In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

[23] X [Garland as a Teacher in 1890] Harriet E. Halliman, et al. From 1885 to 1891, Garland taught at the Boston School of Oratory, where he eventually would be in charge of its literature program. In his lectures, he applied evolutionary theory to the development of literature, represented in such topics as “COLONIAL AGE.—Factors. Race, Surroundings. Epoch ” and “MODERN AGE.—Effects of Civil War. Growth of cosmopolitanism. Heterogeneity of elements” (Catalogue of the Boston School of Oratory [Boston : Beacon Press, 1893], 30). At the time, Garland’s approach was in the vanguard of viewing literature as a progressive development toward more sophisticated expression—a schema underlying many literature textbooks today. The following is a round-robin letter of appreciation from some of his students. the course of lectures given during the summer of 1890 by Hamlin Garland , at the Boston School of Oratory, has proved of so much benefit to us who were present that we are moved to express our appreciation. Just now the realistic movement in American fiction is so close upon us as to fail of a candid estimate by the public. Under such circumstances, the vigor and independence of an enthusiastic sympathizer with the movement do much to awaken a taste for what is good in the literature of our country and our time. We take pleasure, therefore, in expressing our thanks to Mr. Garland for his generous, faithful, and inspiring presentation of the claims of American literature—especially the literature of the present age. Our field for wholesome reading has been widened by his evidence that we need not seek truth in the records of the past alone, but in the sheets that leave the printing-press here and to-day. Boston, Aug. 6, 1890. Harriet E. Halliman, Norriston, Penna. Katharine M. Wery, Greensburg, Penna. Ellen E. Thompson, Plainville, Mass. garland in his own time [24] Louise Rebecca Browne, Canandaigua, New York Carolyn Gary, Boston Louise Jowell Manning, Minneapolis, Minn. Elizabeth McRae, New Albany, Ind. Myrtie E. Furman, Philadelphia, Pa. A. M. Cunningham, Halifax, Nova Scotia W. T. Dempsey, Lansing, Iowa Edward P. Perry, St. Louis, Mo. D. L. Maulsby, Barre, Vermont Students’ Round-Robin Letter of Appreciation of Garland’s Lectures at Boston School of Oratory, 1890, Item 711a, Hamlin Garland Papers, Collection no. 0200, Special Collections , USC Libraries, University of Southern California. ...

Share