Wikipedia

Hiram Powers Dilworth

Hiram Powers Dilworth (May 19, 1878 – November 26, 1975) was an American poet, pianist, and music teacher. He was the director of music at Nebraska Normal College and was also a guard at the Art Institute of Chicago for more than fifty years.

Hiram Powers Dilworth
BornMay 19, 1878
Hicksville, Ohio, US
DiedNovember 26, 1975(1975-11-26) (aged 97)
Chicago, Illinois, US
Alma materAntioch College
College of Music of Cincinnati
OccupationSecurity guard
EmployerArt Institute of Chicago
Known forPoet

Early life

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Dilworth was born on May 19, 1878, in Hicksville, Ohio.[1][2] He was named for the Vermont sculptor, Hiram Powers.[3] His father was William Dillsworth, a successful merchant in Hicksville.[4][3] His brother, Homer, was a county superintendent in Angola, Indiana , in 1907.[4]

He attended Antioch College, graduating in 1900.[1] He then attended and graduated from the College of Music of Cincinnati, where he studied with Albino Gorno.[5][6][7] He continued his musical studies in New York City and Paris.[6]

Career

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Dilworth writing poetry in his guard uniform at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1909.

Dilworth started his career as a well-known classical pianist.[3] After graduating from the College of Music, Dilworth became a professor and the music director at the Nebraska Normal College from 1902 to 1904.[1][8][3]

He moved to Chicago in 1904, where he performed concerts, taught music lessons, and was active in the music scene.[1][6][9] He became a guard at the Art Institute of Chicago on October 2, 1904.[10][11][12][13] He worked at the Art Institute until his retirement in 1959.[1] This job allowed Dilworth to focus on writing poetry, as he "disdained the idea of being a poet-for-profit".[1] He often wrote poetry on the back of the Art Institute's weekly bulletins while at work.[1][14]

His poems were published in Chicago's Poetry: A Magazine of Verse.[2] He also self-published more than twenty poetry books, including The Year (1908), Seven Sonnets and Ode to the Merry Moment (1916), Harry Butters: a Monody (1917), Songs of Autumn (1922), Ode on the Pure Art and the Great Achievement and the Enduring Name of Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler (1928), and The Cup of Joy (1937).[2]

Dilworth wrote poems in the sonnet form, many exceeding 100 stanzas.[1] His poems were about music, nature, patriotism, religion, and memorials.[1][10] His inspiration was often classic music, a musical performance, a painting at the Art Institute, or another musician.[1][15] His epic patriotic poem "Harry Butters" is his most famous work; the poem was about a Dillworth's friend who died in France while fighting for the British during World War I.[1][16]

Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, and Jack London praised Dilworth's work.[1] In 1952, he received the Grace Thayer Bradley Award for Poetry from the Friends of Literature.[17][18]

Personal life

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Dilworth lived at 424 West 66th Street in Chicago.[3] He did not marry.[3]

During the 1920s, Dilworth dabbled in the stock market and became affluent, earning the nickname "the millionaire guard".[3] That ended with the 1929 stock market crash.[3] However, in 1954, he told the Chicago Tribune that he had recouped his fortune.[3]

Dilworth died in Chicago on November 26, 1974.[2]

Selected publications

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Books

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Anthologies

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"Greek Slave". in The Chicago Anthology: A Collection of Verse from the Work of Chicago Poets. Charles Granger Blanden and Minna Mathison, editors. Roadside Press, 1916 pp. 121–122 – via Google Books.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Collection: Hiram Powers Dilworth papers, 1908–1974". The Newberry Library. Retrieved January 1, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Guide to the Hiram Powers Dilworth Papers 1949-1950". University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Flavin, Genevieve (1954-09-30). "Art Institute Poet Guard to Hail 50th Year". Chicago Tribune. p. 91. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 1 2 "Angola Brief News Notices". The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. 1907-04-26. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Cincinnati Soloist are Heard in Park Concert". Musical America. 44 (16): 20. August 7, 1926 – via Google Books.
  6. 1 2 3 "Hiram Powers Dilworth". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1926-07-18. p. 57. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. 1 2 "Hiram Powers Dilworth". The Cincinnati Enquirer. 1937-06-12. p. 7. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Former Wayne Instructor Writes Armistice Poem". The Goldenrod. Wayne, Nebraska. 1927-12-19. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "Music Notes". Chicago Tribune. 1931-06-14. p. 54. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Jewett, Eleanor (1945-10-14). "Art Institute Guard for 41 Years Honored". Chicago Tribune. p. 75. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ "Ten Men who Guard Chicago's Million Dollar Art Treasure". Chicago Tribune. 1909-07-11. p. 44. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ Jewett, Eleanor (1934-07-01). "Art Institute Finds a Poet Among its Guards; Dudley Crafts Watson Uses His Verse in Lectures". Chicago Tribune. p. 71. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Jewett, Eleanor (1943-11-28). "Art Institute Guard Writes a Yule Rhyme". Chicago Tribune. p. 127. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. 1 2 "He Writes Sonnets While Guarding Treasure". Chicago Tribune. 1909-10-17. p. 66. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. 1 2 "Guard Turns Poet in Art Atmosphere". The Inter Ocean. Chicago, Illinois. 1913-03-05. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Harry Butters Memorialized by Poet Friend". San Francisco Bulletin. 1917-11-03. p. 3. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ Weber, Olga S. (1970). Literary and Library Prizes. Bowker. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-8352-0399-9 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ Jewett, Eleanor (1952-05-25). "Art Institute Guard Wins Poetry Award". Chicago Tribune. p. 97. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ↑ "New Magazines". The Bibelot. 15 (9): Front Cover. September 1895 – via Google Books.
  20. ↑ "Book Received" Poetry, vol. 2, no. 3 (1913): 117. JSTOR 20569795
  21. ↑ The Cumulative Book Index January 1927–December 1927. Vol. 29. H. W. Wilson Company. 1928. p. 219.
  22. ↑ "Ode to Fannie Zeisler". Chicago Tribune. 1928-07-07. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-01-01 – via Newspapers.com.
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