George H. (George Henry) Boker

Born in Philadelphia in 1823, George Henry Boker came from a prominent family and became known for both poetry and verse drama. He studied at Princeton and went on to build a literary reputation with plays and poems that often drew on history, politics, and strong emotion.

Boker was part of the lively cultural world of his time and was associated with major American writers and artists. During the Civil War years, he wrote passionate Unionist verse, and his literary standing helped make him one of the better-known man-of-letters figures of the late 19th century.

He also had a substantial public career. Later in life, he served the United States as minister to the Ottoman Empire and then to Russia, balancing diplomacy with his identity as a writer until his death in 1890.