Whitman Reading Group

As a part of our week of festivities to commemorate Walt Whitman's 200th birthday, Mechanics' is holding a reading group to discuss contemporary criticism of one of America’s favorite bards. This one-time discussion will dovetail with the week of San Francisco Pride.

We’ll be discussing two articles: "Whitman's Native Futurism: Frontier Erotics in the 1860 Leaves of Grass" by Benjamin Meiners in Walt Whitman Quarterly Review Volume 35; Number 3 (2018) plus an NBC News piece entitled, "Was Walt Whitman 'gay'? New textbook rules spark LGBTQ history debate." Both selections are available to read for free on the web by clicking the links above. They are also available in a binder on the 3rd Floor glass display.