Elias Lieberman (1883–1969) was an American poet, writer and educator, known for 1916 poem "I Am an American".[1][2]
Background
editElias Lieberman was born on October 30, 1883, in St. Petersburg, Russia. At age seven, he emigrated to the United States with his Russian Jewish family. In 1903, he graduated cum laude from the City College of New York, where he joined the Phi Beta Kappa fraternity. In 1911, he earned a PhD from New York University.[1][2]
Career
edit
In 1903, Lieberman began working as an English teacher at public schools. At NYU, he served as editor of Puck, The American Hebrew, and The Scholastic.[1][2]
In 1918, he became head of the English department at Bushwick High School in Brooklyn through 1924.[1]
In 1924, Lieberman became principal of Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn.[1] Students included movie star and comedian Danny Kaye and wife Sylvia Fine, scientist Martin Pope, producer Jack Rollins, typewriter expert Martin Tytell, and historian Howard Zinn. Thomas Jefferson was one of seven public high schools in New York to receive a M. P. Moller pipe organ in 1926 under Lieberman. (In the 1990s, this organ was removed and discarded.)[3]
In 1940, Lieberman joined the New York City Board of Education, as an associate superintendent of schools in charge of the junior high school division.[1][2] He retired in 1954.[1]
Personal life and death
editLieberman married Rose Kiesler; they had two children who became a surgeon and a professor.[1]
In 1918, Arthur Guiterman and Joyce Kilmer nominated Lieberman to the Poetry Society of America. He later served there as director and vice president. In 1969, he became a fellow of the society.[1]
He served as president of the Associate Alumni of City College.[1]
Lieberman died age 85 on July 13, 1969, at his home in the Richmond Hill district in Queens, New York.[1]
Awards
editWorks
editLieberman wrote poetry all his life. "I am an American" appeared in the July 1916 issue of Everybody's Magazine. He last published in the Alaska Review.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Dr. Elias Lieberman Dies at 85; Poet Wrote 'I Am an American'; Retired Executive of Schools Here Was Author of 4 Volumes of Verses". The New York Times. 1969-07-14. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
- ^ a b c d e "What so Proudly We Hail: The American Soul in Story, Speech, and Song" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-12-13.
- ^ "Thomas Jefferson High School". New York City American Guild of Organists. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "Lavender, My Lavender". Alumni Association of the City College of New York. City College of New York. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
External links
edit- "Elias Lieberman Papers An inventory of his collection at Syracuse University". library.syr.edu. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
- "Elias Lieberman". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
- Smith, Alfred Emanuel; Walton, Francis (1916-01-01). New Outlook. Outlook publishing Company, Incorporated.
- “I am an American”
- Lieberman, Elias (1922-10-22). "Prodding Pegasus Along; Prodding Pegasus Along". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
- Lieberman, Elias (1918-09-01). "The Truce of the Tiger". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-12-13.