American Academy of Arts and Letters 1953 Awards Ceremony

The NYPR Archive Collections | Jan 1, 2000

This is a recording of the 1953 awards ceremony of the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. The host, Archibald MacLeish, provides opening remarks and introduces Louis Kronenberger who inducts ten new members.

Next Marc Connelly reads the names of the winners with a few words about their work. Glenway Wescott presents a Gold Medal Award to Marianne Craig Moore for poetry, followed by her acceptance speech. Ralph Walker presents Frank Lloyd Wright with a Gold Medal Award, followed by his acceptance speech. Paul Manche presents the Award of Merit Medal to Ivan Meštrović and reads his acceptance speech as he did not attend the ceremony. Finally, Elizabeth Bowen delivers the Blashfield Address titled "Subject and the Time."

Gold Medal Awards:
Marianne Craig Moore
Frank Lloyd Wright

Award of Merit Medal:
Ivan Meštrović

Blashfield Address Award:
Elizabeth Bowen

Arts and Letters Awards:
Eric Bentley
Hyman Bloom
Isabel Bolton
Albino Cavallito
Richard Chase
Francis Fergusson
Peggy Glanville-Hicks
Roger Goeb
Paul Goodman
Jacob Lawrence
Nikolai Lopatnikoff
William Palmer
Carl M. Schultheiss
Delmore Schwartz
Francis Speight

Hassam, Speicher, Betts, and Symons Purchase Fund Awards:
Louis Bunce
Edward Chavez
Nicolai Cikovsky
Hazard Durfee
Fritz Eichenberg
David Fredenthal
Ada V. Gabriel
Ruth Gikow
Maurice Grosser
Sidney Laufman
William Lester
John Manship
Hobson Pittman
Raphael Soyer
Charles Wadsworth
Sol Wilson
Marguerite Zorach

Rome Fellowship Award:
Sigrid De Lima

Recorded at the Academy Auditorium.

Audio courtesy of the NYC Municipal Archives WNYC Collection

WNYC archives id: 150189
Municipal archives id: LT3423

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