Happy birthday, Randall Jarrell!

Portrait of Randall Jarrell taken during his first year at Woman's College, 1947-48.

To honor Randall Jarrell’s 105^th birthday, we are highlighting his life and career. One of UNC Greensboro's most famous faculty members, Jarrell was a renowned poet, author, critic, and instructor.

Jarrell was born on May 6, 1914, in Nashville, Tennessee. Jarrell’s parents, Owen and Anna Campbell Jarrell, divorced early in Jarrell’s life. His childhood was split between California and Nashville, Tennessee. Jarrell showed an interest in writing and the arts early in his life – while at Hume-Fogg High School in Nashville, he was active in drama and journalism.

L to R: Randall Jarrell, Robert Lowell, and
Peter Hillsman Taylor, lifelong friends.

Jarrell enrolled in Vanderbilt University in 1932. Continuing his interest in writing at Vanderbilt, he wrote for and later edited the Vanderbilt Masquerader, a campus humor magazine. Jarrell graduated from Vanderbilt University with a B.S. in psychology in 1935 and an M.A. in 1938.

Both his undergraduate and graduate life were punctuated by major American literary figures, specifically poets. While an undergraduate student, Jarrell took courses from John Crowe Ransom and Robert Penn Warren, major American poets. As a graduate student, Jarrell befriended two more future acclaimed authors, Peter Hillsman Taylor and Robert Lowell. Jarrell was also beginning to distinguish himself as an emerging literary figure – in 1936, he received the Southern Review Poetry Prize.

Uniformed Jarrell posing with a cat.

After leaving Vanderbilt, Jarrell served as an English instructor at Kenyon College from 1937-1939. In 1942, Jarrell joined the U.S. Army Air Force. Initially, he served as a flying cadet, but washed out of being a pilot and became a celestial navigation tower operator until his discharge in 1946. Jarrell’s poetry was often influenced by World War II and his experiences in the armed forces.

Two books of Jarrell’s poetry were published during his time in the military. Blood for a Stranger, Jarrell’s first book of poetry was published in 1942. Jarrell’s second book of poetry, Little Friend, Little Friend, was published in 1945. Once discharged from the army in 1946, Jarrell served as the temporary editor of The Nation in New York City, taking over for Margaret Marshall.

After his stint at The Nation concluded, Jarrell moved to Greensboro, North Carolina. Jarrell joined the English faculty of the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina in Greensboro (now UNC Greensboro) in 1947. He remained a permanent member of the Woman’s College faculty until his death in 1965.

Mary and Randall Jarrell dancing, ca. 1960s.

In the early 1950s, Jarrell met and married his second wife, Mary von Schrader. Jarrell took several temporary teaching positions at universities across the country during the 1950s – including Princeton University, Indiana University, and the University of Illinois. Jarrell also served as the poetry consultant for the Library of Congress for two years.

Jarrell returned to Woman’s College and resumed teaching in 1958. In 1960, while teaching at Woman’s College, Jarrell published one of his most famous books of poetry: The Woman at the Washington Zoo. The book received the National Book Award for poetry in 1961 and the University of North Carolina’s Max O. Gardner Award in 1962.

Despite being known for poetry, Jarrell also published a novel and a number of children’s books during the 1950s and 1960s. A lifelong lover of cats, Jarrell dedicated one of his children's books, The Animal Family, to his cat Elfi. Fly by Night, another children’s book, was published posthumously in 1976.

An edited sheet from Jarrell's  poem,
"The End of the Rainbow," from his papers.

The Lost World, Jarrell’s last book of poetry, was published in 1965. At the time, Jarrell was living in Chapel Hill and teaching at UNC-Chapel Hill. While walking along a road in October, Jarrell was struck by a car and killed. Mary Jarrell never remarried after Jarrell’s death and worked tirelessly to preserve both his personal and literary memory. 

Jarrell was instrumental to the history of UNC Greensboro, particularly the creative writing and English programs, and remains a beloved figure on campus. Randall Jarrell’s papers – including manuscripts of his poetry, photographs, translations of plays, and more – are housed at the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.

Lettie Hamlett Rogers - An Alumna, Author, and Instructor with International Roots

Lettie Hamlett Rogers writing, 1946.

Lettie Hamlett Rogers, who both attended and taught at Woman’s College (now UNC Greensboro), led an extraordinary and varied life, often using her experiences to fuel her writings. Rogers was born in Suzhou (or Soochow), China, on September 16, 1917, to the missionaries Reverend P.W. Hamlett and Mrs. Lettie Hamlett.

She spent her childhood in both China and Japan, learning to speak Chinese before she learned to speak English. From early in her life, Rogers experienced hardship and strife. Rogers experienced the Chinese civil wars during 1925 and 1927 as a refugee in Japan. She was separated from her father, who stayed in China as one of the few remaining missionaries.

Rogers attended Shanghai American School before moving to the United States to attend Woman’s College. Rogers graduated from Woman’s College in 1940 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. Like her parents, Rogers spent some time in China teaching and was classified as a missionary. She then joined the faculty of the University as an assistant professor in the Sociology Department in 1941.

During her time teaching in the Sociology Department, Rogers became increasingly dedicated to her writing. After suffering a bout of influenza in 1942, she spent her lengthy recovery reading numerous mystery novels. Rogers declared she could produce better stories and tried her hand at writing mysteries. In additional to her battle with influenza, Rogers was also affected by World War II. Rogers' parents and other missionaries were imprisoned in Japan, but were exchanged for Japanese prisoners in the United States in 1942.

Despite all of the hardships she faced in 1942, she kept working on her mystery story. Her first mystery was unpublished, but she enrolled in a writing course with Hiram Hayden at Woman’s College in 1943. That same year, she left her position at Woman’s College to dedicate herself full-time to her writing.

Rogers was a published writer throughout most of her adulthood, beginning her writing career with an article on China in Asia magazine in 1944. Rogers went on to publish prolifically, producing four novels, including South of Heaven, The Storm Cloud, Landscape of the Heart, and Birthright.

Typescript and corrections for "The Storm Cloud," 1951.

During her literary career, Rogers returned to Woman’s College, joining the English faculty in 1948. Rogers was instrumental in developing a strong writing program at Woman’s College.

However, Rogers resigned from her position in 1955 due to the controversial censure of the staff of the Coraddi, the art and literary magazine of Woman’s College, over a Fall 1954 issue. Rogers, along with several other faculty/staff, resigned in protest of the censure of the Coraddi staff for publishing a pen and ink drawing of a nude man. (To read more about the controversy, read our Spartan Stories post here.)

Rogers's letter of resignation sent to Chancellor Graham, 1955.

Despite leaving the English department at Woman’s College, Rogers continued writing. Many of her novels drew from her own life experience, perhaps none more so than her debut novel, South of Heaven. The novel focused on familiar territory for Rogers – a child of Western heritage who was living in China, struggling to find her place in the world. Other novels focused on China between 1925-1927, American mental hospitals, and a Southern town much like her residence in Morganton, N.C.

All of Rogers’ novels were met with some acclaim. Her last novel, Birthright, was issued as the April book by the Literary Guild and was well-received critically.

Rogers had been sick of several years, undergoing treatments for cancer in New York City at Mount Sinai Hospital when Birthright was published. Rogers passed away in 1957 at the age of 39, after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was buried in Morganton, N.C.

Although Rogers died at a tragically early age, she accomplished a great deal as a student, educator, missionary, and author. Her impact on UNC Greensboro and North Carolina literature are pronounced.

The Lettie Hamlett Rogers Papers are housed in the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA). Rogers donated her papers the the University in the 1950s. If you would like to learn more about Rogers or the collection, visit the finding aid for the collection here. 

Lettie Hamlett Rogers, undated.

William C. Smith: Friend of the Library

As you enter the workspace for acquisitions and cataloging staff on the second floor of the main building of Jackson Library, you will find a portrait as well as a plaque noting the dedication of the room "to the memory of William Cunningham Smith" ... "in the service of this college from 1900 to 1943." He's described as a "scholar, inspiring teacher, lover of books, and friend of the library." But Smith's contributions to the development of the school we now know as UNCG were even greater than the plaque describes.

Smith with his daughter Margaret, 1905

Born in Greensboro on April 19, 1871, Smith was the son of Samuel Cunningham Smith and Margaret Ella Cunningham Smith. His father actually served as the City of Greensboro's first superintendent of schools. Smith graduated with Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from UNC Chapel Hill in 1896, where he also was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. After graduation, he worked for four years at UNC as an instructor of history as well as English and pedagogy.

In 1907, he took on additional administrative duties as dean of the faculty, a role in which he served as the school's second in command, filling in for President Julius Foust during Foust's absences. With the college's administrative reorganization in 1922, Smith transitioned to the role of Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In this role, he advocated for broadening the school's curriculum beyond the existing "normal" (teaching) coursework and lead the push towards college accreditation. After resigning as dean in 1934, Smith continued serving as head of the English Department until 1938. He continued teaching English courses until two weeks prior to his death in 1943.

In addition to his teaching and administrative responsibilities, Smith served as chairman of the campus chapel and conducted services at a time when chapel attendance was a daily requirement for students. He also became well known in Greensboro as the teacher of a large men's Bible study class at the First Presbyterian Church, where his uncle had served for many years as pastor. He also traveled across the state as a lecturer on Biblical literature.

Smith was a frequent visitor to the college library, where he was known for his desire to read books from across all disciplines. His personal book collection was described as "one of the largest and finest libraries in the state." E.J. Forney, head of the college's commercial department and Smith's neighbor, noted that when Smith procured a new book, the lights "more often than not, were shining out of that study window at 2 o'clock in the morning." Smith was known for voraciously reading in preparation for each and every lecture he gave. The campus library and his own personal library served as the resources for his intense studies.

In spite of his service as a teacher and lecturer, most who worked with Smith described him as quite shy. Upon his death in 1943, a former colleague described Smith in a letter to the Greensboro Daily News: "Quietly, unostentatiously and modestly, Dr. Smith went about his business of living and of training, through lecture and through example, and influencing others in how to live. The lives of those who came in contact with him, including not only the friends and neighbors privileged to know him here and in his profession, but the endless line of students who knew and loved him as a teacher, constitute a more enduring memorial than pens and marble shafts can ever provide."

The portrait of Smith was presented to the University Libraries in May 1971 by Smith's family. At the time, the space in which the portrait resides served as a reading room, open for student use. Now, however, Smith -- a man known for frequent use of the library's resources as well as the development of his own personal library collection -- keeps watch over all of the materials moving in and out of UNCG's library.