The Boar's Head Society (1910 – 1970s) was a student '' conversazione society'' devoted to poetry at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. It was an "adjunct to Columbia College's

Philolexian Society The Philolexian Society of Columbia University is one of the oldest college literary and debate societies in the United States, and the oldest student group at Columbia. Founded in 1802, the society aims to "improve its members in Oratory, Compo ...

... The purpose of their new society was entirely creative: reading and commenting on each other's works."

History

John Erskine, English professor, formed the society. This connected the society through him to Columbia's student literary magazine, ''The Morningside Review'' (founded first as the ''Literary Monthly'' in 1815, renamed by Erskine in 1898, and renamed the '' Columbia Review'' in 1932). In 1931, it claimed to be the only organization on campus "devoted exclusively to poetry." The society seems to have started during the 1909–1910 academic schoolyear, as in November 1909 it sponsored theatrical productions of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farce, farcical Shakespearean comedy, comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addit ...

'' and

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's ''

An Ideal Husband ''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...

''.

Competitions

The society also held annual literary competitions and then published winners in the magazine. Competition judges included

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. His '' Spring and All'' (1923) was written in the wake of T. S. Eliot's '' The Waste Land'' (1922). ...

(and

Lionel Trilling Lionel Mordecai Trilling (July 4, 1905 – November 5, 1975) was an American literary critic, short story writer, essayist, and teacher. He was one of the leading U.S. critics of the 20th century who analyzed the contemporary cultural, social, ...

). Winners included

John Berryman John Allyn McAlpin Berryman (born John Allyn Smith, Jr.; October 25, 1914 – January 7, 1972) was an American poet and scholar. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and is considered a key figure in th ...

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," M ...

John Hollander John Hollander (October 28, 1929 – August 17, 2013) was an American poet and literary critic. At the time of his death, he was Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University, having previously taught at Connecticut College, Hunter C ...

, and

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

. At some point, the magazine took over the competition from the society.

Members

Student members included: * 1910s:

Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a ...

(president),

Kenneth Burke Kenneth Duva Burke (May 5, 1897 – November 19, 1993) was an American literary theorist, as well as poet, essayist, and novelist, who wrote on 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, criticism, and rhetorical theory. As a literary theorist, Burke ...

Alfred A. Knopf, Sr.,

Randolph Bourne Randolph Silliman Bourne (; May 30, 1886 – December 22, 1918) was a progressive writer and intellectual born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and a graduate of Columbia University. He is considered to be a spokesman for the young radicals living d ...

Irwin Edman Irwin Edman (November 28, 1896 – September 4, 1954) was an American philosopher and professor of philosophy. Biography Irwin Edman was born in New York City to Jewish parents. He grew up in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, a ...

, Lloyd R. Morris,

Mark Van Doren Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thin ...

* 1920s:

Whittaker Chambers Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer and intelligence agent. After early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), he defected from the Soviet u ...

Louis Zukofsky Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was an American poet. He was the primary instigator and theorist of the so-called "Objectivist" poets, a short lived collective of poets who after several decades of obscurity would reemerge a ...

, Samuel Theodore Hecht,

, Eleanor Bell (first woman member) * 1930s:

Ralph de Toledano Ralph de Toledano (August 17, 1916 – February 3, 2007) was an American writer in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement in the United States throughout the second half of the 20th century. A friend of Richard Nixon, he was ...

Barry Ulanov Baruch "Barry" Ulanov (April 10, 1918 – April 30, 2000) was an American writer, perhaps best known as a jazz critic. Background Barry Ulanov was born in Manhattan, New York City. He received early instruction on the violin from his father Nathan ...

* 1940s:

Daniel Hoffman Daniel Gerard Hoffman (April 3, 1923 – March 30, 2013) was an American poet, essayist, and academic. He was appointed the twenty-second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1973. Early life and education Hoffman wa ...

* 1950s:

Mentions

Mention of the Boar's Head Society appears in the ''Columbia Daily Spectator''. Archives record: * "Boar's Head Well on Way" on May 12, 1910 * "New Literary Society on Campus" on October 8, 1910, for the term at University Hall * "Boar's Head to Hold Last Meeting" on May 5, 1911, for the term at University Hall * "Boar's Head to Hold Last Meeting" on May 8, 1911, for the term at University Hall * "French Scholar to Address Boar's Head" on December 10, 1912 * "Dr. Van Doren to Address Boar's Head" on February 25, 1913 * "Boar's Head Meeting on Wednesday" on November 2, 1914, in Hamilton Hall * "Boar's Head Meets Tonight" on August 10, 1915, in * "Meeting" on September 28, 1920, in Erskine's office in Hamilton Hall * "Boar's Head to Meet" on March 17, 1921 * "Boar's Head to Meet" on February 9, 1923 * "Boar's Head Will Meet" on December 8, 1926, with Professor Erskine * "Anniversary Program" on April 30, 1931, with Philosophy Professor and literary critic Houston Peterson as guest of honor * "26th Annual Poetry Reading" on April 30, 1936, presided by Professor

, guest of honor

R.P. Blackmur Richard Palmer Blackmur (January 21, 1904 – February 2, 1965) was an American literary critic and poet. Life Blackmur was born and grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. He attended Cambridge High and Latin School, but was expelled in 1918. A ...

, and winner

* "W. C. Williams To Read Poems Here Tonight" on May 6, 1937 * "Set Poetry Deadline" on April 16, 1952, for the annual competition * "Review Produced Literary Notables" on October 14, 1959 * "Columbia Review: Mixing Metaphors" on April 25, 1961 * "Review to Publish Volumes Featuring Individual Authors" on September 25, 1964

Impact

The April 1935 issue of the ''Columbia Review'',

wrote "Boar's Heart: 25 Years" and

wrote a "Note on Poetry". In 2006, Hoffman reminisced, "When I returned to Columbia after the Second World War, I joined the Boar's Head Society, which was a little group of poets. In those days, colleges didn't like poets to do anything, so we ponied up the hundred bucks and invited him" (

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry is noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, ...

References