Archibald Rutledge
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Archibald Hamilton Rutledge (1883ā€“1973) was an
American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H Iā€“J K L M N O P Q *George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942) R ...
and educator, the first
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
poet laureate from 1934 to 1973. He wrote over 50 books and many poems, usually about his hunting and life experiences in South Carolina.


Biography

Rutledge was born on October 23, 1883, in
McClellanville, South Carolina McClellanville is a small fishing town in rural Charleston County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 1,040 at the 2010 census. It is situated on the Atlantic coast, on land surrounded by Francis Marion National Forest, and has trad ...
. As a boy, Rutledge lived and hunted on
Hampton Plantation Hampton Plantation, also known as Hampton Plantation House and Hampton Plantation State Historic Site, is a historic plantation, now a state historic site, north of McClellanville, South Carolina. The plantation was established in 1735, and its ...
with his father and brothers. His ancestors included
John Rutledge John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 ā€“ June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additiona ...
, who was a governor of South Carolina as well as chief justice of the US Supreme Court and a signer of the US Constitution. He attended the Porter Military Academy, now the exclusive
Porter-Gaud School The Porter-Gaud School is an Independent school, independent Mixed-sex education, coeducational college preparatory day school in Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Porter-Gaud has an enrollment of about ...
, in Charleston, South Carolina. He then attended
Union College Union College is a private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the state of New York, after Columbia Co ...
where he was graduated in 1904 with
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
honors and membership in
The Kappa Alpha Society The Kappa Alpha Society (), founded in 1825, was the progenitor of the modern fraternity system in North America. It is considered to be the oldest national, secret, Greek-letter social fraternity and was the first of the fraternities which wou ...
. Later in life, he taught English at
Mercersburg Academy Mercersburg Academy (formerly Marshall College and Mercersburg College) is an independent selective college-preparatory boarding & day high school in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania in the United States. Founded in 1893, the school enrolls approximat ...
in Pennsylvania. He was married and raised three sons. In the family tradition, he took them hunting back home in South Carolina and in the woods of the Appalachian hills, and his writings reflect this personal devotion to the hunting ethos. His articles and poems appeared in ''
Outdoor Life ''Outdoor Life'' is an outdoors magazine about camping, fishing, hunting, and survival. It is a sister magazine of ''Field & Stream''. Together with ''Sports Afield'', they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing by Money (m ...
,'' '' Field and Stream'', and dozens of other magazines. He wrote more than 50 books, including ''An American Hunter'' (1937), ''Old Plantation Days'' (1907) and ''Wild Life of the South'' (1935). Virtually all of his books, other than those devoted to poetry, comprised pieces that had previously appeared in magazines. He was named the first South Carolina Poet Laureate in 1934. His poems often described his hunting and life experiences growing up on Hampton Plantation and the trips home to South Carolina in summer and for holidays. Rutledge's prose places the reader in and part of the hunt. In "Quail of the Kalmias," he writes: "When Bell drew her point in the brown stubble, I thought it would be sport to walk right in, compelling myself to take the birds at a quartering shot as they passed me to escape into their mountain haunts. What they did always seemed to me about as adroit a maneuver as this crafty little aristocrat ever executes. They arose in two small groups, one led by the old cock and the other by the old hen. There was a difference in intelligence, though not in the size of the birds. Separated by only a few yards, the two groups came hurtling by on either side of me, in strong, low level flight." In 1941, he received an honorary degree in Doctor of Letters from
Oglethorpe University Oglethorpe University is a private college in Brookhaven, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named in honor of General James Edward Oglethorpe, founder of the Colony of Georgia. History Oglethorpe University was chartered in 1834 in Mid ...
. Rutledge ded on September 15, 1973, at age 90. His cause of death was natural causes. He is buried at Hampton Plantation.


Selected works


Legacy

* Archibald Rutledge Academy in McClellanville, South Carolina, was named in his honor.


References

* https://www.loc.gov/rr/main/poets/southcarolina.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20070715181328/http://students.libsci.sc.edu/literarymap/authors/rutle.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutledge, Archibald 1883 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American poets Poets from South Carolina John Burroughs Medal recipients Union College (New York) alumni Poets Laureate of South Carolina People from McClellanville, South Carolina