The following article presents ten facts about Carl Sandburg that you probably don’t know as compiled by John Quinley, resident of Henderson County and author of Discovering Carl Sandburg.

In the introduction to his book, John wrote about Carl Sandburg:

“During the first half of the twentieth century, Carl Sandburg seemed to be everywhere and do everything: poet and political activist; investigative reporter, columnist, and film critic; lecturer, folk singer, and musicologist; Lincoln biographer and historian; children’s author; novelist; and media celebrity. He was one the most successful American writers of the twentieth century. Everyone knew his name. But as time went on, his fame began to fade, and by the twenty-first century, the public knew little, if anything about his legacy.”

Great thanks to John for assembling this list for Flat Rock Together.

Ten Things You Probably Don’t Know About Carl Sandburg

1. Sandburg’s first language was Swedish.

He spoke 200 to 300 words in Swedish before he learned many words in English. The Swedish spoken and sung by his immigrant parents helped shape the pitch and pace of his voice as he delivered hundreds of platform performances.

2. Sandburg didn’t earn a high school diploma.

He dropped out of school after eighth grade to help his working-class family during strained economic times. In 1963, on his eighty-fifth birthday, Galesburg High School surprised him with an honorary diploma. By that time, he had already earned dozens of honorary doctorates.

3. Sandburg won a Grammy in 1959.

He won a Grammy for best performance documentary or spoken word for his reading of Aaron Copeland’s A Lincoln Portrait. He was nominated for an award three times.

4. Sandburg was an activist for the Social-Democratic Party of Wisconsin in the early 1900s.

He organized local rallies, gave soapbox speeches, and wrote political articles and editorials. He left the Party in 1912 and remained a political independent for the remainder of his life.

5. Sandburg was nominated seven times for the Nobel Prize for Literature but never won. Earnest Hemingway who won in 1954, said, “I would have been most happy to know that the prize had been awarded to Carl Sandburg.”

6. Even though Sandburg’s The People, Yes is nearly 300 pages long, it still counts as a single poem. In his lifetime Sandburg published over 1,000 poems and won two Pulitzer Prizes for poetry.

7. Sandburg wrote for a William Randolph Hearst publication for a short time. He left after being pressured to slant his writing toward conservative interests. Years later after Sandburg had gained a national following, he turned down another offer by Hearst, this time for the huge sum of $75,000 for two years of editorial writing.

8. Sandburg was the first white person to receive the NAACP Lifetime Membership Award. Roy Wilkins, the Executive Director, wrote that Sandburg “has strengthened our vision as we struggle to extend the frontiers of social justice, the Association for the Advancement of Colored People salutes Carl Sandburg who found beauty in brotherhood.” 

9. Despite an age gap of nearly five decades, Sandburg and Marilyn Monroe were good friends. After Monroe’s death, he wrote a tribute for Look magazine, lamenting, “I wish I could have been with her that day. I believe I could have persuaded her not to take her life.”

10. Sandburg’s the American Songbag contains lyrics and piano accompaniment for 280 folk songs—100 of which had never been published before. In the introduction to the 1990 edition, Garrison Keillor wrote that “Sandburg was a cultural patriot who came along at a time when he was needed.”

Learn more and/or order “Discovering Carl Sandburg” by John Quinley here.

Images from www.nps.gov/carl and Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site Facebook page.