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 —

Sinclair Lewis Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, October 3, 2016

1. Sinclair Lewis Marker

Inscription. 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

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. In addition, it is included in the New York, New York City Historic Landmarks Preservation Center Cultural Medallions series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1910.

Location. 40° 44.096′ N, 74° 0.237′ W. Marker is in Manhattan, New York, in New York County. It is in West Village. It 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.

Regionally, this marker is in New York City.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland

and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Woody Guthrie (within shouting distance of this marker); Hart Crane (within shouting distance of this marker); 242 & 244 West 4th Street (within shouting distance of this marker); Samuel Whittemore House (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Hartwick Seminary (about 500 feet away); St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church (about 500 feet away); The Hess Triangle (about 600 feet away); McCarthy Square (about 600 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Manhattan.

Another marker is no longer nearby. The Family (was about 600 feet away but has been permanently removed).

Also see . . .
1. HLPC Cultural Medallion, Sinclair Lewis, May 9, 2014 (Youtube.com, 36 mins.). If you ever wondered who

Sinclair Lewis Marker - Wide View image. Click for full size.

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.

coined the term "brunch", this you will learn about 6 minutes into the video. (Submitted on October 13, 2016.)

2. Sinclair Lewis - Biographical. To recount my life for the Nobel 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 732 times since then and 15 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 13, 2016, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.