Morton W. Bloomfield

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Morton W. Bloomfield 1970

Morton Wilfred Bloomfield (May 19, 1913 – April 14, 1987) was a scholar and specialist in medieval literature and language and the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of English at Harvard University. He is best known for his work on medieval literature, language, as well as contributions to intellectual history, literary criticism and theory. He also was one of the founders of the first national center for the humanities (National Humanities Center).

Life and Career

Born in Montreal, Canada, Bloomfield received a BA and MA from McGill University in 1934 and 1935 respectively; and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1938.

During World War II (1942-45) he worked in MIRS (Military Intelligence Research Section) and conducted order-of-battle research at the Pentagon and in London for which he was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal (1945). Notably, he also taught German officers English literature at the end of the war (POWs waiting to be released).

In 1961 Bloomfield was appointed Professor of English at Harvard University, after holding positions at the University of Wisconsin, the University of Akron, New York University, and, from 1946 to 1961, at The Ohio State University. In 1971 he was appointed to the professorship in English in honor of Arthur Kingsley Porter. He chaired the Harvard English Department from 1968 to 1972. He became emeritus in 1983 and fully retired in 1986. After his retirement he taught and lectured at various universities including as the Distinguished Visiting Professor of English at Stanford (1986).

Bloomfield Lecture and Fellowship

In 1987 the Morton W. Bloomfield Lecture/Visiting Fellowship fund was endowed in the Harvard English Department to bring in scholars from around the world to develop and present current work on a wide range of topics in medieval studies.

Major Works

In a 50 year career, Bloomfield published over 200 articles and books on medieval literature, language, literary criticism/theory, the history of ideas and wisdom literature. His major works included The Seven Deadly Sins: An Introduction to the History of a Religious Concept (1952); Piers Plowman as a Fourteenth Century Apocalypse (1961); with Leonard Newmark A Linguistic Introduction to the History of English (1963); Essays and Explorations: Studies in Language and Literature (1970); Incipits of Latin Works on the Virtues and Vices, 1110-1500 (1979); and with Charles W. Dunn The Role of the Poet in Early Societies (1989). In 1993 Elizabeth Walsh and Susie M. Barretta edited a collection of his essays from the last 17 years of his life and published them as The Light of Learning.

National Humanities Center

With his colleague Gregory Vlastos, Bloomfield conceptualized and laid the groundwork for the establishment of the National Humanities Center in Research Triangle Park, NC, a private, nonprofit organization, and “the only independent institute dedicated exclusively to advanced study in all areas of the humanities.” He served as chairman of the Center’s Board of Trustees from 1973 to 1976.

Honors and Awards

Called one of the truly great medieval scholars of his generation and “one of the glories of the Harvard English department,” Bloomfield was twice awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship (1949; 1964); was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1963); a corresponding fellow of the British Academy (1975); a member of the American Philosophical Society (1981); and served on the Executive Committee of the Modern Language Association during a turbulent time in academia (1966-69).

In 1965, Bloomfield, being recognized for his contributions to medieval studies, was awarded the Charles Homer Haskins Medal; and in 1976 he was elected President of the Medieval Academy of America. Bloomfield also received honorary degrees from Western Michigan University (1982), State University of New York at Binghamton (1986) and Bar-Ilan University (1986).

He was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford (1967-68); a member of IAUPE (international Association of University Professors of English); and a Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton (1972). In honor of his career and becoming emeritus, in 1982 Larry Benson and Siegfried Wenzel edited a festschrift for Bloomfield “The Wisdom of Poetry.”

Personal

Morton Bloomfield was married to Caroline Bloomfield (nee Lichtenberg) and they had 3 children, Micah W. Bloomfield, Hanna E. Bloomfield, and Samuel J. Bloomfield, and seven grandchildren. Bloomfield is buried in West Roxbury, Massachusetts where his headstone includes this inscription from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, “And gladly would he learn and gladly teach.”

Selected Publications

Title	Publication	Publication Date	George H. Brown's Publication List#
Personification Metaphors	Directions in Medieval Literary Criticism	1979-1980	200
Recent Scholarship on Joachim of Fiore and his Influence	Prophecy and Millernarianism	1980	199
Episodic Juxtaposition or the Syntax of Episodes in Narration	Studies in English Linguistics for Randolph Quirk	1980	196
The Wisdom of the Nun's Priest's Tale	Chaucerian Problems and Perspectives; Essays Presented to Paul E. Beichner	1979	190
Continuities and Discontinuities	Medieval Literature and Contemporary Theory	1978-1979	182
Stylistics and the Theory of Literature	NLH7	1975-1976	156
The Study of Language	Daedalus	Summer 1973	129
The Interpretation of Narrative: Theory and Practice	Harvard English Studies 1	1970	103
The Gloomy Chaucer	Veins of Humor Harvard English Studies 3	1972	119
Allegory as Interpretation	NLH3	1971-1972	116
Judaism and the Study of Literature	Tradition 12	1971	114

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[1] Harvard Scholars in English 1890 – 1990, (1991), p.117

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[DB1]Citations? NONE, PERSONAL COMMUNICATION ONLY

[DB2]I don’t think Wiki style is to quote basic facts, but rather to paraphrase and cite. NOTED