Category Archives: Lindsay, Vachel

Catharine Frazee Lindsay, community visionary

Posted on March 7, 2019 by editor

Catharine Frazee Lindsay is remembered mainly as the mother of Springfield’s famous poet, Vachel Lindsay. But many of her son’s ideals and, perhaps, some of his literary talent were inherited from his indefatigable mother. Despite a variety of personal trials, … Continue reading →

Posted in Churches, Historic Sites, Lindsay, Vachel, Local government, Prominent figures, Women | 3 Comments

‘The Wedding of the Rose and the Lotus’ (Vachel Lindsay)

Posted on March 22, 2015 by editor

Springfield poet Vachel Lindsay wrote The Wedding of the Rose and the Lotus in 1912 to recognize the importance of the Panama Canal, which connected the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The rose signifies the West and the lotus the East. … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Buildings, Lindsay, Vachel, Markers, Prominent figures | 1 Comment

Women’s literary clubs

Posted on July 14, 2014 by editor

The literary club movement began early in the 19th century as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. The first recorded occurrence was a lecture series started in Milbury, Mass., in 1826. By 1834, 3,000 groups had been organized to listen … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Arts and letters, Lindsay, Vachel, Prominent figures, Social services, Springfield Survey, Women | 4 Comments

Sangamon County poets

Posted on December 29, 2013 by editor

For a time in the early 20th century, central Illinois was famed across the country as the home of important poets, writers who were inventing new forms of verse that spoke in the voices of a new age. If it … Continue reading →

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Elizabeth Graham (First Citizen)

Posted on October 26, 2013 by editor

Elizabeth Graham (1892-1982), though a Springfield High School English teacher and department head for nearly 40 years, is best known for her unswerving dedication to the poetry and memory of Vachel Lindsay. Graham. born in Galena, attended a Lindsay recitation … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Education, First Citizens, Historic Sites, Lindsay, Vachel, Museums, Prominent figures, Women | Leave a comment

Maydie Spaulding Lee

Posted on October 21, 2013 by editor

Mary Thankful Spaulding Lee — known universally as “Maydie” — has been overshadowed in history by her dynamic brothers, Willis and Charles Spaulding. But some of those involved in Springfield’s early 1900s’ progressive movement, including poet Vachel Lindsay, suggested that … Continue reading →

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‘Springfield Magical’ (Vachel Lindsay)

Posted on October 16, 2013 by editor

“City of my discontent” summarizes in a phrase Vachel Lindsay‘s conflicted relationship with his home town. The poem that includes that line, “Springfield Magical,” was contained in Lindsay’s collection “General William Booth Enters into Heaven, and other poems,” 1919. In … Continue reading →

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‘Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight’ (Vachel Lindsay)

Posted on October 16, 2013 by editor

Vachel Lindsay‘s best-known poem, “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight,” was included in his collection The Congo and Other Poems. The collection was published in 1914, and “Walks” is eerily prescient about the disaster World War I would become. Abraham Lincoln … Continue reading →

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‘The Golden Book of Springfield’ (Vachel Lindsay)

Posted on October 16, 2013 by editor

The Golden Book of Springfield, Vachel Lindsay’s only novel, published in 1920, outlined Lindsay’s ethereal, mythopoetic expectations for the city of Springfield a century hence. (One of the few concrete predictions in Lindsay’s highly metaphorical view of the city’s future … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Lindsay, Vachel, Springfield | Tagged | 3 Comments

‘On the Building of Springfield’ (Vachel Lindsay)

Posted on October 16, 2013 by editor

Poet Vachel Lindsay was confounded — not to say obsessed — with his hometown of Springfield. Some of his best-known lines about the city are contained in his 1908 poem, “On the Building of Springfield.” LET not our town be … Continue reading →

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