(Feminism) EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY (1933, 1940) Set of 2 photos

One vintage original 4 x 5″ (10 x 13 cm) and one 8 x 10″ (20 x 25 cm) black-and-white glossy silver gelatin photo. Both have information blurbs and stamps on verso, both fine.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She also wrote prose under the pseudonym Nancy Boyd. Millay is primarily known for her poetry, particularly her famous lines “My candle burns at both ends / it will not last the night / but ah my foes, and oh my friends it gives a lovely light,” from the poem First Fig. She is also recognized as the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1923 for her collection The Ballad of the Harp Weaver. Beyond her poetry, she was a prominent voice for women’s rights and sexual freedom during the Roaring Twenties. (Wikipedia)

Smaller photo is date stamped June 5 1933, and its original blurb on verso states that the Vassar graduate will be awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters. Larger portrait shows her speaking on radio and is dated Aug. 1, 1940, with text noting she is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.