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The Silenced Muse: Emily Hale, T. S. Eliot, and the Role of a Lifetime (Main)
In January 2020, the largest and most eagerly awaited cache of new materials written by the Nobel-Prize-winning poet T. S. Eliot was finally opened: the 1,131 letters he sent Emily Hale, his little-known American love, over the course of their lifetimes. Their relationship was, in their own words, an “unnatural” love affair, one that began in Cambridge in 1913, when Eliot was a graduate student at Harvard and Hale, an aspiring amateur actress, and that played out in Boston, England and California over the years.
Named as one of its "Fifty Notable Non-fiction Books of 2024" by the Washington Post, Fitzgerald's biography of Hale is based on the embargoed letters and extensive research into Hale’s life and times. Hale was much more than just a muse to a literary celebrity. She overcame personal hardship to pursue a career as a professor of speech and drama at prominent American women’s colleges and schools, including Simmons and Smith Colleges and Abbot and Concord Academies. She was a talented amateur actress and director, who performed at many Boston area theaters and later guided Eliot as he tried his hand at playwriting. But in the end, Eliot disavowed her, sending a secret letter to Harvard in 1960 that claimed his love for Hale was that of “a ghost for a ghost,” and confirming that he had arranged for Hale’s side of their 27-year correspondence to be destroyed. In the words of The Washington Post reviewer, “Missing letters, a secret love affair, a famous poet, a beautiful actress—what else could you possibly want in a story?"
Sara Fitzgerald is a retired journalist whose career included fifteen years as an editor and new media developer for The Washington Post. In 2020, she also published The Poet’s Girl: A Novel of Emily Hale and T. S. Eliot. Since then, her essays about Hale have appeared in multiple volumes of the Journal of the T. S. Eliot Society and the T. S. Eliot Studies Annual. She has presented at the annual meetings of the Modern Language Association, the American Historical Association, the International T. S. Eliot Society, and at the T. S. Eliot Summer School at Oxford. She is also the author of the biography, Elly Peterson: “Mother” of the Moderates and Conquering Heroines: How Women Fought Sex Bias at Michigan and Paved the Way for Title IX.
/Departments/cambridgepubliclibrary/calendar/2025/04/01/thesilencedmuseemilyhaletseliotand...
Elections Theme on AxisGIS
A new Elections theme has been added to our AxisGIS interactive mapping tool.
/GIS/News/2025/01/electionsthemeonaxisgis
Physicians Filing Form
Application to practice medicine in the city of Cambridge
/Departments/cityclerksoffice/publications/Documents/P/physiciansfilingform
Instructions for Filing Form for Electrolysis
Application for Electrolysis, Optometrist, Podiatrist/Chiropodist to practice in the city of Cambridge
/Departments/cityclerksoffice/publications/Documents/E/instructionsforfilingformforelectro...
Caterpillar Check-ups and Monarch Release Prep
Say hello to our Monarch caterpillars and learn about their life stages. We will also be crafting signs and costumes for our release parade at the end of the month.
/Water/newsandevents/Calendar/2015/08/06/caterpillarcheckupsandmonarchreleaseprep
Daily Log for November 28, 2025
An overview of the Cambridge Police Department's calls for service on November 28, 2025
/Departments/cambridgepolice/News/2025/11/11282025
Calendar Year 2022 statistics
Cambridge fire companies responded to 16,494 Emergency Incidents which generated 35,659 responses during 2022.
/cfd/News/2023/01/calendaryear2022statistics
Treatment Plant Tour
Treatment Plant Tour
/Water/newsandevents/Calendar/2013/05/06/treatmentplanttour