West Village in Manhattan in New York County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Sinclair Lewis
February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951
— 69 Charles Street, Manhattan —
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, October 3, 2016
1. Sinclair Lewis Marker
Inscription.
Sinclair Lewis. February 7, 1885 - January 10, 1951. The first U.S. writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature (1930), novelist and short story writer, Sinclair Lewis, born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, was a graduate of Yale University; his earliest published work was in the Yale Literary Magazine, where he became an editor. After college, he apprenticed as a journalist and writer of short stories; and lived here from 1910 to 1913 while working at New York publishing houses as a copywriter, and editor. After 1916, he began work on a realistic novel criticizing small town conformity that became the best seller, Main Street (1920), following that two years later with Babbitt, a satire of middle-class boosterism set in the Midwest. Several of Lewis' novels were adapted for the movies, including Arrowsmith (1925) (for which he won, but turned down, a Pulitzer Prize), Elmer Gantry (1927), and Dodsworth (1929), also a Broadway play. Lewis wrote eleven more novels after his Nobel Prize, most notoriously, It Can't Happen Here (1936), which envisioned fascism coming to America. It was staged nationally by the Federal Theater. Lewis died in Italy in 1951.
The first U.S. writer to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature (1930), novelist and short story writer, Sinclair Lewis, born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, was a graduate of Yale University; his earliest published work was in the Yale Literary Magazine, where he became an editor. After college, he apprenticed as a journalist and writer of short stories; and lived here from 1910 to 1913 while working at New York publishing houses as a copywriter, and editor. After 1916, he began work on a realistic novel criticizing small town conformity that became the best seller, Main Street (1920), following that two years later with Babbitt, a satire of middle-class boosterism set in the Midwest. Several of Lewis' novels were adapted for the movies, including Arrowsmith (1925) (for which he won, but turned down, a Pulitzer Prize), Elmer Gantry (1927), and Dodsworth (1929), also a Broadway play. Lewis wrote eleven more novels after his Nobel Prize, most notoriously, It Can't Happen Here (1936), which envisioned fascism coming to America. It was staged nationally by the Federal Theater. Lewis died in Italy in 1951.
Erected 2014 by Historic Landmarks Preservation Center.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music
Location. 40° 44.096′ N, 74° 0.237′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in West Village. Marker is on Charles Street east of Bleecker Street, on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 69 Charles Street, New York NY 10014, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, October 3, 2016
2. Sinclair Lewis Marker - Wide View
Note the owners of the building have thoughtfully attached a reproduction of the marker to the fence in order to enable passers-by to read it when the gate is closed.
Foundation, I would like to present it as possessing some romantic quality, some unique character, like Kipling's early adventures in India, or Bernard Shaw's leadership in the criticism of British arts and economics. But my life, aside from such youthful pranks as sailing on cattleships from America to England during university vacations, trying to find work in Panama during the building of the Canal, and serving for two months as janitor of Upton Sinclair's abortive co-operative colony, Helicon Hall, has been a rather humdrum chronicle of much reading, constant writing, undistinguished travel à la tripper, and several years of comfortable servitude as an editor....(Submitted on October 13, 2016.)
Photographed By Arnold Genthe, March 7, 1914
3. Sinclair Lewis Marker
Photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on October 13, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 445 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on October 13, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.