James Whitcomb Riley
For the former passenger train, see James Whitcomb Riley (passenger train).James Whitcomb Riley (
Greenfield, Indiana October 7,
1849 –
July 22,
1916), beloved American writer and poet called the "
Hoosier poet" and America's "Children's Poet" made a start writing newspaper verse in Hoosier dialect for the
Indianapolis Journal in 1875. Some of his phrases remained in the popular repertory after the poems were no longer read: "when the frost is on the punkin." Known for his dialect recitations and pithy pragmatic remarks, his popular verse was humorous or sentimental— one of whose sentimental poems was "
Little Orphant Annie" He knew the secret of his own success: "simple sentiments that come from the heart" and satisfied his public with modest verse that was "heart high." He supported himself touring with dialect and public readings of his poetry. His favorite authors were
Burns and
Dickens. His last collection was
Knee Deep in June (1912).
|
"The Old Swimming Hole" that appears in Riley's poems is now a large and well-used park on the east side of Greenfield. |
As the "People's Laureate," his poems were considered so inspiring, in 1915 the Secretary of the Interior suggested that one of his poems be read in each school-house in the land.
"When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck."— James Whitcomb Riley
In
1916 a group of prominent citizens from
Indianapolis who knew Riley started the Riley Memorial Association (now the
Riley Children's Foundation) to build a children's hospital in memory of Riley. The
James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children opened in
1924. The group also purchased the poet's home on
Lockerbie Street in downtown Indianapolis; today, the
James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home is the only late-Victorian preservation that is open to the public. In
1950, the foundation started
Camp Riley, a camp in south central
Indiana for children with disabilities.As a lasting tribute, the citizens of Greenfield hold a festival every year in Riley's honor. Taking place the first weekend of October, the Riley Days Festival, is traditionally started with the flower parade. A parade in which the local elementary school children place flowers around the statue of Riley on the county courthouse lawn.
*
Cambridge History of English and American Literature vol. 17: Later National poets
*
Free ebook of James Whitcomb Riley at
Project Gutenberg*
James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home - where Riley lived for most of his adult life, on a cobblestone street in the Lockerbie neighborhood neardowntown
Indianapolis*
A tribute site about Riley and his works*
Riley Children's Foundation - supporting
Riley Hospital for Children,
Camp Riley for Youth with Physical Disabilities and the *
James Whitcomb Riley Museum Home*
Riley Hospital for Children - Indiana's only comprehensive children's hospital
*
James Whitcomb Riley High School*Elizabeth J. Van Allen,
James Whitcomb Riley: A Life, 1999
