John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
poet and advocate of the
abolition of
slavery in the United States
The legal institution of human chattel slavery, comprising the enslavement primarily of List of ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and African Americans, was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865 ...
. Frequently listed as one of the
fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
. Whittier is remembered particularly for his anti-slavery writings, as well as his 1866 book ''
Snow-Bound''.
Early life and education
Whittier was born to John and Abigail ( Hussey) Whittier at their
rural homestead in
Haverhill, Massachusetts, on December 17, 1807. His middle name is thought to mean ''feuillevert'', after his
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
forebears. He grew up on the farm in a household with his parents, a brother and two sisters, a maternal aunt and paternal uncle, and a constant flow of visitors and hired hands for the farm. As a boy, it was discovered that Whittier was
color-blind when he was unable to see a difference between ripe and unripe
strawberries.
The farm was not very profitable, and there was only enough money to get by. Whittier himself was not cut out for hard farm labor and suffered from bad health and physical frailty his whole life. Although he received little formal education, he was an avid reader who studied his father's six books on Quakerism until their teachings became the foundation of his ideology. Whittier was heavily influenced by the doctrines of his religion, particularly its stress on humanitarianism, compassion, and social responsibility.
Career
Whittier was first introduced to poetry by a teacher. His sister Mary Whittier sent his first poem, "The Deity", to the
Newburyport ''Free Press'' without his permission, and its editor,
William Lloyd Garrison
William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was an Abolitionism in the United States, American abolitionist, journalist, and reformism (historical), social reformer. He is best known for his widely read anti-slavery newspaper ''The ...
, published it on June 8, 1826. Garrison, as well as another local editor, encouraged Whittier to attend the recently opened Haverhill Academy. To raise money to attend the school, Whittier became a shoemaker for a time, and a deal was made to pay part of his tuition with food from the family farm. Before his second term, he earned money to cover tuition by serving as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in what is now
Merrimac, Massachusetts. He attended Haverhill Academy from 1827 to 1828 and completed a high school education in only two terms.
Whittier received the first substantial public praise for his work from critic
John Neal
John Neal (August 25, 1793 – June 20, 1876) was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. Considered both eccentric and influential, he delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1 ...
via Neal's magazine ''
The Yankee'' in 1828. Whittier valued the opinion of the older and more established writer, pledging that if Neal did not like his writing, "''I will quit poetry, and everything also of a literary nature'', for I am sick at heart of the business." In an 1829 letter, Neal told Whittier to "Persevere, and I am sure you will have your reward in every way." Reading Neal's 1828 novel ''
Rachel Dyer'' inspired Whittier to weave New England witchcraft lore into his own stories and poems.
Garrison gave Whittier the job of editor of the ''National Philanthropist'', a Boston-based
temperance weekly. Shortly after a change in management, Garrison reassigned him as editor of the weekly ''American Manufacturer'' in Boston. Whittier became an outspoken critic of President
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...
, and by 1830 was editor of the prominent ''New England Weekly Review'' in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
, the most influential
Whig journal in
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
. He published "
The Song of the Vermonters, 1779" anonymously in ''
The New-England Magazine'' in 1838. The poem was mistakenly attributed to
Ethan Allen
Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, writer, military officer and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and wa ...
for nearly sixty years. Whittier acknowledged his authorship in 1858.
Abolitionist activity

During the 1830s, Whittier became interested in politics, but after losing a congressional election at age 25, he suffered a nervous breakdown and returned home. The year 1833 was a turning point for Whittier; he resurrected his correspondence with Garrison, and the passionate abolitionist began to encourage the young Quaker to join his cause.
In 1833, Whittier published the antislavery pamphlet ''Justice and Expediency'', and from there dedicated the next twenty years of his life to the abolitionist cause. The controversial pamphlet destroyed all of his political hopes, as his demand for immediate emancipation alienated both Northern businessmen and Southern slaveholders, but it also sealed his commitment to a cause that he deemed morally correct and socially necessary. He was a founding member of the
American Anti-Slavery Society and signed the Anti-Slavery Declaration of 1833, which he often considered the most significant action of his life.
Whittier's political skill made him useful as a lobbyist, and his willingness to badger anti-slavery congressional leaders into joining the abolitionist cause was invaluable. From 1835 to 1838, he traveled widely in the North, attending conventions, securing votes, speaking to the public, and lobbying politicians. As he did so, Whittier received his fair share of violent responses, being several times mobbed, stoned, and run out of town.
From 1838 to 1840, he was editor of the ''
Pennsylvania Freeman'' in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
[Wagenknecht, pg. 6] one of the leading antislavery papers in the North, formerly known as the ''
National Enquirer
The ''National Enquirer'' is an American tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1926, the newspaper has undergone a number of changes over the years. The ''National Enquirer'' openly acknowledges that it pays Source (journalism), sources for tips (chec ...
''. In May 1838, the publication moved its offices to the newly opened
Pennsylvania Hall on North Sixth Street, which was shortly after burned by a pro-slavery mob. Whittier continued to write poetry, and nearly all of his poems then dealt with the problem of slavery.
In 1838,
Charles G. Atherton of New Hampshire presented five resolutions that were adopted and created a new resolution that barred Congress from discussing petitions that mentioned bringing slavery to an end. Congress approved them on December 12, 1838, which became known as the "Atherton Gag"; Whittier referred to Atherton in one of his many abolition poems as "vile" by having allied himself so closely with his fellow Democrats from pro-slavery South. It was not until 1844 the House rescinded that gag rule on a motion made by
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...
.
By the end of the 1830s, the unity of the abolitionist movement had begun to fracture. Whittier stuck to his belief that moral action apart from political effort was futile. He knew that success required legislative change, not merely moral suasion. That opinion alone engendered a bitter split from Garrison, and Whittier went on to become a founding member of the
Liberty Party in 1839.
[ In 1840, he attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. By 1843, he was announcing the triumph of the fledgling party: "Liberty party is no longer an experiment. It is vigorous reality, exerting... a powerful influence." Whittier unsuccessfully encouraged ]Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to join the party. He took editing jobs with the ''Middlesex Standard'' in Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, United States. Alongside Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, it is one of two traditional county seat, seats of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in ...
, and the ''Essex Transcript'' in Amesbury until 1844.[ While in Lowell, he met Lucy Larcom, who became a lifelong friend.
In 1845, he began writing his essay "The Black Man" which included an anecdote about John Fountain, a free black who was jailed in ]Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
for helping slaves to escape. After his release, Fountain went on a speaking tour and thanked Whittier for writing his story.
Around then, the stresses of editorial duties, worsening health, and dangerous mob violence caused Whittier to have a physical breakdown. He went home to Amesbury and remained there for the rest of his life, ending his active participation in abolition. Even so, he continued to believe that the best way to gain abolitionist support was to broaden the Liberty Party's political appeal, and Whittier persisted in advocating the addition of other issues to its platform. He eventually participated in the evolution of the Liberty Party into the Free Soil Party
The Free Soil Party, also called the Free Democratic Party or the Free Democracy, was a political party in the United States from 1848 to 1854, when it merged into the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. The party was focused o ...
, and some say his greatest political feat was convincing Charles Sumner
Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1851 until his death in 1874. Before and during the American Civil War, he was a leading American ...
to run on the Free-Soil ticket for the U.S. Senate in 1850.
Beginning in 1847, Whittier was the editor of Gamaliel Bailey's ''The National Era'',[ one of the most influential abolitionist newspapers in the North. For the next ten years, it featured the best of his writing, both as prose and poetry. Being confined to his home and away from the action offered Whittier a chance to write better abolitionist poetry, and he was even poet laureate for his party. Whittier's poems often used slavery to represent all kinds of oppression (physical, spiritual, economic), and his poems stirred up popular response because they appealed to feelings, rather than logic.
Whittier produced two collections of antislavery poetry: ''Poems Written during the Progress of the Abolition Question in the United States, between 1830 and 1838'' and ''Voices of Freedom'' (1846).
]
Civil War years
He was an elector in the presidential election of 1860 and of 1864 for Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
both times.[Wagenknecht, pg. 8] In the months leading up to the American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...
, Whittier built a strong national audience. In January 1861, '' The Atlantic Monthly'', which had previous spurned his poetry, praised him for his "keen and discriminating love of right" and his "love of freedom".[Kilcup, Karen L. ''Who Killed American Poetry? From National Obsession to Elite Possession''. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2019: pg. 155; ]
In 1864, the ''North American Review
The ''North American Review'' (''NAR'') was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale (journalist), Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which i ...
'' responded to Whittier's collection ''In War Time, and Other Poems'', by calling him "on the whole, the most American of all our poets, and there is a fire of warlike patriotism in him that burns all the more intensely that is smothered by his uakercreed".[
The passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 ended both slavery and his public cause, and so Whittier turned to other forms of poetry for the remainder of his life.
]
Later life
One of his most enduring works, '' Snow-Bound'', was first published in 1866. Whittier was surprised by its financial success; he earned $10,000 from the first edition.[Wagenknecht, pg. 7] In 1867, Whittier asked James T. Fields
James Thomas Fields (December 31, 1817 – April 24, 1881) was an American publisher, editor, and poet. His business, Ticknor and Fields, was a notable publishing house in 19th century Boston.
Biography
Early life and family
He was born in ...
to get him a ticket to a reading by Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
during the British author's visit to the United States. After the event, Whittier wrote a letter describing his experience:
He was elected to the American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1870.
Whittier spent the last winters of his life, from 1876 to 1892, at Oak Knoll, the home of his cousins in Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a New England town, town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts. The suburb is a fairly short ride from Boston and is also in close proximity to the beach ...
.
Whittier spent the summer of 1892 at the home of a cousin in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire, where he wrote his last poem (a tribute to Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.) and where he was captured in a final photograph. He died at this home on September 7, 1892, and was buried in Amesbury, Massachusetts
Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the ...
.
Poetry
Whittier's first two published books were ''Legends of New England'' (1831) and the poem '' Moll Pitcher'' (1832). In 1833 he published '' The Song of the Vermonters, 1779,'' which he had anonymously inserted in ''The New England Magazine.'' The poem was erroneously attributed to Ethan Allen
Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, writer, military officer and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and wa ...
for nearly sixty years. This use of poetry in the service of his political beliefs is illustrated by his book ''Poems Written during the Progress of the Abolition Question''.
Highly regarded in his lifetime and for a period thereafter, he is now largely remembered for his anti-slavery writings and his poems '' Barbara Frietchie'', " The Barefoot Boy", " Maud Muller" and ''Snow-Bound''.
A number of his poems have been turned into hymn
A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...
s, including '' Dear Lord and Father of Mankind'', taken from his poem " The Brewing of Soma". The latter part of the poem was set in 1924 by Dr. George Gilbert Stocks to the tune of ''Repton'' by English composer Hubert Parry
Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 1848 – 7 October 1918), was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is ...
from the 1888 oratorio ''Judith''. It is also sung as the hymn ''Rest'' by Frederick Maker, and Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
also set a part of it to music in his song "Serenity".
Whittier's Quakerism is better illustrated, however, by the hymn that begins:
His sometimes contrasting sense of the need for strong action against injustice can be seen in his poem "To Rönge" in honor of Johannes Ronge, the German religious figure and rebel leader of the 1848 rebellion in Germany:
Whittier's "At Port Royal 1861" describes the experience of Northern abolitionists arriving at Port Royal, South Carolina, as teachers and missionaries for the slaves who had been left behind when their owners fled because the Union Navy would arrive to blockade the coast. The poem includes the "Song of the Negro Boatmen," written in dialect:
Of all the poetry inspired by the Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
, the "Song of the Negro Boatmen" was one of the most widely printed, and, although Whittier never actually visited Port Royal, an abolitionist working there described his "Song of the Negro Boatmen" as "wonderfully applicable as we were being rowed across Hilton Head Harbor among United States gunboats."
Criticism
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...
dismissed Whittier's ''Literary Recreations and Miscellanies'' (1854): "Whittier's book is poor stuff! I like the man, but have no high opinion either of his poetry or his prose." Editor George Ripley, however, found Whittier's poetry refreshing and said it had a "stately movement of versification, grandeur of imagery, a vein of tender and solemn pathos, cheerful trust" and a "pure and ennobling character". Boston critic Edwin Percy Whipple noted Whittier's moral and ethical tone mingled with sincere emotion. He wrote, "In reading this last volume, I feel as if my soul had taken a bath in holy water." Later scholars and critics questioned the depth of Whittier's poetry. One was Karl Keller, who noted, "Whittier has been a writer to love, not to belabor."
Influence and legacy
Whittier was particularly supportive of women writers, including Alice Cary, Phoebe Cary, Sarah Orne Jewett, Lucy Larcom, and Celia Thaxter. He was especially influential on prose writings by Jewett, with whom he shared a belief in the moral quality of literature and an interest in New England folklore. Jewett dedicated one of her books to him and modeled several of her characters after people in Whittier's life.
Whittier's family farm, known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead or simply "Whittier's Birthplace", is now a historic site open to the public. His later residence in Amesbury, where he lived for 56 years, is also open to the public, and is now known as the John Greenleaf Whittier Home. Whittier's hometown of Haverhill has named many buildings and landmarks in his honor including J.G. Whittier Middle School, Greenleaf Elementary, and Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School. Numerous other schools around the country also bear his name.
The John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge, built in the style of the Sagamore and Bourne bridges, carries Interstate 95
Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...
from Amesbury to Newburyport over the Merrimack River. A covered bridge spanning the Bearcamp River in Ossipee, New Hampshire, is also named for Whittier.
The city of Whittier, California, is named after the poet,[ as are the communities of ]Whittier, Alaska
Whittier is a city at the head of the Passage Canal in the Chugach Census Area, Alaska, Chugach Census Area in the Unorganized Borough, Alaska, Unorganized Borough of Alaska, about southeast of Anchorage, Alaska, Anchorage. The city is located ...
, Greenleaf, Idaho, and Whittier, Iowa; the Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
neighborhood of Whittier; the Whittier neighborhoods of Denver
Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
and Boulder
In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
, Colorado, as well as a school and a park there. Both Whittier College and Whittier Law School are named after him. A park in the Saint Boniface area of Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...
is named after the poet in recognition of his poem "The Red River Voyageur". Whittier Education Campus in Washington, DC
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...
, is named in his honor. SS ''Whittier Victory'' a World War II ship named after Whittier College. Whittier Peak and Mount Whittier in Washington and Mount Whittier in New Hampshire are mountains named after him.
The alternate history
Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...
story '' P.'s Correspondence'' (1846) by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion.
He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...
, considered the first such story ever published in English, includes the notice "Whittier, a fiery Quaker youth, to whom the muse had perversely assigned a battle-trumpet, got himself lynched, in South Carolina". The date of that event in Hawthorne's invented timeline was 1835.
Whittier was one of thirteen writers in the 1897 card game ''Authors
In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...
'', which referenced his writings "Laus Deo", "Among the Hills", ''Snow-bound'', and "The Eternal Goodness". He was removed from the card game when it was reissued in 1987.
Whitter's poem "Twilight" was set to music in 1932 by Edwin Fowles.
In 2020, a statue previously erected in his honor in Whittier, California, was defaced with antislavery and Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
slogans by vandals.[Gonzales, Ruby.]
Statue of abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier vandalized in his namesake city
, ''San Gabriel Valley Tribune''. June 15, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. He had never owned slaves.
List of works
Poetry collections
*''Poems written during the Progress of the Abolition Question in the United States'' (1837)
*''Lays of My Home'' (1843)[
*''Voices of Freedom'' (1846)][
*''Songs of Labor'' (1850)][
*''The Chapel of the Hermits'' (1853)
*''Le Marais du Cygne'' (September 1858 '' Atlantic Monthly'')
*''Home Ballads'' (1860)][
*''The Furnace Blast'' (1862)][
*'' Maud Muller'' (1856)][
*''In War Time'' (1864)
*'' Snow-Bound'' (1866)][
*''The Tent on the Beach'' (1867)][
*''Among the Hills'' (1869)][
*''Ballads of New England'' (1870)
*''Whittier's Poems Complete'' (1874)
*''The Pennsylvania Pilgrim'' (1872)][
*''The Vision of Echard'' (1878)][
*''The King's Missive'' (1881)][
*''Saint Gregory's Guest'' (1886)
*''At Sundown'' (1890)][
Prose
*''The Stranger in Lowell'' (1845)][
*''The Supernaturalism of New England'' (1847)
*''Leaves from Margaret Smith's Journal'' (1849)][
*''Old Portraits and Modern Sketches'' (1850)][
*''Literary Recreations and Miscellanies'' (1854)][
]
Notes
Sources
*Laurie, Bruce. ''Beyond Garrison: Antislavery and Social Reform''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
*Wagenknecht, Edward. ''John Greenleaf Whittier: A Portrait in Paradox''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1967.
*Woodwell, Roland H. ''John Greenleaf Whittier: A Biography''. Haverhill, Massachusetts: Trustees of the John Greenleaf Whittier Homestead, 1985.
*
Further reading
* Pickard, John B. ''John Greenleaf Whittier: An Introduction and Interpretation''. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1961.
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
Reminiscences of the Poet Whittier
, Part 1 in May 1895 edition of ''The Bookman'' (New York)
*
Reminiscences of the Poet Whittier
, Part 2 in June 1895 edition of ''The Bookman'' (New York)
Words by Whittier on IMSLP
Letters and papers
John Greenleaf Whittier letters
Available online through Lehigh University'
I Remain: A Digital Archive of Letters, Manuscripts, and Ephemera
John Greenleaf Whittier Manuscript Collection
held by th
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
John G. Whittier Photograph Collection
held by th
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
John Greenleaf Whittier letterbook
held b
Haverford College Quaker & Special Collections
John Greenleaf Whittier Research Papers
held by th
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
Sites
Whittier Family Homestead and Birthplace of John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier Home, Amesbury, Massachusetts
* Th
John Greenleaf Whittier Research Papers
held a
Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittier, John Greenleaf
1807 births
1892 deaths
19th-century American poets
American abolitionists
American Quakers
American children's poets
Massachusetts Libertyites
Massachusetts Republicans
People from Haverhill, Massachusetts
Whittier, California
Writers from Massachusetts
Hall of Fame for Great Americans inductees
American male poets
19th-century American male writers
Whittier College
Quaker abolitionists
Newspaper poets
Members of the American Philosophical Society