Carl Sandburg: American Poet

1. Carl Sandburg: American Poet

2. BACKGROUND: • Born January 6, 1878 to Swedish American parents • One of seven children • His parents believed in education, hard work, and the “American Dream.” • When Carl was 13 he left school and worked odd jobs (shining shoes, delivering newspapers, driving a milk truck.) • His experiences working and traveling greatly influenced his writing and political views. • He saw first-hand the sharp contrast between rich and poor. These observations influenced his doubts regarding capitalism.

3. EDUCATION: • Upon his return to his hometown later that year, he entered Lombard College. • Sandburg's college years shaped his career and political views. While at Lombard, Sandburg joined the Poor Writers' Club, an informal literary organization whose members met to read and criticize poetry.

4. LIFE: • Became more involved with social and political issues. • In 1907 he worked as an organizer for the Wisconsin Social Democratic party, writing and distributing political pamphlets and literature. • In 1908 Sandburg married Lilian Steichen. • The couple moved back to Illinois and Sandburg worked as a journalist. • He wrote for the Chicago Daily News reporting on topics like labor issues. Writer Carl Sandburg and his wife Lilian, photo by Edward Steichen in 1923, Illinois, USA

5. LIFE: • In 1916 his book, Chicago Poems, was published. It was the writer’s first great success. • Many other books of poems followed and in 1940 Sandburg won a Pulitzer Prize for his biography on Abraham Lincoln. • In 1945 the Sandburgs moved with their herd of prize-winning goats and thousands of books to Flat Rock, North Carolina. • Sandburg's Complete Poems won him a second Pulitzer Prize in 1951. • Sandburg died at his North Carolina home July 22, 1967.

6. ASSIGNMENT: Objective: Students will analyze historic photos, research and prepare a presentation on child labor in the early 1900s. Background: In 1897 Sandburg traveled the rail meeting people all across the country. His experiences during these travels influenced his work and political beliefs. He witnessed child labor, the labor rights movement, the Chicago race riots, segregation, women’s suffrage movement, the Great Depression, and World War I and II. He was outspoken for social reform both in his work and his political involvement. He is often referred to as “The Poet of the People”

7. Mill Doors You never come back. I say good-by when I see you going in the doors, The hopeless open doors that call and wait And take you then for-how many cents a day? How many cents for the sleepy eyes and fingers? I say good-by because I know they tap your wrists, In the dark, in the silence, day by day, And all the blood of you drop by drop. And you are old before you are young. You never come back. Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems, 1916.

8. They Will Say Of my city the worst that men will ever say is this: You took little children away from the sun and the dew, And the glimmers that played in the grass under the great sky, And the reckless rain; you put them between walls To work, broken and smothered, for bread and wages, To eat dust in their throats and die empty-hearted For a little handful of pay on a few Saturday nights. Carl Sandburg, Chicago Poems, 1916

9. Assignment: Students will break into groups of 4 or 5. One group will be the social reform group. The other group will be the Mill Employer. The groups will be given photographs (primary source document) to analyze and some time to research Child Labor in the 20th century. Scenario: You live in a small town in South Carolina. There is a large cotton mill in your town where many people are employed, including many young children. There will be a town meeting in your community to discuss the question: “Should children be working in the mill rather than attending school?” Research: Rules/Regulations (or lack of) Economics Education system Long-term effects Cover these topics from the point of view of your group. Each group will prepare and present their point of view (as the social reformer or mill employer) regarding child labor.