BIRTH OF A POET

CARL AUGUST SANDBURG was born on this day in 1878 in Galesburg. Illinois. He was  an American poet and writer.

Sandburg was the recipient of three Pulitzer prizes. One for history, and two for poetry.

In 1919 he won the Pulitzer prize for poetry for his collection "Corn Huskers," and in 1951 for his collection "Complete Poems."

In 1940 he won the Pulitzer prize for history for "The War Years," a biography of Abraham Lincoln

Sandburg was probably the first America urban folksinger. He would accompany himself on solo guitar at poetry recitals and lectures long before the folk revivals of the 1940s and 1960s.

Sandburg was also the first white person to be honored by the NAACP. They gave him the Silver Plaque Award. They were honoring him as a "major prophet in the civil rights of our time." 

Sandburg died in 1967

To read about some of the exploits of Carl Sandburg Google-search his name