Sara Haardt
| Sara Haardt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Sara Powell Haardt March 1, 1898 Montgomery, Alabama |
| Died |
May 31, 1935 (aged 37) Baltimore, Maryland |
| Cause of death | Meningitis |
| Alma mater | Goucher College |
| Occupation | Novelist, professor, writer |
| Spouse(s) | H. L. Mencken |
Sara Haardt (March 1, 1898 – May 31, 1935) was an American author and professor of English literature. Though she died at the age of 37 of meningitis, she produced a considerable body of work including newspaper reviews, articles, essays, a novel The Making of a Lady, several screen plays and over 50 short stories. She is central to John Barton Wolgamot's notorious book-length poem, "In Sara Mencken, Christ and Beethoveen there were men and women" (1944), recorded by the composer Robert Ashley.
Early life and education
Sara Powell Haardt was born March 1, 1898, to Venetia Hall Haardt and German American John Anton Haardt in Montgomery, Alabama, the eldest of five children. She attended the Margaret Booth School. In 1920, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. While still an undergraduate at Goucher, she had become a professional writer, writing for literary reviews and popular periodicals.
Career
When she graduated, she was immediately hired to teach at Goucher College in the English Department.[1]
She became the head of the Alabama branch of the National Woman's Party, where she led the fight to have the Alabama Legislature ratify the 19th Amendment.[2]
While teaching at Goucher College, she met H. L. Mencken in 1923. Despite his widely known opposition to the institution of marriage, and his criticism of suffragettes,[3] they married in 1930.
Her short story "Absolutely Perfect" won her a nomination for the O. Henry Prize in 1933.
Death
She died in 1935 from meningitis.[4] Her death was the result of complications of tuberculosis, from which she had suffered for many years.[5]
Notes
- ↑ Henley, Ann. "Sara Haardt". Encyclopedia of Alabama. The Encyclopedia of Alabama TM. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ↑ "Alabamina: Literary Figures". Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ↑ Marino, Patricia. "Mencken's "Mixed Martial Arts" For And Against Women". The Kramer is Now. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- ↑ "Literary Figures: Sally Haardt", The Real South: Famous People, AL.
- ↑ Bode, Carl (1969-01-01). Mencken. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0809303760.
References
- Henley, Ann (1999). Southern Souvenirs: Short Stories and Essays by Sara Haardt. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
- Henley, Ann (1994). "Sara Haardt and 'the Sweet, Flowering South". Alabama Heritage (34): 1–21.
- Henley, Ann (2006). "The Flower of the Sahara". Menckeniana: A Quarterly Review (Spring).
- Hobson, Fred (1994). Mencken: A Biography. New York: Random House.
- Mayfield, Sara (1968). The Constant Circle: H. L. Mencken and His Friends. New York: Delacorte P.
- Mencken, H. L. (1936). Southern Album. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company.
- Rodgers, Marion Elizabeth (1987). Mencken and Sara: A Life in Letters. New York: McGraw-Hill.
External links
- Sara Haardt Mencken Collection at Goucher College
- Mapping Hidden Collections – The H.L. and Sara Haardt Mencken Collection at Goucher College
- Encyclopedia of Alabama – Sara Haardt Mencken
- Findagrave.com – Sara Haardt Mencken