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Charles Bell Burke

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American Academic (1867–1953)
Charles Bell Burke
Charles Bell Burke, 1906
BornJuly 27, 1867
Lauderdale County, Tennessee, US
DiedMay 30, 1953(1953-05-30) (aged 85)
Daytona Beach, Florida, US
Academic background
EducationVanderbilt University, BL, 1889

Harvard University, AB, 1892

Cornell University, Ph.D., 1901
ThesisThe Open Road (1901)
Academic work
DisciplineEnglish
Sub-disciplineEnglish Romantic Era writers
InstitutionsSouthwest Baptist University

Adelphia College

University of Tennessee

Charles Bell Burke (July 27, 1867 – May 30, 1953) was an American academic administrator and university professor. He was head of the English Department at the University of Tennessee from 1923 to 1942. He was also the vice president and a professor of English at Southwestern Baptist University (now Union University).

Early life and education

Burke was born on July 27, 1867 in Lauderdale County, Tennessee. His parents were Elizabeth Jordan Bure and Captain Robert Arnold Burke. His family moved to Dyersburg, Tennessee when he was a child and he attended primary schools there. He then attended the Maryland Military and Naval Academy, graduating in 1885.

Burke gained an interest in literature from his older sister who became a professor of English at Galloway College in Arkansas. He attended Vanderbilt University, graduating with an Bachelor of Literature in 1889. He graduated with an A.B. from Harvard University in 1892.

He received a Ph.D. in English from Cornell University in 1901. His dissertation, “The Open Road,” was the first doctoral dissertation on Walt Whitman. Burke received a two-year fellowship at Cornell. He was said to be "one of the most brilliant English scholars" in the United States.

Career

Burke taught at Chapel Hill Academy in Chapel Hill, Tennessee from 1889 to 1890. He was a professor of English at Southwestern Baptist University (now Union University) from 1892 to 1900. In June 1897, he taught at the second annual National Sunday School Seminary in Jackson, teaching "Studies in Proverbs", "Studies in Ecclesiastes", and "Studies in the Canticles".

In 1902, Burke became the editor of literature for The New International Encyclopedia in New York City. He was an English professor at Adelphi College in Brooklyn from 1902 to 1905. He was offered positions at Harvard and Cornell but turned both down so that he could return to the South.

Burke returned to Southwestern Baptist University as its vice president and a professor of English language and literature in 1905. In 1909, he became an associate professor of English at the University of Tennessee (UT) as well as serving as the headmaster of sub-freshmen. Burke became head of UT's English Department in 1923, a job he kept until he retired. While at UT, Burke funded the Captain Robert A. Burke Award for excellence in prose fiction and the Eleanora R. Burke Award for excellence in expository writing. After 32 years, he retired from the University of Tennessee as a professor emeritus in June 1942.

Burke edited and wrote the introduction to Selected Poems of Christina G. Rossetti, published in 1913 by The McMillan Company. Also in 1913, he taught a course on "The Romantic Age of English Literature" for the Summer School of the South in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1940, Burke became an advisory editor on biography for the Southern Literary Messenger.

Honors

In November 1942, the University of Tennessee Alumni Association honored Burke at a testimonial dinner, held during homecoming.

The University of Tennessee Department of English commissioned artist Anita Woods to paint a portrait of Burke in 1970. The department unveiled its painting in January 1971.

Burke's papers are archived at the University of Tennessee.

Personal life

Burke married Eleanora Richards of Nashville, Tennessee in 1892. They had a daughter, Eleanor Burke, and a son, Charles Bell Burke Jr., who died in an airplane accident in 1923. Eleanora Burke died in 1936.

After retiring, Burke moved to Daytona Beach, Florida where he lived with his daughter. He died at the age of 85 on May 30, 1953 in Daytona Beach.

References

  1. ^ "Prof. Charles Bell Burke". Baptist and Reflector. Nashville, Tennessee. 1900-06-28. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  2. ^ "Rites Set Tomorrow for Noted Educator". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. 1953-06-02. p. 25. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Lest We Forget (yearbook). Vol. 2. Jackson, Tennessee: Fraternities of the Southwestern Baptist University. 1906. p. 15 – via Internet Archive.
  4. ^ "Among the Schools". Brooklyn Eagle. 1903-10-01. p. 16. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Creekmore, Betsey B. "Burke, Charles Bell". Volopedia. University of Tennessee. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  6. ^ "Recent Events". Baptist and Reflector. Nashville, Tennessee. 1905-05-04. p. 9. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "National Sunday School Seminary". Baptist and Reflector. Nashville, Tennessee. 1897-06-17. p. 5. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "State University Commencement". The Chattanooga News. 1909-06-01. p. 8. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Trustees Back Pres. Morgan". The Bee. Danville, Virginia. 1923-07-18. p. 11. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "They Leave UT--and Leave It Much". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 1942-06-11. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. Rossetti, Christina Georgina (1913). Burke, Charles Bell (ed.). Selected poems of Christina G. Rossetti. New York: The Macmillan Company – via Internet Archive.
  12. "Gossip of the Literary World. Some New Books". Nashville Banner. 1913-03-15. p. 31. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Selections from Miss Rossetti". Brooklyn Eagle. 1913-07-12. p. 17. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Summer School of the South". The Newberry Weekly Herald. Newberry, South Carolina. 1913-05-27. p. 2. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Department of Literature". The Journal and Tribune. Knoxville, Tennessee. 1913-05-25. p. 30. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Dr. Charles Bell Burke Joins Messenger Staff". Richmond Times-Dispatch. 1940-12-01. p. 83. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "To Honor Four at Homecoming". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. 1942-11-17. p. 4. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Collection: Charles Bell Burke Papers". University of Tennessee Libraries. Retrieved 2025-01-23.
  19. "Mrs. Charles Bell Burke". The Knoxville Journal. 1937-01-09. p. 10. Retrieved 2025-01-23 – via Newspapers.com.
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