When Léonie Adams read in the Coolidge Auditorium in 1949, she inaugurated a new tradition for the position of U.S. Poet Laureate. Dr. Luther H. Evans, the tenth Librarian of Congress, made it a stipulation of the position in 1948 that “a reading early in his tenure will be expected of each consultant.”
Formal invitation and ticket to the inaugural reading for Léonie Adams’ term as Consultant in Poetry.
Léonie Adams, Consultant in Poetry, at her desk in the Poetry Office overlooking the Capitol Building.