Highlights
Henry Louis Mencken, better known as H. L. Mencken, was a journalist, satirist, social critic, cynic and freethinker. The "Sage of Baltimore," as he was called, is regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the early 20th century. Mencken was born in 1880 in Baltimore, the son of August Mencken, a cigar factory owner. The family moved to 1524 Hollins Street in the Union Square neighborhood when Mencken was three years old, and he lived in the house for the rest of his life, apart from five years of married life. He became a reporter for the Baltimore Morning Herald in 1899 and joined The Baltimore Sun in 1906. In 1908, he became a literary critic for the magazine The Smart...
Henry Louis Mencken, better known as H. L. Mencken, was a journalist, satirist, social critic, cynic and freethinker. The "Sage of Baltimore," as he was called, is regarded as one of the most influential American writers of the early 20th century. Mencken was born in 1880 in Baltimore, the son of August Mencken, a cigar factory owner. The family moved to 1524 Hollins Street in the Union Square neighborhood when Mencken was three years old, and he lived in the house for the rest of his life, apart from five years of married life. He became a reporter for the Baltimore Morning Herald in 1899 and joined The Baltimore Sun in 1906. In 1908, he became a literary critic for the magazine The Smart Set. Together with George Jean Nathan, Mencken founded and edited The American Mercury, published in January 1924. It soon had a national circulation and became highly influential on college campuses across America. Mencken is perhaps best remembered for "The American Language," a multi-volume study of how the English language is spoken in the United States, and for his satirical reporting on the prosecution, judge, jury and venue of the Scopes trial, which he is credited for naming the "Monkey" trial. In 1983, the City of Baltimore acquired Mencken's home on Hollins Street and the "H. L. Mencken House" became part of the City Life Museums. Shortly after World War II, Mencken expressed his intention of bequeathing his books and papers to the the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Cathedral Street in Baltimore. At the time of his death at age 75, most of the present collection had been received and a special room on the third floor was prepared to house the items. The Mencken Room was dedicated on April 17, 1956.
Displaying items 1-12 of 94
» View baltimoresun.com items only
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
•
Next >
-
H.L. Mencken, the 'Sage of Baltimore'
The Baltimore SunSunday marks the 56th anniversary of the death of H.L. Mencken, the influential writer, journalist, satirist and social critic known as the "Sage of Baltimore," who died at the age of 75 in 1956. In a new video (above), The Sun's Frederick Rasmussen...Tags: Journalism, Sage, Journalism
-
Charles Adam Fecher
Charles Adam Fecher, a self-taught Baltimore scholar, author and editor who undertook the formidable task of editing the controversial diaries of H.L. Mencken, died Monday of respiratory failure at St. Agnes Hospital.
The longtime Govans and Rodgers...Tags: Patterson Park, Book, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Educational Development Corporation, Colleges and Universities
-
A photographic tour of Towson
Melissa Schehlein, a Towson native, walked the streets and byways of the Baltimore County seat in search of what was while documenting with her camera what is.
The result of her search was the recently published book, "Towson: Then and Now," a 96-page...Tags: Architecture, Timonium, Gino Marchetti, Baltimore County, Harrisburg (Dauphin, Pennsylvania)
-
Opening of Mencken's papers 25 years after his death
It was H. L. Mencken's last party, and the invitation had been written more than 25 years earlier. I was among the invited guests at the Enoch Pratt Free Library on Cathedral Street to witness the opening of Mencken's final papers, which his will...Tags: Libraries, Libraries, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Enoch Pratt Free Library
-
Mencken found his match in biographer Charles Fecher
The legendary publisher Alfred A. Knopf was a man who valued excellence. For years he searched for someone to write a biography of his friend Henry Louis Mencken. In his opinion, no biography up to then, including that of William Manchester, was right....Tags: Labor Legislation, Biography (genre), Labor Legislation
-
Praise from one Mencken scholar to another
Marion Elizabeth Rodgers' recent letter praising the work of Charles A. Fecher, the biographer and scholar of Henry Louis Mencken who died on January 16, was right on target. But it should also be noted that Ms. Rodgers is the author of the best and most... -
Who says Mencken would have hated speed cameras?
Giving the proceeds for traffic light and speed camera violators to charities is a good idea. Having these devices is a great challenge to speeders and DUI drivers who flout laws designed to protect all of us. I do not believe that H.L. Mencken would... -
A toast to Baltimore's old breweries
"Back again, back again, we've got Franklin D. Roosevelt back again, since Roosevelt's been re-elected moonshine liquor's been corrected, we've got legal wine, whiskey, beer and gin." —Recorded by Bill Cox in 1936 Happy New Year! Oh, I'm sorry....Tags: Consumer Goods Industries, Bars and Clubs, Book, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Forests
-
The voice of reason
H.L. Mencken once observed that newspapers, by nature, are bellicose and do not speak in support of anyone or anything unless they absolutely can't help it. There are any number of public figures in Maryland and beyond who would attest to this.
But on...Tags: Fox News Channel (tv network), U.S. Military, Personal Service, Newspaper and Magazine, Talk Show (genre)
-
David R. Owen
Baltimore Sun reporterDavid Rogers Owen, an internationally known maritime lawyer and accomplished yachtsman, died Friday in his sleep of unknown causes at the Blakehurst retirement community in Towson. The former longtime Riderwood resident was 97. "The death of David...Tags: U.S. Military, Armed Conflicts, Transportation Accidents, Norfolk (Litchfield, Connecticut), Firearms
-
Warners sends out a big, fat 'Harry' farewell
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" packs up a lot of troubles into its old kit bag of magic spells and evil ambitions — and the result is smiles, smiles, smiles. The supposedly last installment in Warner Bros.' big-screen "Harry Potter"...Tags: J.K. Rowling , Fiction, Ryan Reynolds, David Yates, Kevin Spacey
Jan 28, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 31, 2012
|Resource Link| Baltimore Sun
Jan 19, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 8, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 21, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 19, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 23, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 5, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Jan 1, 2012
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Nov 25, 2011
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Nov 7, 2011
|Story| Baltimore Sun
Nov 8, 2011
|Story| Patuxent Homestead
