Virginia Hamilton Adair
Virginia Hamilton Adair was an influential American poet born on February 28, 1913, in the Bronx, New York City. Raised in Montclair, New Jersey, she developed a profound appreciation for poetry early in her life, influenced by her father, Robert Hamilton, who was both an insurance executive and a poet. Adair's formal education included attendance at Mount Holyoke College and Radcliffe College, where she was recognized for her poetic talent and published in notable magazines. After marrying historian Douglass G. Adair in 1937, she balanced family life with her writing and teaching roles, eventually securing a long-term position at California State Polytechnic University.
Following her husband’s tragic death in 1968, Adair returned to poetry, producing a significant body of work despite losing her eyesight to glaucoma. Her collection, "Ants on the Melon," received critical acclaim and commercial success, showcasing her mastery of traditional poetic forms and emotional depth. Over her career, she published several volumes of poetry, gaining recognition for her ability to express authenticity and resist cynicism. Virginia Hamilton Adair passed away on September 16, 2004, leaving a legacy celebrated for its powerful contributions to contemporary poetry.
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Subject Terms
Virginia Hamilton Adair
Poet
- Born: February 28, 1913
- Birthplace: Bronx, New York
- Died: September 16, 2004
- Place of death: Claremont, California
Biography
Virginia Hamilton was born in the Bronx, New York City, on February 28, 1913, the only daughter of Robert Browning Hamilton and Katharine Temple (Hopson) Hamilton. Although her parents named her “Mary Virginia,” she later dropped the “Mary.”
During her childhood in Montclair, New Jersey, Virginia came to believe that poetry was an essential part of life. Her father, Robert Hamilton was both an insurance executive and a poet, like Wallace Stevens, with whom he once worked. Virginia later recalled looking through the bars of her crib at her father as he read her Alexander Pope’s translation of the Iliad. She began composing poems as soon as she could write.
Virginia Hamilton attended Mount Holyoke College, where she met Robert Frost and T. S. Eliot, who, along with Wordsworth, became important influences on her own writing. She won the Glascock Prize for poetry twice and earned her Phi Beta Kappa key. After graduating in 1933, she went on to Radcliffe College for an M.A. At that time, she began publishing poems in magazines such as The New Republic and The Atlantic Monthly, and she was recognized as a promising new poet. In 1935, she began work on a doctorate at the University of Wisconsin. However, she halted her studies in 1937 in order to marry Douglass G. Adair, an ambitious young historian she had met at a Harvard dance. They had three children, Robert, Douglass G. III, and Katharine. In 1968, Douglass Adair committed suicide.
In the early years of their marriage, the Adairs lived in various East Coast cities while Douglass pursued his career and Virginia devoted her time to her family. During World War II, she worked as a bibliotherapist in a state mental hospital, and later she taught part-time at the College of William and Mary. When Douglass was offered a position at the Claremont Graduate School, the family moved to California. In 1957, Virginia found a job at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. She taught there for twenty-two years; in 1970, she was named professor of English.
After her husband’s death, Virginia Hamilton Adair turned again to her poetry, and she did not stop writing even after she lost her eyesight to glaucoma. In the late 1980’s, her friend and fellow poet Robert Mezey suggested that the two of them make up a publishable collection from among the thousands of poems she had on hand. Secretly he sent out the completed manuscript, only to have it rejected by one publisher after another. Finally he sent several of Adair’s poems to Alice Quinn, The New Yorker’s poetry editor. She liked them, published them, and sent them on to a senior editor at Random House. The collection was accepted. Ants on the Melon won high praise from both poets and critics. Adair was admired for her honest expression of emotion and for her elegant use of traditional forms. To the publishing world’s amazement, Ants on the Melon sold over 28,000 copies. Within the next four years, two more volumes of Adair’s poems appeared. She died in Claremont, California, on September 16, 2004. Adair was awarded an honorary doctorate by Mount Holyoke. However, her highest achievement was in writing powerful poetry that steadfastly rejected the pervasive cynicism of the postmodern age.