Charlotte Wilder
Charlotte Elizabeth Wilder (August 28, 1898 – May 26, 1980) was an American poet and academic who worked in the Federal Writers Project. Wilder published poetry in The Nation and Poetry Magazine. She also published poetry collections in 1936 and 1939.
Charlotte Wilder

Unknown photographer · Olla Podrida (Berkeley High School, Berkeley, Calif.). 1915 · Public domain
- Born
- 28 August 1898
- Birthplace
- New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
- Died
- 26 May 1980
- Place of death
- Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S.
- Education
- Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California), Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 28 August 1898 • Birthplace — New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. • Died — 26 May 1980 • Place of death — Brattleboro, Vermont, U.S. • Resting Place — Mount Carmel Cemetery, Hamden, New Haven County, Connecticut, U.S. • Notable Works — Phases of the Moon (1936) and Mortal Sequence (1939) • Education — Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California), Mount Holyoke College, Radcliffe College
Life
Life
• Illustration — Charlotte with her father Amos, brother Thornton and one other sibling at family cottage in Maple Bluff, Wisconsin (1900) Wilder was the daughter of diplomat Amos Parker Wilder and Isabella Thornton Niven. She was the third child and eldest sister of Thornton Wilder, Isabel Wilder, Janet Wilder Dakin, and Amos Wilder. Wilder grew up in Berkeley, California, and graduated from Berkeley High School. In 1919, she received her Bachelor of Arts in English literature, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Mount Holyoke College in 1919. In 1925, Wilder received an M.A. from Radcliffe College. After graduation from college, Wilder taught at Wheaton College. In 1928, she became an assistant professor of English at Smith College, where she taught until 1931. In 1934, Wilder became a full-time poet. Wilder also worked for the Atlantic Monthly as a proof reader and for The Youth's Companion. According to an article in the January 15, 1983, issue of The Nation, ("New Deal New York" by Frederika Randall), Wilder worked on the Federal Writers' Project during the 1930s. Wilder experienced a mental health crisis in 1941, the repercussions of which lasted until her death. She died on May 26, 1980, in a nursing home in Brattleboro.
Select poetry
Select poetry
The following works appeared in The Nation: • Loew's Sheridan, Volume 146, Issue 0025, June 18, 1938 • Isolation, Volume 138, Issue 3594, May 23, 1934 • Sculptured, Volume 138, Issue 3577, January 24, 1934 The following works appeared in Poetry Magazine: • The Last Hour, Volume 24, July 1924, Page 200 • Of Persons Not Alive, Volume 39, March 1932, Page 303 • City Streets, Volume 47, January 1936, Page 198 • To Beauty, Volume 47, January 1936, Page 198 • Sanctuary, Volume 52, July 1938, Page 202 • Mortal Sequence, Volume 55, January 1940, Page 217 (see Daly, James) Two collections of her work were published by Coward-McCann, Inc.: Phases of the Moon (1936) and Mortal Sequence (1939).
Awards
• 1937: Wilder shared the Shelley Memorial Award for Poetry in 1937 with Ben Belitt
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Charlotte Wilder, revision 1328965231 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Archived copy.
- 2.Charlotte Wilder, Poet, Taught English at Smith and Wheaton. The New York Times.
- 3.Charlotte Wilder (1898-1980), Sister. Thornton Wilder.
- 4.The Nation. Archive. January 2012.
- 5.Kamienska, Anna. Published by the Poetry Foundation. Poetry Magazine.
- 6.Poetrysociety.org. Charlotte Wilder - Poetry Society of America.
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Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 25 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
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