Earl A. Cuevas (poet)

Earl Alphonse Cuevas[1] (July 28, 1897 - September 8, 1992)[2][3] was the Poet Laureate of Mississippi[3] and founder of the Poet Laureate League, a national lobbying group which advocated for the establishment of poet laureate positions in the United States in the 1930s. Cuevas also wrote under the pen name Carl Cave.[1]

Personal life

Earl Alphonse Cuevas was born July 28, 1897, in Kiln, Mississippi[3] to George A. Cuevas[4] and Cornelia Mann.[5] He had 8 siblings.[5] He graduated from the University of California, University of Detroit, and Soule College.[6] He worked in the traffic department of the National Recovery Administration in Washington, D.C.[6] He passed away in Jackson, Mississippi on September 8, 1992, at the age of 95.[3]

Poet Laureate League of America

On August 26, 1932[7] Cuevas organized the Poet Laureate League of America in Washington D.C.[8] The organization's mission was to advocate for a national poet laureate, state poets laureate, income stipends and patrons to financially sponsor poets, housing for poets, and create a national museum to honor American poets.[8]

Cuevas advocated for the establishment of a wage code, standardizing pay for poets, through the National Recovery Administration.[9] He sought out properties for clubhouse space,[10] museums,[11] and communal housing for poets.[12] He wanted to establish a housing colony for poets in Virginia at Mount Weather where poets could live and write while being subsidized by government funding.[13] He advocated for a federal poetry project that would guarantee poets a weekly salary, promote their works in the press and broadcast them on radio, and academic settings.[14]

Cuevas appeared before Congress on April 25, 1935, in favor of the creation of a Department of Science, Arts, and Literature.[15] He spoke of the economic struggles of poets, his organizing efforts to turn poetry into a profitable industry, and advocated for better working conditions and pay for poets.[15] He advocated for a national poet laureate position, and spoke of the Poet Laureate League's selection process for state poets laureate.

On February 28, 1938 He testified before a Senate subcommittee in 1938 in favor of S. 3269 in favor of a Bureau of Fine Arts, representing around 400 poets across the United States who had membership in the Poet Laureate League.[7] He spoke of the impoverished conditions that poets lived in, the lack of a profitable career path, and lack of recognition for contemporary living poets at the time.[7]

The organization's membership elected the following to serve as poets laureate for their state:

  • Anthony F. Klinker, Poet Laureate of Iowa (1933)[16]
  • Margaret Ball Dickson, Poet Laureate of Minnesota (1934)[17]
  • Earl A. Cuevas, Poet Laureate of Mississippi (1935)[6]
  • Susan Louise Marsh, Poet Laureate of Missouri (1933)[18]
  • Benjamin F. Musser, Poet Laureate of New Jersey (1934)[19]
  • Dr. Joseph Halstead aka Dom Placid Kleppel, Poet Laureate of North Carolina (1935)[20]
  • Mabel B. Posegate, Poet Laureate of Ohio (1936)[21]
  • Julious Caesar Hill, Poet Laureate of Oklahoma (1939)[22][23]
  • Ralph Cheyney, Poet Laureate of Pennsylvania (1934)[24]

Poetry

  • "A Call to Mississippi," The Winona Times, July 3, 1925[25]
  • "To the South," Biloxi Sun Herald, July 11, 1930[26]
  • "The Dying Muse", Hearings before the Committee on Patents, 74th Congress, April 15, 1935[27]
  • "The Revolt of the Muses", Congressional Record, 86th Congress, March 23, 1959[28]
  • "New Iberia," The Daily Iberian, August 21, 1957[29]

References

  1. ^ a b "Poetry League is formed here". Evening Star. 29 August 1932. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  2. ^ "Whose birthday". The Washington Herald. 28 July 1934. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  3. ^ a b c d Overstreet, James (10 September 1992). "Earl A Cuevas, poet, photographer". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  4. ^ "Laureate to visit relatives". Sun Herald. 3 December 1934. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  5. ^ a b "50th wedding anniversary". Sun Herald. 20 September 1946. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  6. ^ a b c "The state poet laureate of Mississippi". Times Herald. 28 March 1935. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  7. ^ a b c Bureau of Fine Arts Hearings before a Subcommittee on S. 3296. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1938. pp. 44–62. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  8. ^ a b "Poets ask nation to glorify them". Evening star. 4 February 1932. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  9. ^ "Cash on mail for verse is goal of poets' lobby". Daily Sentinel. 16 August 1934. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  10. ^ Cave, Carl (29 October 1932). "Poets are seeking a clubhouse also says one of them". Washington Daily News. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  11. ^ "The Justice Holmes Memorial and disposition of his residence". Evening Star. 6 March 1938. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  12. ^ White, E.B. (25 January 1936). "A Blessed Event". No. 1 February 1936. The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  13. ^ "Colony for Poets". Richmond News Leader. 7 February 1936. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  14. ^ "Poets project proposes ragged rhymsters relief". Washington Daily News. 2 August 1935. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  15. ^ a b Statement of Earl A. Cuevas, Poet Laureate of Mississippi. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1935. pp. 190–206. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  16. ^ "Named poet laureate of Iowa". The Tribune. 6 July 1933. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  17. ^ "Margaret Dickson is Poet laureate". Minneapolis Journal. 25 April 1934. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  18. ^ "St Louis woman is state poet laureate". Kansas City Journal. 2 April 1933. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  19. ^ "Fair member of poetry society". Charlotte Observer. 5 September 1934. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  20. ^ "Dom Placid selected as state poet". The Charlotte Observer. 5 October 1935. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  21. ^ "Local poet named as Ohio laureate". Cincinnati Post. 21 September 1936. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  22. ^ "Poet laureate honored at NY Fair, Oklahoman of honor on Poet's Day". California Eagle. 15 June 1939. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  23. ^ "State's Black Poet Laureate to recite works at program". Tulsa World. 18 November 1979. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  24. ^ "Poet Laureate". Delaware County Times. 12 June 1934. Retrieved 18 March 2026.
  25. ^ Cuevas, Earl (3 July 1925). "A Call to Mississippi". The Winona Times. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  26. ^ Cuevas, Earl (11 July 1930). "To the South". Sun Herald. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  27. ^ Department of Science, Art, and Literature Hearings Before the Committee on Patents, House of Representatives, Seventy-fourth Congress, First Session, April 15, 16, 23-25, 1935. U.S. Government Printing Office. April 1935. pp. 154–161. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  28. ^ Congressional Record Proceedings and Debates of the 86th Congress Volume 105, Part 20. U.S. Government Printing Office. March 23, 1959. pp. A2525–A2526. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  29. ^ Cuevas, Earl (21 August 1957). "New Iberia". The Daily Iberian. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
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