Hughes Mearns

Born in 1875, Hughes Mearns was an American educator and poet, often listed more formally as William Hughes Mearns. He studied at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, and he became known both for his writing and for his work in education.

Mearns taught at the Philadelphia School of Pedagogy from 1905 to 1920. He is most widely remembered today as the author of "Antigonish," also known as "The Little Man Who Wasn't There," a short poem whose strange, memorable lines have kept it alive long after many of his other works faded from view.

Beyond that famous poem, Mearns was noted for encouraging creative expression in the classroom. Accounts of his career describe him as an educator who valued imagination and original writing, helping to push against more rigid teaching methods of his time. He died in 1965.