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Curtis was one of the original members of the Board of
Education for what would become New York City, and advocated educational reforms. He was a member of and frequent speaker at the Unitarian Church on Staten Island (the congregation still meets in the same building). A high school not far from his
408:'s presidential campaign of 1856 (the Republican campaign headquarters were located not far from his Staten Island home), and was soon recognized not only as an effective public speaker, but also as one of the ablest, most high-minded, and most trustworthy leaders of public opinion.
272:, where he remained for five years. In 1835, his father having remarried happily, the boys were brought home to Providence, where they stayed until around 1839, when they moved with their father to New York. Three years later, George and James fell in sympathy with the spirit of the
458:. Its report was the foundation of every effort since made for the purification and regulation of the service and for the destruction of political patronage. From that time Curtis was the leader in this reform, and its progress is mainly due to him. He was president of the
392:; and his sense of honour compelled him to spend the greater part of his earnings for many years on discharging the obligations for which he had become responsible, and from which he might have freed himself by legal process. In the period just preceding the
471:. In April of that year, he delivered at Baltimore his eleventh annual address as president of the National Civil Service Reform League, and in May he appeared for the last time in public, to repeat in New York an address on
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This history was adapted from writings of UCSI Minister
Emeritus Benjamin Bortin; Bradford Green, UCSI historian; and Susan McAnanama, long-time congregation member. To learn more about the church's history download this
436:, which was highly influential in shaping public opinion. Curtis's writing was always clear and direct, displaying fairness of mind and good temper. He had high moral standards. From month to month he contributed to
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as candidate for the presidency, and thus broke with the
Republican party, of which he had been a founder and leader. From that time he stood as the typical independent in politics. In 1892, he was elected to the
541:, and it is believed that the Curtises and the Shaws were very involved in the Railroad. The Shaw sisters, Anna and Josephine, and their mother, Sarah Sturgis, also spearheaded local efforts to help during the
446:
party was such, that he was offered several nominations to office, and might have been sent as minister to
England; but he refused all such offers, preferring to serve the country as editor and public speaker.
442:, under the title of "The Easy Chair," brief essays on topics of social and literary interest, charming in style, touched with delicate humour and instinct with generous spirit. His service to the
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380:(1856), a pleasantly sentimental, fancifully tender and humorous study of life. In 1855 he married Anna Shaw, daughter of abolitionist Francis Shaw and sister of
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427:. In it, he laid out the intellectual foundations for the purpose of American education that would last another 30 years, and public schools, nearly 100 years.
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on
February 24, 1824. His father was also named George Curtis. His mother, Mary Elizabeth (Burrill) Curtis, was the daughter of former United States Senator
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119:(February 24, 1824 – August 31, 1892) was an American writer, reformer, public speaker, and political activist. He was an
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331:(1851), a journal of his travels on the Nile. He became a favorite in New York City society. He wrote for
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communal experiment from 1842 to 1843. After leaving Brook Farm, George spent two years in New York and
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home is named for him. He is also immortalized with an annual namesake oratorical prize awarded by
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He married Anna Shaw Curtis at the
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and of the New York Civil
Service Reform Association. In 1884 he refused to support
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In 1862 George
William Curtis delivered his "Doctrine of Liberty" address to the
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Early
Letters of George Wm. Curtis to John S. Dwight: Brook Farm and Concord
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830:. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 652.
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181: in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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Baker, Carlos. "Parke Godwin: Pathfinder in
Politics and Journalism",
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Curtis produced a number of volumes, composed of essays written for
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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George William Curtis, a Commemorative Address delivered before
724:. Willard Thorp, editor. Princeton University Press, 1946: 220.
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376:(1853), a satire on the fashionable society of the day; and
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Galahad in the Gilded Age: A Life of George William Curtis
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The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to the United States
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The Duty of the American Scholar to Politics and the Times
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on Staten Island is named for him. It was built in 1904.
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and began work as a lecturer. He obtained a post on the
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in 1863 for the safety of her grandparents’ home in
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From 1846 to 1850, Curtis travelled through Europe,
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264:At six, George was sent with his elder brother
699:. New York: Oxford University Press,1982: 71.
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1121:Members of the American Philosophical Society
300:George William Curtis in an 1854 portrait by
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1016:Activists for African-American civil rights
905:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography
430:In 1863 he became the political editor of
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1006:19th-century American non-fiction writers
241:Learn how and when to remove this message
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937:Works by or about George William Curtis
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489:Columbia College of Columbia University
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423:, who was encouraging support for the
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386:54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
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1076:Activists for Native American rights
695:Ehrlich, Eugene and Gorton Carruth.
537:was in use during the 1850s to help
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179:adding citations to reliable sources
852:An Epistle to George William Curtis
349:; the three also collaborated on a
1001:19th-century American male writers
253:George William Curtis was born in
125:civil rights for African Americans
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617:Other Essays from the Easy Chair
404:in 1856; he engaged actively in
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166:needs additional citations for
16:American journalist (1824–1892)
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899:"Curtis, George William"
530:among their close associates.
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49:Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
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450:In 1871 he was appointed, by
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270:Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts
37:Curtis between 1855 and 1865
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952:(public domain audiobooks)
605:Washington Irving: A Sketch
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629:Literary and Social Essays
611:Essays from the Easy Chair
452:President Ulysses S. Grant
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885:(5 vols. New York, 1894).
858:(1874–1887), in Lowell's
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425:Emancipation Proclamation
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908:. New York: D. Appleton.
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147:Early life and education
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846:American Men of Letters
827:Encyclopædia Britannica
675:Encyclopædia Britannica
328:Nile Notes of a Howadji
274:transcendental movement
190:"George William Curtis"
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818:Curtis, George William
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413:Phi Beta Kappa Society
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856:James Russell Lowell
767:search.amphilsoc.org
763:"APS Member History"
569:The Howadji in Syria
535:Underground Railroad
513:, and columnist for
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345:and managing editor
339:George Palmer Putnam
325:and started work on
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175:improve this article
137:civil service reform
131:. He also advocated
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750:Norton 1911
501:New England
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836:References
593:Prue and I
444:Republican
378:Prue and I
278:Brook Farm
231:April 2021
201:newspapers
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894:Fiske, J.
816:(1911). "
543:Civil War
394:Civil War
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101:Signature
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648:See also
364:and for
362:Putnam's
357:(1853).
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313:Syria
309:Egypt
222:JSTOR
208:books
787:PDF.
774:2024
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