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The Philadelphia Times to Walt Whitman, 14 September 1891

About This Item

  • Title: The Philadelphia Times to Walt Whitman, 14 September 1891
  • Date: September 14, 1891
  • Creator(s): The Philadelphia Times
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.03492
  • 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: Cristin Noonan Amanda J. Axley Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Times, The Philadelphia. "The Philadelphia Times to Walt Whitman, 14 September 1891." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 05 July 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.03492.xml (TEI)
 loc.03492.001_large.jpg The Philadelphia Times. Sept. 14. 1891. Dear Mr. Whitman:

Will you kindly inform me on enclosed postal the date of Colonel Ingersoll's1 Lecture at the Academy in this city,2 and oblige

Yours truly, The Times Gordon  loc.03492.002_large.jpg

Correspondent:
The Philadelphia Times was founded by Alexander McClure and Frank McLaughlin in 1875. It was a daily newspaper with a largely middle class readership. It was published until 1902, when it was merged with another newspaper, the Philadelphia Public Ledger.

Notes

  • 1. Robert "Bob" Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran and an orator of the post-Civil War era, known for his support of agnosticism. Ingersoll was a friend of Whitman, who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman said to Horace Traubel, "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the individuality I preach. I see in Bob the noblest specimen—American-flavored—pure out of the soil, spreading, giving, demanding light" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, March 25, 1891). The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric (see Phyllis Theroux, The Book of Eulogies [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997], 30). [back]
  • 2. Ingersoll delivered a lecture in tribute to Whitman at Horticultural Hall in Philadelphia on October 21, 1890, but there is no record of Ingersoll speaking in Philadelphia in the fall of 1891. [back]
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