born Jan. 6, 1878, Galesburg, Ill., U.S.
died July 22, 1967, Flat Rock, N.C.
U.S. poet, historian, novelist, and folklorist.
Sandburg tried many occupations and fought in the Spanish-American War before moving to Chicago in 1913, where he worked in journalism. He won recognition in 1914 with poems, including "Chicago," perhaps his best-known, published in Poetry magazine. His Whitmanesque free verse eulogizing American workers appeared in such volumes as Smoke and Steel (1920) and The People, Yes (1936). The American Songbag (1927) and New American Songbag (1950) collect folk songs he performed. His other works include Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years (1926), Abraham Lincoln: The War Years (1939, Pulitzer Prize), Remembrance Rock (1948), and four children's books, including Rootabaga Stories (1922).
Carl Sandburg, 1949.
Courtesy of the Illinois State Historical Library, Springfield