Discipline: Literature – poetry

Robert Schauffler

Discipline: Literature – poetry
MacDowell Fellowships: 1916, 1925, 1928, 1938
Robert Haven Schauffler (1879–1964) was an American writer, cellist, and war hero. Schauffler published poetry, biographies of Beethoven, Brahms, and Schumann, and a series of books celebrating American holidays. He came to notice in 1912 when he published a book of poetry named after a poem called Scum o' the Earth. This poem had come to notice after being published in a magazine. The poem had focussed attention on the monetary divide between middle class Americans and poor immigrants. In 1907 he published the first of several books that celebrated American holidays. The first were Thanksgiving and Our American Holidays - Christmas. The book he created for Christmas includes several extracts from Dickens, Shakespeare, Leigh Hunt, and William Morris. The first section deals with whether there is a Santa Claus by quoting the 1897 editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church. The book is certain that there is.