Fred Lewis Pattee | |
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 Bust of Pattee | |
| Born | 22 March 1863 Bristol, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Died | May 6, 1950(1950-05-06) (aged 87) Winter Park, Florida, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Dartmouth College (AB,AM) |
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| Known for | Penn State Alma Mater |
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| Children | 1 |
Fred Lewis Pattee (March 22, 1863 – May 6, 1950) was an American author and scholar ofAmerican literature. As a professor of American literature at thePennsylvania State University, Pattee wrote the lyrics of thePenn State Alma Mater. Pattee is sometimes labeled the "first Professor of American Literature", a position he held at Penn State from 1895 until 1928.[1]
Fred Lewis Pattee was born on March 22, 1863, inBristol, New Hampshire, to farmer Lewis Franklin Pattee and Mary Philbrick Pattee (née Ingalls). After attending public schools in Bristol and SouthAlexandria, New Hampshire, in 1881 he enteredNew Hampton School and completed the college preparatory course in 1884. Pattee enrolled atDartmouth College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1888 and a Master of Arts degree in 1891. Despite an interest in becoming a journalist, Pattee entered the teaching profession, first at aNew Jersey grammar school. He worked as a school administrator and journalist until becoming an interim faculty member at thePennsylvania State College's English Department as a substitute for the department's head and sole professor in 1894. He earned a full professorship the following year.[1]
While a professor at the Pennsylvania State College (now Pennsylvania State University), Pattee wrote the lyrics to what is now thePenn State Alma Mater in April 1901 and had them published.James A. Beaver, formerPennsylvania governor and then-president of theBoard of Trustees declared the tune would be Penn State College's official song after it was sung at an alumni dinner in 1901. With Penn State presidentGeorge W. Atherton's consent, a four-verse version of Pattee's originally six-verse lyrics were adopted as the Penn State Alma Mater.[1][2]
As an American literary historian, Pattee's earliest predecessor wasJohn Neal, whose essays inBlackwood's Magazine he collected and published in 1937 in their first bound edition,American Writers: A Series of Papers Contributed to Blackwood's Magazine (1824–1825). He acknowledged Neal's work as "the first attempt anywhere at a history of American literature".[3]
In his later career, Pattee served as a visiting professor at hisalma mater, Dartmouth College (1905), as well as theUniversity of Illinois,Bread Loaf Summer School andColumbia University.[1] In 1929, he co-founded theAmerican Literature journal.[4] Following his retirement from his post as Penn State's professor of American literature, Pattee joined the faculty ofRollins College inFlorida. He would remain there until his death at age 87 inWinter Park, Florida, on May 6, 1950.[1]
Pattee was married twice, to Anna Lura Plumer and Grace Gorrell Garee, and had one daughter—Sarah Lewis Pattee—from his first marriage.
A library was constructed on Penn State's flagshipUniversity Park campus from 1937 to 1940, known as Pattee Library, that now forms the west wing of thePattee and Paterno Libraries, the center of Penn State's library system.[1]
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