about the New London 518 00:30:57,800 --> 00:31:01,160 Speaker 1: school explosion, we later had an email about whether the 519 00:31:01,200 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: school had a basement. We've received several messages about whether 520 00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:08,480 Speaker 1: the school has a basement. They are somewhat contradictory with 521 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 1: one another, but this one from Lydia. Uh included a 522 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:14,760 Speaker 1: link to a source, and Lydia says, hello ladies. First 523 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:16,760 Speaker 1: of all, thank you for saving my sanity during my 524 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,880 Speaker 1: long commute. I absolutely love listening to your podcast. You 525 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:23,160 Speaker 1: even make the advertisements fun. I wish I had a 526 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 1: really cool letter or parcel to send maybe one day. 527 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: I work for a local law enforcement in the evidence 528 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 1: room and communications. I was doing some research and came 529 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,920 Speaker 1: across this article about the New London School and immediately thought, of, y'all, 530 00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: I am sending you more information on previously aired subject. Sorry, 531 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:43,320 Speaker 1: I am sure you get em parted. Because this has 532 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: a photo diagram of the New London School floor plan. 533 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:48,520 Speaker 1: It appears there is no basement but a crawl space. 534 00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:51,760 Speaker 1: Hope this clears some things up, and she sent a 535 00:31:51,760 --> 00:31:54,560 Speaker 1: link to the Texas Department of Public Safety website, which 536 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: does have an illustration of the New London School that 537 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:01,360 Speaker 1: suggests that it was a crawl space and not a basement. 538 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,360 Speaker 1: I also heard from a different person that like, because 539 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,520 Speaker 1: the school was built on a hill, um that it 540 00:32:08,640 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: was like a crawl space at one portion, but if 541 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: you got further back into the hill, it was more 542 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: like a basement. Yeah, that makes sense. Still little not 543 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 1: completely clear the status of the New London School basement. 544 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: But that's actually a really good diagram and we will 545 00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:29,600 Speaker 1: put the link to that in the show notes. If 546 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:31,120 Speaker 1: you would like to write to us about this or 547 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,160 Speaker 1: any other podcast where history podcasts at how stuffworks dot com. 548 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 1: We're also on Facebook at facebook dot com slash miss 549 00:32:37,160 --> 00:32:39,640 Speaker 1: in History and on Twitter at missed in History. Are 550 00:32:39,720 --> 00:32:42,080 Speaker 1: Tumbler is missed in History dot tumbler dot com. 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