Poet, writer, folklorist; born in Galesburg, Ill. He studied at Lombard College, Galesburg (1898--1902) - with time out for service in the Spanish-American War (1899) - and in the decades ahead would work as an editor, journalist, copywriter, lecturer, and collector of folk songs. He was an organizer of the Social-Democratic Party (1908), and was secretary to the Socialist mayor of Milwaukee (1910--12). Known for such famous poems as "Chicago" (1914), and "Fog" (1916), he won the Pulitzer Prize (1940) for the last of his six-volume biography of Lincoln (1926--39). He was ahead of most of his fellow poets in his interest in American folksong and lore; he collected some 300 folksongs and ballads in The American Songbag (1927) and he often gave public recitals, accompanying himself on the guitar. He also wrote children's books and a novel, Remembrance Rock (1948). Based in Chicago for much of his life, he retired to Flat Rock, N.C.