Jessie Belle Rittenhouse Scollard (December 8, 1869 – September 28, 1948), daughter of John Edward and Mary (MacArthur) Rittenhouse, was a literary critic, compiler of anthologies, and poet.

Life

After graduating in 1890 from

Genesee Wesleyan Seminary The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary was the name of two institutions located on the same site in Lima, New York. The Genesee Wesleyan Seminary (I) was founded in 1831 by the Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The plan for its ...

in Lima, New York, Rittenhouse taught school in

Cairo, Illinois Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County. The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses ...

and

Grand Haven, Michigan Grand Haven is a city within the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Ottawa County. Grand Haven is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Grand River, for which it is named. As of the 2010 census, Grand Ha ...

. Her literary career began with book reviews in Buffalo and Rochester, New York, and led to a year as a reporter for the Rochester ''

Democrat and Chronicle The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. At 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production fa ...

'' in 1894. In 1899 she moved to Boston to begin her literary career in earnest. From 1905 to 1915 Rittenhouse lived in New York City, where she was poetry reviewer for the ''

New York Times Review of Books ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most in ...

''. From 1914 to 1924 she conducted lecture tours. In 1914 Rittenhouse helped to found the Poetry Society of America, of which she was secretary for 10 years. Rittenhouse married fellow poet Clinton Scollard in 1924. In the course of her career, Rittenhouse corresponded with numerous contemporary poets, such as John Myers O'Hara, Margaret Widdemer, and Arthur Guiterman. Her poems were set to music by many composers, including

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Proba ...

, Noble Cain, Alice Reber Fish, Ethel Glenn Hier, Kirke Mechem, Frederick W. Vanderpool,

Wintter Watts Wintter Haynes Watts (Cincinnati, Ohio, March 14, 1884 – Brooklyn, New York, November 1, 1962) was an American composer of art songs. Life and musical career Watts was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his early studies were in painting, archite ...

, and especially

David Wendel Guion David W. Guion (December 15, 1892, Ballinger, TexasOctober 17, 1981), Texan composer, was best known for his arrangements of cowboy tunes, African American spirituals, and original compositions often inspired by the soundscape of west Texas. ...

. Late in her career, Rittenhouse moved to Winter Park, Florida, and became associated with

Rollins College Rollins College is a private college in Winter Park, Florida. It was founded in November 1885 and has about 30 undergraduate majors and several graduate programs. It is Florida's fourth oldest post-secondary institution. History Rollins Colle ...

, where she was a lecturer in poetry. The Poetry Society of America presented Rittenhouse the first

Robert Frost Medal The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the society have included such renowned poets as Witter Bynner, R ...

in 1930. Jessie Belle Rittenhouse died at her home in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan on September 28, 1948.

Works

Anthologies

* ''The Lover's Rubáiyát'' (1904) * ''Little Book of Modern Verse'' (1913) * ''Little Book of American Poets'' (1915) * ''Second Book of Modern Verse'' (1919) * ''Little Book of Modern British Verse'' (1924) * ''Third Book of Modern Verse'' (1927) * ''The Singing Heart'' (1934) (Selected verses by Clinton Scollard)

Verse

* ''The Door of Dreams'' (1918) * ''The Lifted Cup'' (1921) * ''The Secret Bird'' (1930) * ''Moving Tide: New and Selected Lyrics'' (1939)

Edited with Clinton Scollard

* ''The Bird-Lovers Anthology'' (1930) * ''Patrician Rhymes'' (1932)

Autobiography

* ''My House of Life'' (1934)

References

External links

* * *
A guide to the Jessie Rittenhouse Collection at Rollins College

Select poems by Jessie Belle Rittenhouse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rittenhouse, Jessie Belle 1869 births 1948 deaths 20th-century American poets Women anthologists American literary critics American women literary critics American women poets 19th-century American women journalists 20th-century American women writers People from Mount Morris, New York Writers from New York (state) 19th-century American journalists 19th-century American women writers Rollins College faculty 20th-century American non-fiction writers American women academics