DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Karle Wilson Baker, right there in Nacogdoches County. Now, most folks driving through Nacogdoches are thinking about Stephen F. Austin, or the old stone fort, or maybe where they're gonna stop for lunch.
But the marker we're passing today is about a woman who, in the early and mid-twentieth century, made this East Texas town the quiet center of something remarkable — a literary life that reached all the way to Yale, to the Dallas newspapers, and very nearly to the Pulitzer Prize. Her name was Karle Wilson Baker, and she didn't start here. She was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in October of 1878, the daughter of William and Kate Wilson — Kate being a Montgomery before she married.
The family made their way to Nacogdoches by 1900, and Karle, after attending college and teaching, followed them here in 1905. Two years later, in August of 1907, she married a local banker by the name of Thomas E. Baker.
The couple had two children, and Nacogdoches had itself a poet — though it may not have fully known it yet. She'd already been publishin'. Her first poem appeared in Harper's magazine back in 1903, before she'd even settled in town.
And by the 1910s, something extraordinary was happening — Karle Wilson Baker had become the most frequently published poet in the Yale Review. Not one of the most. The most.
Yale University Press went on to publish her first collections: Blue Smoke and Burning Bush, and Old Coins, a book of fables. Those publications built her a national reputation, and they built it to last. By 1924, the Dallas News had given her a title — they called her "The Poet of Quiet Things." That same year, Southern Methodist University awarded her an honorary doctorate of letters.
And on April 30, 1924, when Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College was dedicated, it was Karle Wilson Baker they asked to stand up and read. She read two poems that day — "Within the Alamo" and "The Pine Tree Hymn" — and that second one, "The Pine Tree Hymn," became the college's very first school song.
She began teaching there that same year, 1924, and stayed on for ten years. Now, quiet doesn't mean small. The State Textbook Commission adopted her children's history reader, The Texas Flag Primer.
She wrote essays, novels, poems — the full range. Two historical novels set right here in East Texas: Family Style in 1937, and Star of the Wilderness in 1942. And her 1931 collection of poems, Dreamers on Horseback, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Let that sit for a moment. A woman writing out of Nacogdoches, nominated for the highest literary honor in the country. Today, Stephen F.
Austin State University houses the majority of her papers. And she left behind words that tell you exactly who she was — she wrote in her diary that "writing my poems is seldom more laborious than skimming the cream from my thoughts. It just needs time and quiet to rise." Time and quiet.
In Nacogdoches, Texas. Turns out that was enough.
What the marker says
In the early and mid-20th century, Nacogdoches was the home of a notable poet, writer and woman of letters. Karle Wilson, daughter of William and Kate (Montgomery) Wilson, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in October 1878. Her parents moved to Nacogdoches by 1900, and after attending college and teaching, Karle moved to Nacogdoches in 1905. In August 1907, she married local banker Thomas E. Baker, and the couple had two children. Karle Wilson Baker first published in 1903 with a poem in Harper's magazine. In the 1910s, she became the most frequently published poet in the Yale Review. Yale University Press published her first collections of poems, Blue Smoke and Burning Bush, and Old Coins, a book of fables. These publications established her national reputation. In 1924, the Dallas News labeled Baker "The Poet of Quiet Things," and Southern Methodist University awarded her an honorary doctorate of letters. Baker showed versatility, writing poems, essays and novels. The State Textbook Commission adopted her children's history reader, The Texas Flag Primer. Her 1931 collection of poems, Dreamers on Horseback, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Two of her successful historical novels, Family Style (1937) and Star of the Wilderness (1942), were set in east Texas. When the State Board of Regents dedicated Stephen F. Austin State Teachers College on April 30, 1924, Baker read two poems, "Within the Alamo" and "The Pine Tree Hymn," and the latter became the college's first school song. She began teaching at the college in 1924 and taught there ten years. Stephen F. Austin State University houses the majority of her papers. Baker wrote in her diary that "writing my poems is seldom more laborious than skimming the cream from my thoughts. It just needs time and quiet to rise." (2007)