Named for literary critic and poet
George Edward Woodberry, the Woodberry Poetry Room was founded in 1931 with the help of a $50,000 donation from Harvard alumnus Harry Harkness Flagler. The collection focuses on 20th and 21st century English language poets and poetry. Among its notable holdings are recordings of authors and poets reading their own works. The collection of audio recordings was initially collected by professor Frederick C. Packard, who created the Harvard Vocarium label with assistance from the Harvard Film Service. Packard, who was himself an early enthusiast of audio recordings, captured the voices of figures including performers
William Gillette,
Edwin Booth, and
Florence Nightingale, as well as writers
T. S. Eliot,
E. E. Cummings,
Tennessee Williams, and
W. H. Auden. It was first located in
Widener Library before being moved to
Lamont Library in 1949.
Don Share served as curator from 2000 until 2007. The current curator is
Christina Davis. ==References==