Edgar Lee Masters
He gave voice to the dead of a small town, crafting a revolutionary poetic collection that exposed the secret lives and hypocrisies of rural America.
1868–1950 (age 82)·American poet·Birthday: August 23·The Gilded Age
Biography
Edgar Lee Masters spent his early career as a successful lawyer in Chicago, a profession he found deeply unsatisfying. His literary breakthrough came not from the courtroom but from the graveyard. Inspired by the Greek Anthology and the free verse of Walt Whitman, he began writing epitaphs for the fictional inhabitants of Spoon River, a composite of the Illinois towns he knew. Published in 1915, 'Spoon River Anthology' was a sensation, a raw and unflinching chorus of posthumous confessions that shattered the myth of idyllic small-town life. The book's success allowed him to leave law and write full-time, though he never again matched its impact. He produced a vast body of work—poetry, plays, biographies of Lincoln and Twain—but remained forever defined by that one seismic book, which permanently altered the landscape of American poetry.
The Gilded Age
1860–1882
Born during or after the Civil War, they built industrial America — the railroads, the steel mills, the first skyscrapers. An era of massive wealth, massive inequality, and the belief that the future belonged to whoever could build it fastest.
Edgar was born in 1868, placing them squarely in The Gilded Age. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Edgar Was Born
The biggest hits of 1868
Edgar's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1868Born
President: Andrew Johnson
1873Started school
President: Ulysses S. Grant
1881Became a teenager
President: Chester A. Arthur
1884Could drive
President: Chester A. Arthur
1886Could vote
Statue of Liberty dedicated in New York Harbor
President: Grover Cleveland
1889Turned 21
Eiffel Tower opens in Paris
President: Benjamin Harrison
1898Turned 30
Spanish-American War; US emerges as a world power
President: William McKinley
1908Turned 40
Ford Model T goes into production
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1918Turned 50
World War I ends; Spanish flu pandemic kills millions
President: Woodrow Wilson
1928Turned 60
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1938Turned 70
Kristallnacht and the escalation toward WWII
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $2,850Min wage: $0.25/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Begin the Beguine" — Artie ShawBest Picture: You Can't Take It with You
1948Turned 80
Israel declares independence; Berlin Blockade begins
Gas: $0.26/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Twelfth Street Rag" — Pee Wee HuntBest Picture: Hamlet
1950Died at 82
Korean War begins
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,354Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Goodnight Irene" — Gordon Jenkins & The WeaversBest Picture: All About Eve
Key Achievements
- Wrote 'Spoon River Anthology' (1915), a landmark work of American literature composed as poetic epitaphs for over 200 fictional small-town residents.
- Pioneered the use of free verse and multiple narrative voices to create a complex, communal portrait of a community.
- Authored a major biography, 'Lincoln: The Man' (1931), which presented a controversial and critical view of the president.
- Published over 50 books across poetry, drama, biography, and fiction throughout his career.
Did You Know?
He was a law partner of Clarence Darrow, the famous defense attorney, for eight years.
The character of 'Butch' Weldy in 'Spoon River Anthology' is based on a real person Masters defended in a damage suit.
He initially published the Spoon River poems under the pseudonym 'Webster Ford'.
Masters was largely self-educated in literature, reading voraciously in his law office.
““To this generation, one of the most important things in the world is to be free from the superstition of believing that what is written in a book is true.””
