James Oppenheim (1882-1932), Songs for the New Age. New York: Century, 1914. Courtesy Internet Archive.
James Oppenheim (May 24, 1882 - August 4, 1932), was an American poet, novelist, and editor. A lay Jungian analyst, he was the founder and editor of The Seven Arts, an important early 20th-century literary magazine.
Life[]
Youth and education[]
Oppenheim was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 24, 1882, the son of Matilda (Schloss) and Joseph Oppenheim.[1]
His father died when the son was 6 and the family's circumstances changed.[1].
He was educated in public schools and at Columbia University[2].
Career[]
Oppenheim was assistant head worker at the Hudson Guild Settlement in New York from 1901 to 1903. He then worked as a teacher and acting superintendent at the Hebrew Technical School For Girls in New York from 1905 to 1907.
He married Lucy Seckel and had 2 children, Ralph and James Jr. (alias Garrett). Lucy filed for divorce following the publication of his 1914 novel, Idle Wives.
He was a well-known writer of short stories and novels. Oppenheim depicted labor troubles with Fabian and suffragist themes in his novel, The Nine-Tenths (1911) and in his famous poem Bread and Roses (1911). The slogan Bread and Roses is now commonly associated with the pivotal 1912 textile workers' strike in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The poem was later set to music in 1976 by Mimi Fariña and again in 1990 by John Denver.
At The Seven Arts magazine he served as primary editor,[3] and worked with Waldo Frank, George Jean Nathan, Louis Untermeyer and Paul Rosenfeld, during 1916-1917, until he was blacklisted due to his opposition to US entry into World War I. Notable writers who contributed to the magazine under his guidance included Sherwood Anderson, Van Wyck Brooks, Max Eastman, Robert Frost, D.H. Lawrence, Vachel Lindsay and Amy Lowell[4].
Additionally, he contributed short stories, articles, and poems to American Magazine, American Mercury, Century, Collier's, Freeman, Harper's, Hearst's, New Republic, and The Thinker.
After the collapse of The Seven Arts, he studied and wrote about psychology, in particular the works of Carl Jung[5]. Oppenheim died in New York City on August 4, 1932.
Writing[]
His poetry followed Walt Whitman's model of free verse ruminations on "social and democratic aspects of life."[6].
Publications[]
Poetry[]
- Monday Morning, and other poems. New York: Sturgis & Walton, 1909.
- Songs for the New Age. New York: Century, 1914.
- War and Laughter. New York: Century, 1916.
- The Book of Self. New York: Knopf, 1917.
- The Solitary. New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1919.
- The Mystic Warrior. New York: Knopf, 1921.
- Golden Bird. New York: Knopf, 1923.
- The Sea. New York: Knopf, 1924.
Plays[]
- The Pioneers: A poetic drama in two scenes. New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1910.
- Night: A poetic drama in one act. New York: Arins, 1918.
Novels[]
- Wild Oats. New York: Harper, 1910.
- The Nine-Tenths: A novel. New York: Harper, 1911.
- The Olympian: A story of the city. New York & London: Harper, 1912.
- Idle Wives. New York: Century, 1914.
- The Beloved. New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1915.
- Behind Your Front. New York & London: Harper, 1928.
Short fiction[]
- Dr. Rast. Sturgis & Walton, 1909.
- Pay Envelopes: Tales of the mill, the mine, and the city street. New York: B.W. Huebsch, 1911; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1972.
Non-fiction[]
- Your Hidden Powers. New York: Knopf, 1923.
- How I Psycho-Analyzed Myself. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1925.
- The Psychology of Jung. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1925.
- A Psycho-Analysis of the Jews. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1926.
- A Psycho-Analysis of America. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1926.
- How to Fight Nervous Troubles. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1926.
- The Common Sense of Sex. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1926.
- Your Talent, and how to develop it. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1927.
- How to Be Happy Though Married. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1927.
- How to Write for the Market. Girard, KS: Haldeman-Julius, 1927.
- American Types: A preface to analytic psychology. New York & London: Knopf, 1931.
- How to Develop Your Hidden Talent. St. Ives, Cornwall, UK: E.J.P., 1968.
Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the New York Public Library,[7] and WorldCat.[8]
Bread & Roses
See also[]
References[]
- Who Was Who: Volume I, 1943.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hill, Ruthie. "The Seven Arts Editors". Little Magazines and Modernism. http://forum.davidson.edu/littlemagazines/2010/08/10/the-seven-arts-editors/. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ↑ Hill, Ruthie. "The Seven Arts Editors". Little Magazines and Modernism. http://forum.davidson.edu/littlemagazines/2010/08/10/the-seven-arts-editors/. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ↑ Hill, Ruthie. "The Seven Arts Editors". Little Magazines and Modernism. http://forum.davidson.edu/littlemagazines/2010/08/10/the-seven-arts-editors/. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ↑ Hill, Ruthie. "The Seven Arts Contributors". Little Magazines and Modernism. http://forum.davidson.edu/littlemagazines/2010/08/10/the-seven-arts-contributors/. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ↑ Hill, Ruthie. "The Seven Arts Editors". Little Magazines and Modernism. http://forum.davidson.edu/littlemagazines/2010/08/10/the-seven-arts-editors/. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ↑ "Biography of James Oppenheim". http://poetry.poetryx.com/poets/268/bio/. Retrieved 29 May 2011.
- ↑ James Oppenheim papers, Archives & Manuscripts, New York Public Library. Web, May 12, 2015.
- ↑ Search results = au:James Oppenheim, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, May 12, 2015.
External links[]
- Poems
- "Bread and Roses"
- 2 poems by Oppenheim: "Early April," "Immoral"
- James Oppenheim at the Academy of American Poets (3 poems)
- James Oppenheim in The New Poetry: An anthology: "The Slave," "The Lonely Child," "Not Overlooked," " "The Runner in the Skies"
- James Oppenheim at PoemHunter (8 poems)
- Books
- Works by James Oppenheim at Project Gutenberg
- James Oppenheim at Amazon.com
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