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S. S. McClure to Walt Whitman, 3 December 1889

About This Item

  • Title: S. S. McClure to Walt Whitman, 3 December 1889
  • Date: December 3, 1889
  • Creator(s): S. S. McClure
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.03107
  • Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Kirby Little Ashlyn Stewart Alex Ashland Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: McClure, S. S.. "S. S. McClure to Walt Whitman, 3 December 1889." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 09 May 2025. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.03107.xml (TEI)
 loc.03107.001.jpg S. S. McCLURE,  
 TRIBUNE BUILDING,  
 NEW YORK, N. Y. Cable Address,  
 "Aiddecamp, New York." Dec. 3, 1889. Walt Whitman, Esq., Dear Sir:

Bishop Potter1 suggests that a short letter giving your ideas how best "To lift, how little howsoe'er, the hearts of toilers struggling here," would perhaps be a better idea than the one suggested in my previous letter. I should like to hear from you in response to either of these questions. A letter of one hundred words would perhaps be sufficiently long for this purpose.

Very truly yours, S. S. McClure  loc.03107.002.jpg

Correspondent:
Samuel Sidney McClure (1857–1949) was an investigative journalist who in 1884 established the first newspaper syndicate in the United States, which occasionally solicited and published work by Whitman; later, he co-founded McClure's Magazine, which published work by Whitman posthumously.

Notes

  • 1. Henry Codman Potter (1834–1908) was Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and a venerated religious and civic leader who devoted much of his ministry to what he called "the problem of the poor"; he also was well known for his efforts to support the interests of labor and labor unions. [back]
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