Handwritten Note on Unopened Newspaper

Reading and writing were integral daily activities for Carl Sandburg and his family, who subscribed to more than 100 magazines and periodicals and owned over 17,000 books. A writer and critic of his time, Carl Sandburg made commentary in public and private, as exhibited here on an unopened issue of the New York Times:

"NY (Sunday) Times, Aug 7, '49, nobody opens, everybody sees, nobody cares, a newspaper not demonstrably stupid yet incorrigibly stodgy."

A poem unto itself, this quote is typical of Sandburg's "notes to self," which are scribbled on a plethora of documents and books. The sheer volume of paper that remains in the Sandburg Home is a testament to the writer's keen interest in history and contemporary culture. Sandburg's personal notes leave us with a unique window into his imagination and life of the mind, which made a lasting impression on 1900s America.