O.B. Hardison, Jr.
(October 18, 1928 - August 5, 1990)

1708 21st St. NW, Dupont Circle neighborhood, DC.

Hardison is the author of two books of poems, Lyrics and Elegies (1958), and Pro Musica Antiqua (1977), as well as multiple scholarly books, including Christian Rite and Christian Drama in the Middle Ages (1965), Toward Freedom and Dignity (1972), Entering the Maze: Identity and Change in Modern Culture (1982), and Prosody and Purpose in the English Renaissance (1989).

Hardison was a professor of English at the University of North Carolina and Georgetown University, and from 1969 to 1983, he was director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, where he founded the Shakespeare Theater, the Poetry Reading Series (now named for him), and the program for teaching Shakespeare in secondary schools.

Beltway Poetry Quarterly, "Merrill Leffler on O.B. Hardison, Jr."

Photo of author by Julie Ainsworth, courtesy of Folger Shakespeare Library.