The Coral Gables Times

CARL SANDBURG AT HOME The great poet and his family, seen through the eyes of an admiring and devoted friend

BY HARRY GOLDEN author of "Only In America," "For 2c Plain," "Enjoy! Enjoy!" Carl Sandburg at 83 — poet, historian, folk singer, journalist, and old-fashioned family man. William A. Smith THE IMPRESSION you get from Carl Sandburg's home is one of laughter and happiness; and the laughter and the happiness are even more pronounced when no company is present. Carl has been married to Paula for 53 years, and he has not made a single major decision without careful consideration and thorough discussion with his wife. Through all these years, Mrs. Sandburg has pointedly avoided the limelight. She has shared her husband's greatness, but only within the confines of their home; a dedication which began the moment she met Carl. Mrs. Sandburg received a Phi Beta Kappa key from the University of Chicago, and she was busy writing and teaching when she met Sandburg. "You are the Peoples' Poet," was her app[?]sal in 1908, and she stopped teaching and writing to devote herself to the fulfillment of his career. She has rarely been photographed with him and, except for Carl's 75th anniversary celebration in Chicago in 1953, she has not attended the dozens of banquets, functions, public appearances, and dinners honoring him—all of this upon her insistence. Even now I will not intrude upon her except to state a few bare facts. The only way to describe Paula Sandburg is to say she is beautiful in a Grecian sense. Her clothes, her hair, everything about her is both graceful and simple. She has small, broad, capable hands and an enormous energy. She is not only a trained mathematician and classicist but a good architect. She designed and supervised the building of their Harbert, Michigan, house, most of which was constructed by one local carpenter who carried the heavy beams singly upon his shoulder. As the Sandburg goat herd increased, she also designed the alterations for the barn to accommodate them. When erosion threatened the foundation of their home in Harbert, Paula Sandburg planted grapevines and arranged the snow fences which helped hold the sands away. SHE WAS BORN Lilian Steichen, her parent[?] immigrants from Luxemburg. Her mother called her Paus'l, a Luxemburg endearment meaning "pussy-cat." Some of the children of the family could not pronounce this name and called her Paula, a soubriquet Carl liked so much she has been Paula ever since. Carl and Paula met in Milwaukee in 1907 during Paula's Christmas holiday visit to her parents. Carl was still Charles A. Sandburg. He legitimized "Paula" for Lilian Steichen, and it was Paula who insisted on "Carl" for Charles. Victor Berger, the panjandrum of Wisconsin Socialism and member of Congress, had asked Paula Steichen to translate some of his German editorials into English. Carl, who was stationed in Appleton, was in Berger's office and made it his business to escort Paula to the streetcar. She left the next day for her teaching job at Princ[?]n, Illinois. By the time the streetcar pulled away, he had fallen in love with Paula. A letter awaited her at Princeton. Paula says that even though Carl's letters usually began, "Dear Miss Steichen," there was an understanding from the beginning that they would become husband and wife. Her artist brother Ed liked him immediately,

12 Suburbia Today, October 1961