Charles Huntington Whitman (November 24, 1873 – December 27, 1937) was the chair of the department of English at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

for 26 years (1911–1937) and a noted scholar of

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...

and early English verse.

Biography

Whitman was born in

Abbot, Maine Abbot is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The population was 650 at the 2020 census. It was named for the treasurer of Bowdoin College, John Abbot. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total a ...

, to Nathan Whitman and Helen Augusta Thoms but attended

Bangor High School Bangor High School, a member of the Bangor School System, is a high school in Bangor, Maine, United States. It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students in grades 9–12. It is Bangor's only public high school. Since its 2001–2002 sel ...

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

(Class of 1892) before obtaining his B.A. from

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philanthr ...

in 1897. In 1900, he received a PhD from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

for a dissertation on ''The Birds in Old English Literature''. In the same year, he completed a translation of

Cynewulf Cynewulf (, ; also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf) is one of twelve Old English poets known by name, and one of four whose work is known to survive today. He presumably flourished in the 9th century, with possible dates extending into the late 8th ...

's ''The Christ'', a companion to Yale professor Albert Stanburrough Cook's critical edition of the poem. Whitman went on to take an assistant professorship at

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was originally affiliated with the Epis ...

. He was invited to Rutgers University in 1906, and accepted the chair of its English department in 1911, a position he maintained until his death. His tenure saw many reforms, most importantly the creation of a graduate program, the doubling in size of the faculty, and a transition from

declamation Declamation (from the Latin: ''declamatio'') is an artistic form of public speaking. It is a dramatic oration designed to express through articulation, emphasis and gesture the full sense of the text being conveyed. History In Ancient Rome, decla ...

to composition and analysis. At the time of this death he was considered "one of the most popular professors at the university". Whitman was married to Rachel Jones Foster in 1902, and they had four children: Hilda Trull (born 1908), Alan Foster (born 1909), Dunbar (born 1912), and Esther Huntington (born 1917). He died from a

coronary thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart at ...

on December 27, 1937, at his home in

Highland Park, New Jersey Highland Park is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States in the New York City metropolitan area. The borough is located on the northern banks of the Raritan River, in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States Cens ...

Bibliography

Translations

*''The'' Christ ''of Cynewulf'' (Ginn and Company, 1900)

Reference works

*''The Birds of Old English Literature'' (The Journal of Germanic Philology, 1898) *''Old English Mammal Names'' (The Journal of Germanic Philology, 1907) *''A Subject Index to the Poems of Edmund Spenser'' (Yale, 1919; Russell & Russell, 1966)

Reviews

*''The Literature of New Jersey'' (American Historical Society, 1930)

Edited volumes

*''Seven Contemporary Plays'' (Houghton-Mifflin, 1931; 1959) *''Representative Modern Dramas'' (Macmillan, 1936)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitman, Charles Huntington 1873 births People from Bangor, Maine 1937 deaths Colby College alumni Yale University alumni American academics of English literature Rutgers University faculty Lehigh University faculty People from Piscataquis County, Maine Bangor High School (Maine) alumni