Jessie Belle Rittenhouse

Jessie Belle Rittenhouse Scollard (December 8, 1869 – September 28, 1948), daughter of John Edward and Mary (MacArthur) Rittenhouse,[1] was a literary critic, compiler of anthologies, and poet.

Jessie Belle Rittenhouse
Born(1869-12-08)December 8, 1869
Mount Morris, New York
DiedSeptember 28, 1948(1948-09-28) (aged 78)
Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan
NationalityAmerican
EducationHon. Doctorate Rollins College
Alma materGenesee Wesleyan Seminary
Occupations
  • Lecturer
  • literary critic
  • poet
Years active1894–1948
Known forPoetry anthologies
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1924; died 1932)​
AwardsRobert Frost Medal (1930)

Life

After graduating in 1890 from Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, New York, Rittenhouse taught school in Cairo, Illinois and Grand Haven, Michigan. Her literary career began with book reviews in Buffalo and Rochester, New York, and led to a year as a reporter for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle in 1894. In 1899 she moved to Boston to begin her literary career in earnest. From 1905 to 1915 Rittenhouse lived in New York City, where she was poetry reviewer for the New York Times Review of Books.[2] From 1914 to 1924 she conducted lecture tours. In 1914 Rittenhouse helped to found the Poetry Society of America, of which she was secretary for 10 years.[3]

Rittenhouse married fellow poet Clinton Scollard in 1924.

In the course of her career, Rittenhouse corresponded with numerous contemporary poets, such as John Myers O'Hara,[4] Margaret Widdemer, and Arthur Guiterman. Her poems were set to music by many composers, including Samuel Barber, Noble Cain, Alice Reber Fish, Ethel Glenn Hier, Kirke Mechem, Frederick W. Vanderpool, Wintter Watts, and especially David Wendel Guion.[5]

Late in her career, Rittenhouse moved to Winter Park, Florida, and became associated with Rollins College, where she was a lecturer in poetry.[6]

The Poetry Society of America presented Rittenhouse the first Robert Frost Medal in 1930.

Jessie Belle Rittenhouse died at her home in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan on September 28, 1948.[7]

Works

Anthologies
  • The Lover's Rubáiyát (1904)
  • Little Book of Modern Verse (1913)
  • Little Book of American Poets (1915)
  • Second Book of Modern Verse (1919)
  • Little Book of Modern British Verse (1924)
  • Third Book of Modern Verse (1927)
  • The Singing Heart (1934) (Selected verses by Clinton Scollard)

Verse
  • The Door of Dreams (1918)
  • The Lifted Cup (1921)
  • The Secret Bird (1930)
  • Moving Tide: New and Selected Lyrics (1939)

Edited with Clinton Scollard
  • The Bird-Lovers Anthology (1930)
  • Patrician Rhymes (1932)

Autobiography
  • My House of Life (1934)

References
  1. Moyer, Homer Edward (1935). Who's who and what to see in Florida: a standard biographical reference book of Florida. St. Petersburg, Florida: Current Historical Company of Florida. p. 379.
  2. See, e.g. Rittenhouse, Jessie B. (December 23, 1905). "Bliss Carman's Prose" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved December 19, 2010. This publication is described in a Wikipedia article under the name The New York Times Book Review
  3. McHenry, Robert (1983). Famous American women: a biographical dictionary from colonial times to the present. Courier Dover Publications. pp. 482. ISBN 0-486-24523-3. jessie belle rittenhouse died.
  4. "Inventory of the John Myers O'Hara Papers, 1908-1942". The Newberry Library. 2000. Archived from the original on February 17, 2005. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  5. "David Wendell Guion: An Inventory of His Collection in the Manuscript Collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center". Harry Ransom Center. University of Texas at Austin. 2003. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  6. "Memorial Services for Jessie Rittenhouse Scollard Saturday" (PDF). Winter Park Topics. Winter Park, Florida: Charles F. Hammond. 16 (2): 8. January 14, 1949. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 19, 2010.
  7. "Jessie B. Rittenhouse, Poet, Dies at Age of 68". Detroit Free Press. September 30, 1948. p. 29. Retrieved November 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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