Garland Society News:
Hamlin Garland, “Tending Trails” (A Presentation to The Cliff Dwellers Club)
By Kurtis L. Meyer, President, Hamlin Garland Society
“I desire to be remembered by all Cliff Dwellers of today and yesterday.” This is the last sentence of a letter written by Hamlin Garland just days before his death in 1940. It’s on your wall. I am going to broaden the thrust of this sentiment somewhat to include all Cliff Dwellers… of yesterday, today, and TOMORROW. And this evening, my goal is to help us all remember Hamlin Garland.
Good evening. My name is Kurt Meyer. I live in rural Iowa, the same county that was home to the Garland family for eleven years, from 1870 to 1881… the setting for “Boy Life on the Prairie”. For several years now, I have served as President of the Hamlin Garland Society, primarily a virtual organization although there are pockets of Garland-related sites and gatherings in both West Salem, Wisconsin, where he was born, and near Osage, Iowa, my county seat, where Hamlin’s family of birth lived after the Civil War.
For the better part of three decades, I have dedicated a small yet significant portion of my time and energy to understanding, interpreting, and presenting to groups such as this the story of Hamlin Garland. In this quest, I have been aided immeasurably by Hamlin himself… after all, he was a writer who wrote often about himself. In autobiography, to be sure, but also in diaries, in letters, and in modestly veiled fictional stories drawn from his direct experience.
Follow this link to read Kurt Meyer's full presentation to The Cliff Dwellers
By Kurtis L. Meyer, President, Hamlin Garland Society
“I desire to be remembered by all Cliff Dwellers of today and yesterday.” This is the last sentence of a letter written by Hamlin Garland just days before his death in 1940. It’s on your wall. I am going to broaden the thrust of this sentiment somewhat to include all Cliff Dwellers… of yesterday, today, and TOMORROW. And this evening, my goal is to help us all remember Hamlin Garland.
Good evening. My name is Kurt Meyer. I live in rural Iowa, the same county that was home to the Garland family for eleven years, from 1870 to 1881… the setting for “Boy Life on the Prairie”. For several years now, I have served as President of the Hamlin Garland Society, primarily a virtual organization although there are pockets of Garland-related sites and gatherings in both West Salem, Wisconsin, where he was born, and near Osage, Iowa, my county seat, where Hamlin’s family of birth lived after the Civil War.
For the better part of three decades, I have dedicated a small yet significant portion of my time and energy to understanding, interpreting, and presenting to groups such as this the story of Hamlin Garland. In this quest, I have been aided immeasurably by Hamlin himself… after all, he was a writer who wrote often about himself. In autobiography, to be sure, but also in diaries, in letters, and in modestly veiled fictional stories drawn from his direct experience.
Follow this link to read Kurt Meyer's full presentation to The Cliff Dwellers
Hamlin Garland, Trail Maker
By Kurtis L. Meyer, President, Hamlin Garland Society
Hamlin Garland’s story is a major challenge for anyone seeking to capture his life and times in anything less than a full-blown biography. This is in part because his life consists of many distinct phases corresponding to the numerous places he lived… for example, boyhood years in Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota before career years in Boston, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. The irony here is an author known primarily for stories set in rural locations working from four of our country’s largest cities.
Hamlin Garland’s induction into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame brings a welcome focus to this essay. As an Iowa native, it’s a joy to know that Garland now joins Edna Ferber (2013) and Floyd Dell (2015), two younger contemporaries also with Iowa backgrounds. And it would undoubtedly amuse Garland to be inducted into the same Hall as his friend Henry Blake Fuller (2017). If afterlives include conversation, these two are now discussing how Fuller’s induction preceded Garland’s by several years.
Follow this link to read the full essay honoring Hamlin Garland's induction into the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame
DONALD PIZER: A Professional Memorial Tribute
Donald Pizer, who died on November 7, 2023 at the age of 94, was one of the foremost scholars of American literature of his generation. He took his BA, MA, and PhD degrees all from UCLA. In 1957, following service in the US Army, he embarked on a long and distinguished career as a researcher, writer, and teacher of literature, entirely here at Tulane University. From 1970 until his retirement from teaching in 2001, he held the prestigious Pierce Butler Chair in English, at that time the department’s only endowed chair. When on sabbatical, Don also taught abroad, at the universities of Cambridge, Hamburg, and Gronigen.
As Don’s persistence at UCLA and then at Tulane suggest, his life in the academy, from his student days onward, was marked by commitment and single-mindedness. For him, the study of literature was a noble calling.
The Pizer bibliography is extensive. Don wrote hundreds of scholarly articles and over forty books. Deep into retirement, he was more productive than scholars half his age. During his lifetime, he became the major critical voice in the field of American realism and naturalism. Early in his career, he championed important but underappreciated writers, such as the novelist and essayist Hamlin Garland. Later, he wrote compellingly on more canonical figures such as Stephen Crane, Jack London, Frank Norris, and especially Theodore Dreiser—although it must be said that it was Don’s work, really, that secured this group’s rightful place in the American literary pantheon.
Follow this link to read the full Tulane Tribute to the Life of Donald Pizer
“Something about the Bobolinks” … and a Generosity of Spirit
A Tribute to Donald Pizer by Kurt Meyer, President, Hamlin Garland Society
He was rather tall and distinguished, wearing a dark suit and tie. I was one of three presenters in our hourlong session, he one of 15 attendees, four of whom were related to me. He looked professorial and appeared to be both interested and receptive.
The setting was a hotel in downtown Boston, a four-day gathering of the American Literature Association (ALA), 1,200 people, primarily university professors, May 2005. Our session was hosted by the Hamlin Garland Society, one of several hundred author-affiliated groups constituting the ALA. I was seeking to explain that Hamlin Garland’s Iowa years – specifically, his Mitchell County years – were critically important to his development as an author, since he drew meaning and material from this period for the next six decades.
Having left a few minutes for questions, he asked me about Garland’s striving for balance, and cited “something about the bobolinks… and a stream that bends around, despite all the bleakness.”* Yes! From the intro to “Main-Travelled Roads.” We savored a brief bonding moment.
He was Donald Pizer. His name is on the spine of five books shelved on our bookcase. Last month, Dr. Pizer died at age 94. He was a major player in a rather narrow field, a late 19th early 20th century American literary scholar. Among Pizer’s many accomplishments, he brought heightened understanding of Iowa author Hamlin Garland (… I hasten to add, also claimed by Wisconsin, South Dakota, Boston, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles).
Pizer approached me after the session and said something vaguely positive. (Was it “Fine presentation,”??? … Perhaps, “I enjoyed it.” Or, “Nice job.”) We chatted for maybe a minute; all I recall now, almost two decades later, is his affirmation, expressed in an avuncular, encouraging manner. My observations about Garland’s boyhood received a thumbs-up from Don Pizer – cloud nine!
Follow this link to read Kurt Meyer's full tribute to the life of Donald Pizer
Readers Theatre Revives Story of Pulitzer Winner at Dutch Museum
Aleisa Schat, July 10, 2023
ORANGE CITY—When James Schaap took a recent trip to the eastern half of the state, he stopped in Osage at the Mitchell County Historical Museum to see what he could learn about Hamlin Garland, a once acclaimed author who has faded into relative obscurity....
When he stumbled on Garland’s short story “Mrs. Ripley’s Trip,” Schaap saw an opportunity for a miniature revival of the once-popular author’s work. He set about adapting the story as a piece of readers theatre, and a staged reading of “Mrs. Ripley’s Trip” will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, at the Dutch-American Heritage Museum in Orange City. Follow this link to read the full story.
Aleisa Schat, July 10, 2023
ORANGE CITY—When James Schaap took a recent trip to the eastern half of the state, he stopped in Osage at the Mitchell County Historical Museum to see what he could learn about Hamlin Garland, a once acclaimed author who has faded into relative obscurity....
When he stumbled on Garland’s short story “Mrs. Ripley’s Trip,” Schaap saw an opportunity for a miniature revival of the once-popular author’s work. He set about adapting the story as a piece of readers theatre, and a staged reading of “Mrs. Ripley’s Trip” will take place at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 11, at the Dutch-American Heritage Museum in Orange City. Follow this link to read the full story.
Osage Poetry Reading Remembers Native Son Hamlin Garland
Alexander Schmidt, June 22, 2023
Sunday's program was titled "Garland Poems: New (to us) and Old" due to the inclusion of five poems that had not before been featured at the poetry reading. This is just one more example of how the passion of local historians towards Garland's life and legacy can continue to unearth new details and stories that keep Hamlin Garland's influence alive and resonating 80 years after his death. Follow this link to find the full article.
Alexander Schmidt, June 22, 2023
Sunday's program was titled "Garland Poems: New (to us) and Old" due to the inclusion of five poems that had not before been featured at the poetry reading. This is just one more example of how the passion of local historians towards Garland's life and legacy can continue to unearth new details and stories that keep Hamlin Garland's influence alive and resonating 80 years after his death. Follow this link to find the full article.
Garland Poetry for Fifth Graders? … Why Not???
Kurt Meyer, May 19, 2023
Earlier this month, I tried my hand at teaching fifth graders in Charles City, Iowa, about Hamlin Garland poems. Charles City, a community of 7,000 people, is less than 25 miles from where Garland lived for a decade during his boyhood. These students had been learning about poetry and I received a copy of the teachers’ guide ahead of time. (Who is the speaker? What situation is presented? Who or what is the audience? Does the poem use imagery to achieve a particular effect? Etc.). Nevertheless, I was mildly intimidated by the challenge, having never attempted to connect with ten-year-olds regarding HG, say nothing about his poetry. But then… how tough can it be? The first question I encountered upon being introduced: Are you famous? (“No, but I’m somewhat well known within my immediate family…”) Their classroom teacher, Ann Prichard, has been a valued friend for several decades. She’s a superb teacher and her students were well-prepared and attentive during our 45-minutes together. I’ve attached the Garland poems we attempted to analyze… searching high and low for examples of metaphor, simile, alliteration, repetition, even onomatopoeia. Oh, what fun, at least for the one-day teacher! Follow this link to find the poems read by the students.
Kurt Meyer, May 19, 2023
Earlier this month, I tried my hand at teaching fifth graders in Charles City, Iowa, about Hamlin Garland poems. Charles City, a community of 7,000 people, is less than 25 miles from where Garland lived for a decade during his boyhood. These students had been learning about poetry and I received a copy of the teachers’ guide ahead of time. (Who is the speaker? What situation is presented? Who or what is the audience? Does the poem use imagery to achieve a particular effect? Etc.). Nevertheless, I was mildly intimidated by the challenge, having never attempted to connect with ten-year-olds regarding HG, say nothing about his poetry. But then… how tough can it be? The first question I encountered upon being introduced: Are you famous? (“No, but I’m somewhat well known within my immediate family…”) Their classroom teacher, Ann Prichard, has been a valued friend for several decades. She’s a superb teacher and her students were well-prepared and attentive during our 45-minutes together. I’ve attached the Garland poems we attempted to analyze… searching high and low for examples of metaphor, simile, alliteration, repetition, even onomatopoeia. Oh, what fun, at least for the one-day teacher! Follow this link to find the poems read by the students.
The Inexorable March of Civilization
Kurt Meyer, May 3, 2023
I met with two classes of high school juniors on Wednesday at my Alma Mater in nearby St. Ansgar, Iowa. My assignment was to tell students about Hamlin Garland. During his boyhood 150 years earlier, Garland lived a dozen miles from where we gathered. The author, who employed the term “trail makers” in a book title, was himself a trail maker. For instance, he was an ardent advocate for wilderness preservation long before such thinking became more widespread. Garland’s environmental advocacy was rooted in a growing awareness that the prairies of North Iowa were disappearing, a process he participated in from behind a plow. He wrote about this in “Boy Life on the Prairie,” published in 1899 and set in North Iowa. In this book’s conclusion, after being away from Iowa for several years, Garland and a neighbor friend return and notice the diminishing prairie. To read Kurt Meyer's full column, follow this link.
Kurt Meyer, May 3, 2023
I met with two classes of high school juniors on Wednesday at my Alma Mater in nearby St. Ansgar, Iowa. My assignment was to tell students about Hamlin Garland. During his boyhood 150 years earlier, Garland lived a dozen miles from where we gathered. The author, who employed the term “trail makers” in a book title, was himself a trail maker. For instance, he was an ardent advocate for wilderness preservation long before such thinking became more widespread. Garland’s environmental advocacy was rooted in a growing awareness that the prairies of North Iowa were disappearing, a process he participated in from behind a plow. He wrote about this in “Boy Life on the Prairie,” published in 1899 and set in North Iowa. In this book’s conclusion, after being away from Iowa for several years, Garland and a neighbor friend return and notice the diminishing prairie. To read Kurt Meyer's full column, follow this link.
Garland Family Postcards
Kurt Meyer, May 1, 2023
An email from last summer triggered my postcard interest. A woman in South Carolina found me via this Hamlin Garland Society website, which lists me as contact should someone wish to reach out. Debbie did by sending me an email: “Many years ago, I was given a small collection of postcards written to Hamlin Garland's wife and family mostly from Europe in the early years of the last century, from 1908 to 1914*. With one exception, they are not written to Garland himself… but I wonder if the Society might want them. They are hard to decipher, but many are signed F.K.H. … I would be happy to give them a new home.” -- Debbie, Greenville, SC, but formerly of Trempealeau, WI. To read Kurt Meyer's full column, follow this link.
Kurt Meyer, May 1, 2023
An email from last summer triggered my postcard interest. A woman in South Carolina found me via this Hamlin Garland Society website, which lists me as contact should someone wish to reach out. Debbie did by sending me an email: “Many years ago, I was given a small collection of postcards written to Hamlin Garland's wife and family mostly from Europe in the early years of the last century, from 1908 to 1914*. With one exception, they are not written to Garland himself… but I wonder if the Society might want them. They are hard to decipher, but many are signed F.K.H. … I would be happy to give them a new home.” -- Debbie, Greenville, SC, but formerly of Trempealeau, WI. To read Kurt Meyer's full column, follow this link.
Garland and Eggleston, the Minnesota Connection
Kurt Meyer, February 3, 2023
For almost three years, I have written a column entitled “Showing Up” for a weekly newspaper in North Iowa. The latest installment is posted below. Although I only mention Hamlin Garland in passing, in preparation, I took time to re-read an article written by John T. Flanagan, then professor of literature at the University of Minnesota, entitled, “Hamlin Garland, Occasional Minnesotan” (1941). Flanagan draws on an interview he had with Garland in California in 1939, one year before Garland’s death.
To read Kurt Meyer's full column, follow this link.
Kurt Meyer, February 3, 2023
For almost three years, I have written a column entitled “Showing Up” for a weekly newspaper in North Iowa. The latest installment is posted below. Although I only mention Hamlin Garland in passing, in preparation, I took time to re-read an article written by John T. Flanagan, then professor of literature at the University of Minnesota, entitled, “Hamlin Garland, Occasional Minnesotan” (1941). Flanagan draws on an interview he had with Garland in California in 1939, one year before Garland’s death.
To read Kurt Meyer's full column, follow this link.
A Ramble through the Hamlin Garland Wildlife Area
Kurt Meyer, November 28, 2022
Truth be told, there isn’t much in Mitchell County, Iowa, bearing the Garland name.
A modest apartment complex on the south side of Osage, the county seat, is called “Garland Housing” or some such. The building where Hamlin reputedly lived briefly while attending Cedar Valley Seminary was razed earlier this fall. Most recently, it had served as a private residence, and it certainly could have been a boarding house in the late 1800s. There’s a plaque designating the Garland Homestead several miles northeast of Osage, where the family lived during most of their Mitchell County years (1870-1881), a house built by Richard, Hamlin’s father.
And for several decades, there has been the Hamlin Garland Wildlife Area, one mile north of St. Ansgar, twelve miles northwest of where the Garland family lived. The property has no direct connection with the Garlands or their Mitchell County years. The name simply honors our prominent native son. The 114-acre site is owned and maintained by the Mitchell County Conservation Board. Its primary feature is a marsh… and the entire property is magnificent!
North Iowa does not have Grand Canyon glory, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t occasional glimpses of nature’s beauty. Conservation staff members have planted turnips on a small strip of land to feed the deer population. In addition to the marsh, there’s a small woodlot. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, a ramble through the site was a wonderful way to work off SOME of the prior-day feast! During the hour my wife and I were there, we had the property all to ourselves.
A dozen years ago, at the conclusion of a day of providing local high school students an overview of Garland and his significance, I was approached by a young man who asked if I could help him identify an appropriate Garland quote for the sign at the Wildlife Area as part of his Eagle Scout project. I sent him 3 or 4 options and he chose a few lines from the ending of “Boy Life on the Prairie.” Below are a few pictures of the wildlife area.
Let me know if and when you want a tour…
Kurt Meyer, November 28, 2022
Truth be told, there isn’t much in Mitchell County, Iowa, bearing the Garland name.
A modest apartment complex on the south side of Osage, the county seat, is called “Garland Housing” or some such. The building where Hamlin reputedly lived briefly while attending Cedar Valley Seminary was razed earlier this fall. Most recently, it had served as a private residence, and it certainly could have been a boarding house in the late 1800s. There’s a plaque designating the Garland Homestead several miles northeast of Osage, where the family lived during most of their Mitchell County years (1870-1881), a house built by Richard, Hamlin’s father.
And for several decades, there has been the Hamlin Garland Wildlife Area, one mile north of St. Ansgar, twelve miles northwest of where the Garland family lived. The property has no direct connection with the Garlands or their Mitchell County years. The name simply honors our prominent native son. The 114-acre site is owned and maintained by the Mitchell County Conservation Board. Its primary feature is a marsh… and the entire property is magnificent!
North Iowa does not have Grand Canyon glory, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t occasional glimpses of nature’s beauty. Conservation staff members have planted turnips on a small strip of land to feed the deer population. In addition to the marsh, there’s a small woodlot. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, a ramble through the site was a wonderful way to work off SOME of the prior-day feast! During the hour my wife and I were there, we had the property all to ourselves.
A dozen years ago, at the conclusion of a day of providing local high school students an overview of Garland and his significance, I was approached by a young man who asked if I could help him identify an appropriate Garland quote for the sign at the Wildlife Area as part of his Eagle Scout project. I sent him 3 or 4 options and he chose a few lines from the ending of “Boy Life on the Prairie.” Below are a few pictures of the wildlife area.
Let me know if and when you want a tour…
Hamlin Garland's Granddaughter Passes Away
Victoria (Vicki) Brighid Doyle-Jones, May 27, 1945 – October 29, 2022
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” was a truism in the life of Victoria, “Vicki”’, Doyle-Jones. From her CPA father, Vicki inherited organizational and business skills; from her artist, Hollywood-connected, mother, who grew up in the swirl of early twentieth century literary figures, Vicki assumed art talent and the love of social gatherings; and her grandfather, author Hamlin Garland, passed on innate abilities at writing, editing, and the clear use of language. We don’t know where from where she found her passion for animals, natural science, and education, but Vicki was a woman of many gifts and interests, and she shared them, and herself, generously with others with every ounce of her being, always. To read the full obituary follow this link.
Garland Poetry in North Iowa
Kurt Meyer, June 26, 2022
For thirteen years, people living near Hamlin Garland’s boyhood home in North Iowa have gathered in June to read and hear, in Garland’s words, “chants rhymed and unrhymed,” an event hosted by the Mitchell County Historic Preservation Association. For most of these years, the works featured focused on Garland’s nature writing--the wind, the trees, the wildlife, etc.-- which the author recalled from his Mitchell County years.
This year, however, the range was expanded to reveal more of the variety and versatility of Garland’s verses. This difference is reflected in the title of the event. In previous years, the gathering has been entitled “Nurtured by Nature." This year’s reading, held outdoors on Sunday afternoon, June 26, was under the banner of “Garland Lines, New and Old."
The event included some poems set locally, primarily from “Prairie Songs,” and others, drawn extensively from “The Trail of the Goldseeker." Most poems had a rhyming pattern; several selections were free verse, rather uncommon in the 1890s when they were written. For the last eight years, the event setting has been the Garland family homestead, 3907 Noble Avenue, northeast of Osage, Iowa, where Hamlin’s family lived throughout his teenage years.
Kurt Meyer prepared a program with the poems that is attached.
A Coaster from The Cliff Dwellers
Kurt Meyer, June 26, 2022
For thirteen years, people living near Hamlin Garland’s boyhood home in North Iowa have gathered in June to read and hear, in Garland’s words, “chants rhymed and unrhymed,” an event hosted by the Mitchell County Historic Preservation Association. For most of these years, the works featured focused on Garland’s nature writing--the wind, the trees, the wildlife, etc.-- which the author recalled from his Mitchell County years.
This year, however, the range was expanded to reveal more of the variety and versatility of Garland’s verses. This difference is reflected in the title of the event. In previous years, the gathering has been entitled “Nurtured by Nature." This year’s reading, held outdoors on Sunday afternoon, June 26, was under the banner of “Garland Lines, New and Old."
The event included some poems set locally, primarily from “Prairie Songs,” and others, drawn extensively from “The Trail of the Goldseeker." Most poems had a rhyming pattern; several selections were free verse, rather uncommon in the 1890s when they were written. For the last eight years, the event setting has been the Garland family homestead, 3907 Noble Avenue, northeast of Osage, Iowa, where Hamlin’s family lived throughout his teenage years.
Kurt Meyer prepared a program with the poems that is attached.
Kurt Meyer Selects a Book for a The Cliff Dwellers
In Showing Up, Column 94, Kurt Meyer discusses membership in The Cliff Dwellers and the book that he selected for one of their discussions:
"In 1901, Fuller published “Under the Skylights,” three short stories set in Chicago, the centerpiece being “The Downfall of Abner Joyce”. Let there be no doubt: this 140-page roman à clef (French: “novel with a key”) is a brutal takedown of Hamlin Garland, then a blustery, unvarnished “force of nature,” fresh off the farm. By the story’s ending, however, Abner is becoming civilized into Chicago society, growth encouraged by the cultured woman he falls for – and ultimately marries – Medora Giles (in real life, Zulime Taft)." See Showing Up, Column 94 for the full account.
See also Showing Up, Column 74, Meyer's reflection on his visit to The Cliff Dwellers Club. And in Showing Up, Column 53, he discusses Garland's life and work, 81 years after his death.
Hamlin and Zulime Garland
In Showing Up, Column 94, Kurt Meyer discusses membership in The Cliff Dwellers and the book that he selected for one of their discussions:
"In 1901, Fuller published “Under the Skylights,” three short stories set in Chicago, the centerpiece being “The Downfall of Abner Joyce”. Let there be no doubt: this 140-page roman à clef (French: “novel with a key”) is a brutal takedown of Hamlin Garland, then a blustery, unvarnished “force of nature,” fresh off the farm. By the story’s ending, however, Abner is becoming civilized into Chicago society, growth encouraged by the cultured woman he falls for – and ultimately marries – Medora Giles (in real life, Zulime Taft)." See Showing Up, Column 94 for the full account.
See also Showing Up, Column 74, Meyer's reflection on his visit to The Cliff Dwellers Club. And in Showing Up, Column 53, he discusses Garland's life and work, 81 years after his death.
The Hamlin Garland Story: Remarks presented at the Opening of “Hamlin Garland Revisited”
Kurt Meyer, November 21, 2021
My Garland story today is really the story of how this magnificent portrait ended up in Osage. It all started maybe a quarter of a century ago, when I became convinced and more than a bit frustrated that a Hamlin Garland’s Mitchell County years were being overlooked by scholars, historians, and authors… those who really should know better....
I reached out to my friend Denis Boerjan, who I have known for more than 50 years, who is on the board here, and asked about potential interest on the part of the Historical Society. This is how Keith Martin, Sr’s extraordinary portrait of Hamlin Garland ended up HERE. Martin Senior’s son, Keith Martin, Junior, had taken it upon himself to find “good, more appropriate homes” for certain objects in his parents’ estate. This Garland portrait is one such example.
To read Kurt Meyer's full remarks on the unveiling of the Garland portrait, follow this link to "The Hamlin Garland Story: Remarks presented at the Opening of 'Hamlin Garland Revisited'"
Hamlin Garland Returning to Mitchell County
Jason W. Selby Press News, Nov 11, 2021
Hamlin Garland is returning to Mitchell County. For Kurt Meyer, president of the Hamlin Garland Society, it is an early Christmas present. According to a press release, the Mitchell County Historical Society will unveil a newly-acquired portrait of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author during a special gathering on Sunday, Nov. 21. It will be held at the MCHS museum, which is housed at the Cedar River Complex in Osage. A few months ago, Meyer did not even know the portrait existed. In 1937, distinguished artist Keith Martin Sr. painted Garland while he lived in Hollywood. Recently, Keith Martin Jr. decided he should find the portrait’s home. The son of the artist reached out to Meyer and the Hamlin Garland Society, which is a national organization with an online presence.
To read the full article, follow this link to "Hamlin Garland Returning to Mitchell County."
Jason W. Selby Press News, Nov 11, 2021
Hamlin Garland is returning to Mitchell County. For Kurt Meyer, president of the Hamlin Garland Society, it is an early Christmas present. According to a press release, the Mitchell County Historical Society will unveil a newly-acquired portrait of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author during a special gathering on Sunday, Nov. 21. It will be held at the MCHS museum, which is housed at the Cedar River Complex in Osage. A few months ago, Meyer did not even know the portrait existed. In 1937, distinguished artist Keith Martin Sr. painted Garland while he lived in Hollywood. Recently, Keith Martin Jr. decided he should find the portrait’s home. The son of the artist reached out to Meyer and the Hamlin Garland Society, which is a national organization with an online presence.
To read the full article, follow this link to "Hamlin Garland Returning to Mitchell County."
Kurt Meyer Visits Cliff Dwellers Club
Posted October 10, 2021, Richard Reeder
https://aliteraryreeder.wordpress.com/
Kurt Meyer (holding the book), the President of the Hamlin Garland Society, paid a recent visit to the Cliff Dwellers Club. He met with Club President Carla Funk (on the right), Club Vice-President Joan Pantsios (on the left), and me, the Club Secretary (between Kurt and Carla). A portrait of Garland is behind us. Hamlin Garland was a prominent American literary figure in the first three decades of the 20th Century. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1922 for the biography, A Daughter of the Middle Border. He was one of the charter members of the Cliff Dwellers, and the Club’s first President. An outcome of Kurt’s visit was an agreement to start planning programs at the Cliff Dwellers on the works and life of Garland in partnership with the Hamlin Garland Society.
"Nurtured by Nature": Poetry Reading at the Garland Homestead, Osage, Mitchell County, Iowa
On June 20, 2021, the Mitchell County Historic Preservation Society hosted a poetry reading at the Garland homestead in rural Osage, Mitchell County, Iowa. Outdoors in lawn chairs, the reading featured poems that Garland wrote about his Midwestern background. The annual event takes place at the home site, where the Garland family lived in the 1870s. Kurt Meyer prepared a program with poems that is attached as a PDF.
On June 20, 2021, the Mitchell County Historic Preservation Society hosted a poetry reading at the Garland homestead in rural Osage, Mitchell County, Iowa. Outdoors in lawn chairs, the reading featured poems that Garland wrote about his Midwestern background. The annual event takes place at the home site, where the Garland family lived in the 1870s. Kurt Meyer prepared a program with poems that is attached as a PDF.
Hamlin Garland and the Homestead Act of 1862
On June 13, 2021, the Homestead National Historic Park in Beatrice, Nebraska hosted a panel discussion that focused on authors who lived through and wrote about the homesteading experience. Panel members represented six authors: Phoebe May Hopper, Bess Streeter Aldrich, Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Hamlin Garland. Kurt Meyer discussed Garland's experiences. and a version of Kurt's presentation is attached.
"Hamlin Garland’s Mad Quest for the ‘Buried Crosses’"
Abby Gibson, a graduate student at the University of Southern California, chronicles Garland's mad, mystical search for buried crosses in a fascinating article for Alta Journal, August 2, 2021.
https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a36550052/hamlin-garland-quest-buried-crosses/
USC Libraries Digitizing 10,200 Hamlin Garland Letters
The USC Libraries’ collection features Garland’s letters from 3,000 correspondents, including Jane Addams, Willa Cather, Stephen Crane, William Dean Howells, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton. As such, it preserves the intellectual tissue of a vast, diverse social network—with Garland at the center—spanning 50 years of American life. The digitized letters can be found at http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15799coll81
Keith Newlin's Latest Garland Collection Available from Iowan Books
Donald Pizer's Garland Essays Collected in One Volume
On June 13, 2021, the Homestead National Historic Park in Beatrice, Nebraska hosted a panel discussion that focused on authors who lived through and wrote about the homesteading experience. Panel members represented six authors: Phoebe May Hopper, Bess Streeter Aldrich, Willa Cather, Mari Sandoz, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Hamlin Garland. Kurt Meyer discussed Garland's experiences. and a version of Kurt's presentation is attached.
"Hamlin Garland’s Mad Quest for the ‘Buried Crosses’"
Abby Gibson, a graduate student at the University of Southern California, chronicles Garland's mad, mystical search for buried crosses in a fascinating article for Alta Journal, August 2, 2021.
https://www.altaonline.com/dispatches/a36550052/hamlin-garland-quest-buried-crosses/
USC Libraries Digitizing 10,200 Hamlin Garland Letters
The USC Libraries’ collection features Garland’s letters from 3,000 correspondents, including Jane Addams, Willa Cather, Stephen Crane, William Dean Howells, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and Edith Wharton. As such, it preserves the intellectual tissue of a vast, diverse social network—with Garland at the center—spanning 50 years of American life. The digitized letters can be found at http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15799coll81
Keith Newlin's Latest Garland Collection Available from Iowan Books
- Prairie Visions, a new volume edited by Keith Newlin, reprints the first prose writings of Hamlin Garland, accompanied by 40 photographs by Jon Morris. This work illiterates the significance of place in Garland's imagination. In addition to a forward by Kurt Meyer and an introduction by Keith Newlin, the collection contains 6 sketches that Garland titled "Boy Life on the Prairie"--these early works first appeared in American Magazine (1888).
Donald Pizer's Garland Essays Collected in One Volume
- The Significant Hamlin Garland gathers in one place ground-breaking essays written over a sixty-year period, beginning with essays based on Pizer's research as a graduate student in the Garland collection at the University of Southern California (USC). This volume should interest not only Garland scholars but also those wishing to read an edifying case study of literary scholarship.
Contact Garland Society: Kurt Meyer, Society President, [email protected]
Copyright © 2021
**We wish to thank Keith Newlin who created the original Garland Society website, ensuring that the Hamlin Garland Society had a permanent home,
Copyright © 2021
**We wish to thank Keith Newlin who created the original Garland Society website, ensuring that the Hamlin Garland Society had a permanent home,