Bryant, William Cullen

William Cullen Bryant (1794–1878), poet and editor, had an impact on education through both his literary contributions and his advocacy for social reform.

Bryant's father, a physician, gave him access to a library full of classics in their Massachusetts home. Bryant showed qualities of a prodigy, writing both poetry and a full-length book, The Embargo, in his preteen years. He attended Williams College for 1 year and gained admission to the bar in 1815 after 3 years of preparation. Meeting his wife in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, he practiced law there until 1825. He continued to write and extensively edit earlier works during his law years. One excellent example is “Thanatopsis,” published in the North American Review in 1817, which gained Bryant his first important recognition. Bryant scholars believe he wrote the poem much earlier and edited it many times prior to publication. His other major poetic accomplishment during that period was “The Ages,” which he delivered before the Phi Beta Kappa society at Harvard in 1821.

Both the lack of challenge in law practice and his interest in affecting social issues of the time drew him to New York City, where in 1826 he became associate editor of the New York Evening Post. Within 3 years, Bryant was part owner and editor in chief, using that platform to defend human rights and advocate for social issues of the time such as free trade and abolition of slavery. This foreshadowed a challenge and opportunity for contemporary educational leaders. As the connection between educational reform and social justice intensified, Bryant modeled the manner in which leaders must use the bully pulpit available to them to positively impact human rights. He continued to write both poetry and prose while at the Post, publishing The Letters of a Traveler in 1850, which described his travels in Europe and South American countries. His essays promoted simplicity and imagination in writing, a sense of aesthetics and morality.

As noted by one of his contemporaries in 1843, the quality of his writing propelled American literature into the world-class status so long dominated by its British forebears. The only critiques of Bryant's writing are based on a lack of breadth. Because of his attention to other demands such as his early law practice and great contributions to the Evening Post, he never published a full range of the poetic genre. Nevertheless, the whole of his literary work, including his translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey, strongly influenced American literature and thus education. He even responded to letters from teachers. The North American Review noted during Bryant's lifetime that his name is classical in the literature of the language. Wherever English poetry is read and loved, his poems are known by heart.