This photo, capturing the intensity and commitment of the student-teacher relationship, was taken at Wellesley High School in 1970 and shows the legendary WHS English teacher and Department Chair Wilbury Crockett (whom Sylvia Plath called her “mentor and muse”) with student Linda Barnes (who went on to become a professor and author).
Wellesley has a remarkable literary legacy: that two of the most prominent and best known women writers of the 20th century called this town home. Katharine Lee Bates and Sylvia Plath both achieved international renown, and always paid tribute to the extraordinary inspiration and support they received from Wellesley High School. Plath inscribed the only volume of poetry published during her lifetime “For Mr. Crockett — in whose classroom and wisdom these poems have root.”
But Wellesley’s unique contribution to literature also includes the equally compelling story of many other extraordinary writers who began their work in WHS classrooms. For generations, the commitment of WHS’s English teachers to nurturing young students’ creativity has become deeply enmeshed in the department’s mission. The teachers of this town have produced hundreds of writers, from Pulitzer Prize and Emmy Award winners to a #1 “New York Times” bestseller.
WHS grad/writer Beth Hinchliffe and longtime WHS English teacher Jeanie Goddard have organized Roots and Wings: Wellesley High School’s Legacy of Nurturing Creativity to encourage the town to celebrate WHS writers, and also the remarkable legacy of the school and teachers who have embraced, challenged, and inspired them.
The Roots and Wings project has two parts:
Over the past 30 years alone, a sampling of WHS writers includes:
Roots and Wings honors all WHS writers and teachers, and is dedicated to the three who inspired this work: Katharine Lee Bates (Class of 1874), Sylvia Plath (Class of 1950), and Wilbury Crockett (WHS English teacher 1944-1980, Chair for 30 years). For further reading, here are links to three articles about each of their relationships with Wellesley High School (and one about poet Anne Sexton (former class of 1947):
Roots and Wings: Wellesley High School’s Legacy of Nurturing Creativity honors both our hometown’s writers, and the extraordinary WHS English teachers who inspired, challenged, and believed in them. Click here for a list of the teachers we commemorate and thank.
We are delighted that you have discovered the Roots and Wings website. We hope that you enjoy exploring the various resources and articles you’ll find here as together we celebrate WHS writers and teachers, and the town that has inspired them. You can begin your journey with the list of writers which follows. Please continue to follow this page for newly added updates, articles, writers’ bios, and more information — we are delighted to have you be part of Roots and Wings.
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