ALTHOUGH the poet Walt Whitman was an American, born in 1819, Bolton featured high on the list of where his works were admired.

During the late 19th century the Eagle Street College (or the Bolton Whitman Fellowship), a group of Bolton admirers of Whitman, was formed to study and discuss his works.

Two of the members of this group subsequently visited Whitman in America, and one of them, Mr J.W. Wallace, became a close personal friend of the poet.

I have in the past told the history of the Eagle Street College, so I am not going to do so again at present.

However, a firm in Wakefield, Microform Academic Publishers, are producing a microfilm publication reproducing some of the various correspondence and documents about Whitman from the Charles Sixsmith Collection at the John Rylands University Library, Manchester, including that of the Bolton Whitman Fellowship, and are trying to trace copyright holders for each item, some of whom may well live in this area.

The following represent the authors who are listed in the John Rylands catalogue, applicable to this area:

Minnie Whiteside b. Minnie Moore, d. 1961 numerous letters.

Fred Wild d. 1935 (Member of Bolton Whitman Fellowship) letter dated Blackpool 1934.

John Ormrod (of Bolton College) two letters dated 1934 and 1957.

William Broadhurst d. 1957 (member of Bolton Whitman Fellowship) letters from 1949 (mainly to Minnie dated at Culcheth, Lancashire) and 1915

Walt Hawkins (member of Bolton Whitman Fellowship) Dated at Leeds 1912

Mrs Elsie Austin regarding Bolton Whitman Fellowship letters 1931

"Grandpa F", probably William Ferguson

Jim (James) Wallace, numerous letters to various members of Bolton Whitman

Fellowship 1907, 1936-1939

George Wallace, numerous letters between 1905-1919

Fred Nightingale, letter dated Bolton, December 1930 (member of Bolton Whitman Fellowship)

Phoebe Hesketh, letter and cuttings postmark Rivington, Lancs.

B. F. Davis, article in Journal and Guardian (Bolton) April 15, 1954

Harold Hamer (librarian at Bolton Central Library) a series of letters to and from Charles Sixsmith 1950-1953

Alan T Ormorod

Connections

There are also a number of people connected with the Bolton Whitman Fellowship who are based in the UK, but whose relatives may live in the Bolton area, or give information:

Lilly L Allen (m James Allen, ed Epoch); Stanley Bayliss; Alice Collinge; A. E. Crawley; Ivor Brown; John Stewart Collis; Katharine Conway; William Diack; "Douglas"; Caroline A Eccles; Audley End; Caroline Eccles; John Erskine; A. E. Fletcher; F. R. S.; Gerald Gould; Eleanor Gaukroger; Bevis Hampton; James Haslam; C. H. Herford; J. A. Hobson; Tighe Hopkins; Harry Buxton Forman; Grace Frend; "H. B."; Geraldine Hodgson; Charles Holden; M. D. O'Brien; G. Currie Martin; Harrison Marsden; Desmond McCarthy; John Palmer; Ben Iden Payne; Ishbel Peterkin; Frank Pick; Arthur H Ransome (Rev S. K. Ratcliffe); Edward Robertson (of JRULM); Harold Rutland; Robert Sharland; Olive B Schill; Gabriel Seal; Joseph Sell; Rose E. Sharland; 'Sidney'; John Spargo; Tom Swan; Norman Suckling; R. B. Suthers; Mary P Ussher; J. Welsh of Rock Ferry, Ches.

Photographs

Lena Connell, London -- Photograph of Carpenter x 2

Photo of Carpenter -- by Tewton? Porter, 1928

Mason + Basebe, Cambridge (UK) photo of Carpenter and Others

Photo 1921 painting of Carpenter by T. Binney Gibbs

Photo of bronze sculpture of Carpenter's head by Dorothy Clement

Photo by Fred Hollyer, Kensington

The publishers want to contact those mentioned above (or anyone involved who can help) in order to request permission to reproduce the documents etc. as part of the Walt Whitman microfilm publication.

They especially want hear from anybody who may know the whereabouts of any of those listed (even in the 1950s and 1960s, I am told, some were still corresponding with each other).

Please don't contact me, but go directly to the publishers, Microform Academic Publishers, East Ardsley, Wakefield, WF3 2AT, West Yorkshire, UK. Tel: 01924 825700; Fax: 01924 871005; e-mail, pknights@microform.co.uk. Please address all correspondence for the attention of the Editor, Paul Knights.