Podcasts embrace a community of followers. This month we hear from one of them, about his choice of a Seekers and Scholars episode for us to re-feature. Isaac Oribariho, a summer research intern for the Library, explains why content about the spiritual and emotional meaning of poetry for nineteenth-century Americans inspired him as a Ugandan studying in the United States. He also shares insights with host Jonathon Eder about the assignment he received in college that led him to apply for the Library’s internship. It may surprise you to learn about what his class was asked to research on Mary Baker Eddy’s theological views—and how he went about it.
“Psalms of Life—Mary Baker Eddy and 19th-century American poetry” first aired in December 2020. It centers on highlights from a 2007 Library program titled “Passion for Poetry: The importance of verse-making to nineteenth-century America and Mary Baker Eddy.” The program explored how and why poetry was such an important influence on American culture during Eddy’s lifetime, as well as the significance it held for her. In addition to Eddy, the poets featured and discussed in the program included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Greenleaf Whittier, and Emily Dickinson.
Access more on this topic:
- Full audio replay (2007): Passion for Poetry: The importance of verse-making to nineteenth-century America and Mary Baker Eddy
- From the Collections: Mary Baker Eddy’s poems
- From The Papers: “Maj Anderson and Our Country”
- From the Collections: Young’s “Night Thoughts”
Isaac Oribariho, a Ugandan native, has served as the Library’s 2024 summer archival research intern. This fall he will be a junior at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois, majoring in both mass communication and music studies. In spring 2023 he enrolled in Principia’s Christian Science Movement class, which allowed him to conduct in-depth research on various facets of the movement’s history and cultural practice. This summer his responsibilities at the Library have included assisting patrons with research queries, filling document requests, and helping to develop Library exhibits.
Participants in “Passion for Poetry” included Marian Carlson, co-author of American Genius: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (2006) and co-chair of the 2007 Longfellow Bicentennial; Angela Sorby, Professor of English at Marquette University and author of Schoolroom Poets: Childhood, Performance, and the Place of American Poetry, 1865–1917 (2005); Paul Williams, past president of the Thoreau Society and Professor Emeritus of English at Principia College; and Library staff members Jonathon Eder and Aliza Saivetz.
Collage images: Staff photos. Headshot of Isaac Oribariho used by permission.
