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Unpublished Research on James Hearst

The works discussed in this section (with the exception of Fibikar) are all held locally in the University of Northern Iowa Rod Library University Archives & Special Collections, found in box 78 of the Hearst Family Papers. All of the works mentioned below are student research.

Daman, James Edward. “Beyond Knowledge to Wisdom: An Introduction to James Hearst.” M.S thesis, Mankato State College, 1968.  
Daman’s master’s thesis, totaling two hundred and twenty-seven pages, provides a detailed biography of Hearst’s life, both prior to and following the accident that left him paralyzed, as well as an in-depth discussion of his life as a teacher. Daman lists the bulk of Hearst’s poems and discusses his major collections in addition to including information on Hearst’s pedagogical practices within the classroom. The discussion of Hearst’s poetry is limited mainly to its content, rather than a detailed literary reading, although this is understandable, given the fact that Daman is, in fact, writing a master’s thesis in science. However, this piece provides complete and detailed biographical information in one location, as well as including little discussed pedagogical methods, making this a unique piece of scholarship for those interested in James Hearst, the man, rather than James Hearst, the poet.

Dungly, Chris. “Natural and Cultural Landscapes in the Poetry of James Hearst.” Graduate course paper, University of Michigan-Flint, 1982.
Dungly’s examination of the use of the natural world in the many works of Hearst includes an interesting attachment of correspondence with Dr. Robert Ward, as he attempted to contact James Hearst himself to discuss his use of nature in his poetry. Dungly focuses on the prevalence of natural or pastoral imagery in Hearst’s poetry as it relates to the cultural landscape of the Midwest and of the United States.

Emde, Jane Mason. “The Life and Works of James Schell Hearst.” MA thesis, University of Minnesota, 1970.
Emde’s master’s thesis (in library science) includes biographical information on James Hearst, as well as an extensive and well-organized bibliography of his collected works and individual poems. Although Emde does not include a great deal of critical interpretation, she has collected a great deal of biographical information on Hearst and organized it well, making this another valuable source for those interested in a concise biography of Hearst.

Fibikar, Ronna J. “In Search of Order: The Transformation and Re-use of Midwestern Grain Elevators.” M.A. Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990.
This thesis twice references Hearst in this architectural thesis focusing on the iconic status of grain elevators in the Midwest.

Gabel, Sandra. “James Hearst: The Vision of the Mature Poet.” Student paper, Bellevue College, 1983.
Gabel identifies Hearst as an “enlightened citizen and [an] eloquent farmer” as she examines the progress of his poetry, both in terms of his craft and the subject of his poetry. She uses Hearst’s autobiography, My Shadow Below Me, to provide her with the biographical information she uses to inform her reading of Hearst’s poetry. Her main claim is that Hearst’s poetry transcends the time and even the place it was written in in order to say something more universal about human experience, although it does rely heavily on the agrarian and the pastoral. 

Pals, Brian. “A Bibliographic Supplement to The Complete Poetry of James Hearst.” Graduate course paper, University of Northern Iowa, 2012.
The bibliography itself sorts Hearst’s poems alphabetically into the books and sources they originally appeared in, as well as tracking their location within The Complete Poetry of James Hearst (which arranges the poems solely in chronological order). Although Pals does not seek to replace or supplant the bibliographies available, ether in The Complete Poetry or in Robert Ward’s James Hearst: A Bibliography of His Work, he provides an equally valuable alternative way of organizing Hearst’s work.

---- “A Marvelous Integrity: The Letters of James Hearst and Carroll Coleman.” Graduate course paper, University of Northern Iowa, 2012.
Pals outlines the relationship between Carroll Coleman, the publisher of Prairie Press, and James Hearst, as revealed by their letters to one another. Coleman published several of Hearst’s volumes of poetry, including Country Men, The Sun at Noon, Limited View, and A Single Focus. Coleman’s letters reveal an admiration for Hearst, as his books sold well for the press. Pals makes the argument that Coleman was indelibly linked to Hearst’s success, and without Prairie Press, Hearst’s poetry may not have been as successfully received.