Rita Dove
A poet who wove history, music, and intimate portraiture into verse, becoming a barrier-breaking voice for American literature.
Born 1952 (age 74)·American poet and author·Birthday: August 28·Baby Boomers
Biography
Rita Dove writes with a historian's curiosity and a musician's ear. Her poetry, known for its lyrical clarity and narrative power, often pulls forgotten figures from the margins of history into the light, as seen in her Pulitzer-winning 'Thomas and Beulah,' a cycle based on her grandparents' life. Appointed U.S. Poet Laureate in 1993, she broke ground as the youngest person and first African American to hold the title, using the platform to champion poetry's accessibility. A former English professor, Dove's work refuses to be pigeonholed, moving seamlessly from sonnets about Rosa Parks to a verse drama about a violin prodigy. She constructs a more expansive American story, one poem at a time.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Rita was born in 1952, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Rita Was Born
The biggest hits of 1952
#1 Movie
The Greatest Show on Earth
Best Picture
The Greatest Show on Earth
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Rita's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1952Born
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1957Started school
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1965Became a teenager
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Could drive
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1970Could vote
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Turned 21
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1982Turned 30
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 40
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 50
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2012Turned 60
Curiosity rover lands on Mars; Sandy Hook shooting
Gas: $3.64/galHome: $143,200Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Somebody That I Used to Know" — GotyeBest Picture: Argo
2022Turned 70
Russia invades Ukraine; Queen Elizabeth II dies
Gas: $3.97/galHome: $348,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"As It Was" — Harry StylesBest Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once
2026Age 74 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1987 for her collection 'Thomas and Beulah'.
- Served as the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1993 to 1995, the first African American to hold the position.
- Served as the Poet Laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2004 to 2006.
- Received the National Humanities Medal from President Bill Clinton in 1996.
Did You Know?
She was a Presidential Scholar and graduated *magna cum laude* from Miami University of Ohio.
She is an accomplished violinist and has a deep interest in music, which influences her poetry.
In 1981, she received a Fulbright Scholarship to study at the University of Tübingen in West Germany.
She is a former professor of English at the University of Virginia.
“Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.”
