Walt Whitman

An item at American Writers Museum

Walt Whitman grew up in working class New York City. He was largely self-taught, having left school at age 12. He worked as a newspaper journalist in and around New York and, for a short time, in New Orleans, developing a lifelong love for an expanding and ever-evolving America.

In 1855, Whitman self-published Leaves of Grass. His poems celebrated America, freedom, and individualism. His unconventional free verse, without rhyme or meter, shocked many readers, but others found Whitman's style and voice distinctly American and democratic. He continued to revise Leaves until the end of his life, often adding entire new sequences of poems, such as "Drum-Taps," which chronicled his complex response to the Civil War.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum