The Trumpeter of Krakow: Eric P. Kelly
As storybooks teach us, sometimes the smallest events have the greatest effects. An arrow pierces the heart of a brave young trumpeter, and a traditional song is played unfinished for centuries after. A journalist joins the relief efforts in France during the First World War, and the course of his career — and his life — is changed forever.
Eric Philbrook Kelly was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, on March 16, 1884, to an Australian immigrant and a “bookish” carriage-maker (Kunitz & Haycraft 1951: 176-177). At the age of five, Kelly and his family moved “out west” to Colorado, and he spent his childhood summers exploring the area around Denver. He later moved to New York for high school, and attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, graduating with the Class of 1906 (177).
Eric Philbrook Kelly was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, on March 16, 1884, to an Australian immigrant and a “bookish” carriage-maker (Kunitz & Haycraft 1951: 176-177). At the age of five, Kelly and his family moved “out west” to Colorado, and he spent his childhood summers exploring the area around Denver. He later moved to New York for high school, and attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, graduating with the Class of 1906 (177).
After graduation, he began a career as a journalist, working for half a dozen small and large newspapers in New England between 1906 and 1924 (Kunitz & Haycraft 1951: 177; Chevalier & Kirkpatrick 1989: 516). During World War I, he began teaching French to soldiers before they were deployed, and eventually went himself to France to do welfare work. While in France he met some Polish exiles, who urged him and the other relief workers to come to newly-independent Poland (Kunitz & Haycraft 1951: 177). When he did, he became captivated by the country, its history, and its people. In 1929 he wrote,
[Polish people] start me vibrating with the most exquisite pleasure, and the world suddenly ceases to become a place of masks and manners and takes on color and life and rainbow radiancy, and I feel a happiness in life that transcends emotion. The same thing is true with the buildings in the city of Krakow. (Mahoney & Field 1955: 70)
The rest of his life would be devoted to working for the independence and welfare of Poland, and educating Americans — especially undergraduates and children — about the country he loved.
After spending several years studying Poland from the inside, he returned to New England, where he taught English, journalism, and Slavonic literature at Dartmouth College, his alma mater, for twenty-five years (Chevalier & Kirkpatrick 1989: 516; "Eric P. Kelly Dies"). But his time in Poland was not yet over.
While Kelly was working in Poland and teaching at Dartmouth, a Polish immigrant named Stephen Mizwa (né Szczepan Mierzwa) had a dream to create an educational endowment for Poles to study in America — and for Americans to study at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The Krosciuszko Foundation (named after an eighteenth-century Polish freedom fighter) was created in 1925 (“Mission and History”; “Who was Kosciuszko?”). One of the first American scholarship recipients was Eric Kelly.
While in Krakow, Kelly spent much of his time at the Church of Our Lady Mary. To this day, a dedicated trumpeter still plays a traditional song called the Heynal every hour from the tower of the cathedral (Mahoney & Field 1955: 71). In his Newbery medal acceptance speech, he described the first time he heard the Heynal played:
After spending several years studying Poland from the inside, he returned to New England, where he taught English, journalism, and Slavonic literature at Dartmouth College, his alma mater, for twenty-five years (Chevalier & Kirkpatrick 1989: 516; "Eric P. Kelly Dies"). But his time in Poland was not yet over.
While Kelly was working in Poland and teaching at Dartmouth, a Polish immigrant named Stephen Mizwa (né Szczepan Mierzwa) had a dream to create an educational endowment for Poles to study in America — and for Americans to study at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. The Krosciuszko Foundation (named after an eighteenth-century Polish freedom fighter) was created in 1925 (“Mission and History”; “Who was Kosciuszko?”). One of the first American scholarship recipients was Eric Kelly.
While in Krakow, Kelly spent much of his time at the Church of Our Lady Mary. To this day, a dedicated trumpeter still plays a traditional song called the Heynal every hour from the tower of the cathedral (Mahoney & Field 1955: 71). In his Newbery medal acceptance speech, he described the first time he heard the Heynal played:
[A]s I came into Krakow after that great day when Poland rose from the grave, I suddenly heard the great bell boom over my head with its deep accent, and then the tocsin, the smaller bell, which drove the pigeons scrambling and shook them into the light like white snowflakes. As all were settling and there was but the fluttering of wings high in the air, there came from above that call of the trumpet, the Heynal which had been played since civilization first began in Poland, nearly one thousand years before. I can’t describe my emotions. I was so happy I wanted to scream aloud. I wanted to sing and dance and stand on my head. (Mahoney & Field 1955: 71)
That cathedral, and that trumpeter, became the backdrop for Kelly’s first novel for children, The Trumpeter of Krakow. This novel, rather than an academic book, was the result of his time lecturing and studying in Poland. It won the Newbery Medal for 1929. The original illustrations for The Trumpeter of Krakow were made by Angela Pruszynska. Pruszynska illustrated two more of Kelly’s works of children’s historical fiction about Poland, The Blacksmith of Vilno (1930) and The Golden Star of Halich (1931) (Chevalier & Kirkpatrick 1989: 516).
In 1926, Kelly returned to his professorship at Dartmouth, but he continued to write for non-academic audiences. In all he published a dozen novels for children, including several more about Polish history, as well as other works about Poland (Chevalier & Kirkpatrick 1989: 516). Throughout his life he also campaigned for the rights and freedom of the Polish people.
During World War II, Poland — which had just become independent at the end of the previous World War — was again invaded. Many of the displaced Poles fled from Soviet Russia to various parts of the world, primarily Africa and Asia. Mexico also offered to welcome some of them. In 1943 Eric Kelly was sent by the U. S. Department of State to help establish a refuge in León, Mexico. Colonia Santa Rosa, as the refuge was called, became a temporary home to 1,500 Polish refugees — many of them children (Mahoney & Field 1955: 67-68; “Polish Refugees in Mexico (1943-1947)”; Lukas 1977). When the war was over, Kelly again returned to Dartmouth. He retired from teaching in 1954 (Mahoney & Field 1955: 68).
In 1926, Kelly returned to his professorship at Dartmouth, but he continued to write for non-academic audiences. In all he published a dozen novels for children, including several more about Polish history, as well as other works about Poland (Chevalier & Kirkpatrick 1989: 516). Throughout his life he also campaigned for the rights and freedom of the Polish people.
During World War II, Poland — which had just become independent at the end of the previous World War — was again invaded. Many of the displaced Poles fled from Soviet Russia to various parts of the world, primarily Africa and Asia. Mexico also offered to welcome some of them. In 1943 Eric Kelly was sent by the U. S. Department of State to help establish a refuge in León, Mexico. Colonia Santa Rosa, as the refuge was called, became a temporary home to 1,500 Polish refugees — many of them children (Mahoney & Field 1955: 67-68; “Polish Refugees in Mexico (1943-1947)”; Lukas 1977). When the war was over, Kelly again returned to Dartmouth. He retired from teaching in 1954 (Mahoney & Field 1955: 68).
Kelly received the Kosciuszko Foundation Gold Medal in 1956, and became a Chevalier in 1934 and a Commander in 1945 of the Order Polonia Restituta (Order of Poland Reborn). He died on January 3, 1960 (Chevalier & Kirkpatrick 1989: 516).
Sources
Chevalier, T., & Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1989). Twentieth-century children's writers. St. James Press.
Eric R Kelly Dies; Retired Professor: Author, Journalist Taught at Dartmouth. (1960, January 5). New York Herald-Tribune, 14.
Kunitz, S., & Haycraft, H. (1951). The junior book of authors. HW Wilson.
Lukas, R. C. (1977). Polish refugees in Mexico: An historical footnote. The Polish Review, 73-75.
Mahony, B., & Field, E. (1955). Newbery medal books: 1922–1955. Horn Books.
Mission and History. (n.d.) The Kosciuszko Foundation. Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://www.thekf.org/kf/about/mission_history/
Polish Refugees in Mexico (1943-1947). (n.d.) Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://kresy-siberia.org/galleries/refugees/polish-refugees-in-mexico/
Who was Kosciuszko? The Kosciuszko Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://www.thekf.org/kf/about/peasant_prince/
Chevalier, T., & Kirkpatrick, D. L. (1989). Twentieth-century children's writers. St. James Press.
Eric R Kelly Dies; Retired Professor: Author, Journalist Taught at Dartmouth. (1960, January 5). New York Herald-Tribune, 14.
Kunitz, S., & Haycraft, H. (1951). The junior book of authors. HW Wilson.
Lukas, R. C. (1977). Polish refugees in Mexico: An historical footnote. The Polish Review, 73-75.
Mahony, B., & Field, E. (1955). Newbery medal books: 1922–1955. Horn Books.
Mission and History. (n.d.) The Kosciuszko Foundation. Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://www.thekf.org/kf/about/mission_history/
Polish Refugees in Mexico (1943-1947). (n.d.) Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://kresy-siberia.org/galleries/refugees/polish-refugees-in-mexico/
Who was Kosciuszko? The Kosciuszko Foundation. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2015, from http://www.thekf.org/kf/about/peasant_prince/
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