Charles Greenleaf Bell (October 31, 1916 – December 25, 2010) commonly known as Charles G. Bell, was a scholar, poet and writer.
Education
He earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from the
University of Virginia in 1936. He won a 1938–39
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
to the
University of Oxford, earning two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree. Among his other awards and honors are the Rockefeller post-war fellow in 1948, the
Ford Foundation fellow
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
in 1952-3, and the
Fulbright fellow. Bell was a member of
Phi Beta Kappa and the
Raven Society.
Career
He taught English at Blackburn College from 1939 to 1940 and English and then physics at
Iowa State University from 1940 to 1945. Bell was assistant professor of humanities at the
University of Chicago until 1956. He became a
Fulbright professor
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...
at
Technische Hockschule in
Munich. Bell taught at
St. John’s College in Maryland until 1967, and was a tutor and director of graduate programs from 1972 to 1973 at St. John’s College in New Mexico.
He was script writer for the film ''The Spirit of Rome'' (1964) and script advisor for the film ''Ingenium Romae'' (1969), both made for ''Encyclopedia Britannica''.
A major work was Symbolic History Through Sight and Sound, a 60 hour video cultural history of the world, made between 1970 and 1990. Many excerpts are on YouTube.
Bell worked as a lecturer at several other colleges such as
Black Mountain College, the
University of Rochester, and at the Springfield Public Library. Also, Bell has served as a guest professor at the University of Frankfurt in Germany, the State University of New York, and the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez.
The
Kahler-Kreis group of intellectuals was named so by Charles Greenleaf Bell.
Personal life
Bell was married firstly to Mildred Cheatham (later surnamed MacKenzie with her second husband) with whom he had three children, Nona, Charlotte, Delia. His second wife was Diana Mason, (known to her family and friends by the nickname 'Danny') she was the granddaughter of Sir
John Middlemore
Sir John Throgmorton Middlemore, 1st Baronet (9 June 1844 – 17 October 1924) was an English Liberal Unionist politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham North.
He was the son of William Middlemore, who had a leather bu ...
, MP, they had two daughters, Carola Middlemore Bell and Sandra Bell.
In 2006, he moved to Maine to live with his daughter, where at the age of ninety-two he was still writing, working on a manuscript entitled ''Poetry and Translation.'' He died on December 25, 2010. He was the nephew-in-law of
Amphilis Throckmorton Middlemore, grandson-in-law of MP Sir
John Middlemore
Sir John Throgmorton Middlemore, 1st Baronet (9 June 1844 – 17 October 1924) was an English Liberal Unionist politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham North.
He was the son of William Middlemore, who had a leather bu ...
and great nephew-in-law of
Thomas Middlemore
Thomas Middlemore (1842 – 16 May 1923) was an English mountaineer who made multiple first ascents during the silver age of alpinism. His audacity earned him a reputation as the ''enfant terrible'' within the Alpine Club. He was also the head o ...
.
Major works
* ''Songs for a New America'' (1953)
* ''Delta Return'' (1956)
* ''The Married Land'' (1962)
* ''The Half Gods'' (1968)
* ''Five Chambered Heart'' (1986)
* ''Millennial Harvest: The Life And Collected Poems of Charles Greenleaf Bell'' (2006)
References
External links
Bell reading twenty-six poems Library of Congress
Indiana University Bloomington inventory of periodical contributions by or about Bell in the
Lilly Library.
St John's College digital archive scripts of Symbolic History Through Sight and Sound by Bell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Charles Greenleaf
American male non-fiction writers
American male poets
1916 births
2010 deaths
Iowa State University faculty
University of Virginia alumni
Alumni of the University of Oxford
University of Rochester people
University of Chicago faculty
People from Lippe