Lizette Woodworth Reese American Poet, Lyricist, & Public School Teacher

Lizette Woodworth Reese (1856-1935) was a professional, independent woman from the time she left high school in 1873. She began her teaching career that year and published her first poem in Baltimore's Southern Magazine in 1874. She taught for 45 years in the public schools of Baltimore.

Her poetry and her readings of it were particularly popular in women's groups throughout the United States. She was one of the founders of the Woman's Literary Club of Baltimore and its chairman of poetry until her death in 1935. In April, 1931 she was named Poet Laureate of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. In that same month, she was given an honorary doctorate of literature by Goucher College which called her one of the "greatest living women in America."

In her lifetime, Reese was internationally admired for her poetic genius and hailed by H. L. Mencken as one of the most distinguished poets in the United States.