1878-1967
Poet

A Varied Career.

Though best remembered for the poetry he wrote during the 1910s, Carl Sandburg is notable for a range of contributions to American letters, including not only poetry but also journalism and biography. A leading figure in a new group of literary talents emerging in the American Midwest, Sandburg, like a handful of his contemporaries, did not go to New York to make a name in literary circles. Instead they remained in the heartland they wrote about. Sandburg repeatedly paid homage to his roots in his work. His literary fame began with a poem named for Chicago and peaked with a biography of the great president from his home state, Abraham Lincoln.

Early Wanderings.

The son of Swedish immigrants, Carl August Sandburg was born on 6 January 1878 in Galesburg, Illinois. Though his father, a blacksmith, was illiterate, his mother loved books and encouraged...