March is Women’s History Month, a time for us to celebrate the lives and accomplishments of extraordinary women throughout history whose influence can still be felt today. This month, and as we glance ahead to National Poetry Month, we remember our founder, Marie Bullock, who at twenty-three years old had the vision and verve to establish an organization devoted to supporting poetry and poets. More than eighty years later, the Academy of American Poets continues to uphold Bullock’s mission and is the largest membership-based poetry nonprofit in the country. As Bullock once said, "Through the stress and strain of daily living, ring your own pure note of idealism and love of beauty. Be an army of builders with a goal of construction. Build beauty for yourselves and for your children. Through the message of the Academy of American Poets make poetry a living thing once more."
To learn more about Marie Bullock, read a speech she gave in 1937 about the future for poetry and Anthony Hecht’s tribute to her.