R-249 Page 1 of 1
2024
No. R-249. House concurrent resolution designating March 26, 2024 as Robert Frost Day in Vermont.
(H.C.R.190)
Offered by: Representatives Durfee of Shaftsbury, Bongartz of Manchester, Brownell of Pownal, Carroll of Bennington, Chesnut-Tangerman of Middletown Springs, Conlon of
Cornwall, James of Manchester, Morrissey of Bennington, Mrowicki of Putney, Rice of
Dorset, Whitman of Bennington, and Williams of Barre City Offered by: Senators Bray, Campion, Hardy, and Sears Whereas, Robert Frost was born 150 years ago today, on March 26, 1874, in San Francisco, California, and he was honored, pursuant to 1961 Acts and Resolves No. R-59,
as the first Vermont Poet Laureate, and Whereas, his distinguished literary oeuvre is most memorable for his more than two dozen published poetry collections, and especially noteworthy were his four poetry Pulitzer Prizes awarded in recognition of his volumes entitled: New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes (1924), Collected Poems (1931), A Further Range (1937), and A
Witness Tree (1943), and Whereas, many of Robert Frost’s poems epitomized the rural character and landscape of Vermont, and Whereas, during the 1920s and 1930s, Robert Frost resided in a stone farmhouse in
South Shaftsbury, the location for the writing of his iconic poem “Stopping by Woods on
a Snowy Evening,” one of the selections in his 1924 Pulitzer Prize-winning volume, and Whereas, his towering presence and leadership at Middlebury College’s summertime Bread Loaf School of English in Ripton, where he also resided on a farm after 1938, led to
the school’s reputation as a stellar center for learning the art of writing, and his many other teaching posts included Bennington College, and Whereas, Robert Frost was the 1960 recipient of the United States Congressional Gold Medal; recited his poem “The Gift Outright” at President John F. Kennedy’s 1961
inaugural; died in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1963 at 88 years of age; and was buried in the Bennington Centre Cemetery, now therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives:
That the General Assembly designates March 26, 2024 as Robert Frost Day in Vermont,
and be it further Resolved: That the Secretary of State be directed to send a copy of this resolution to
the Robert Frost Stone House in Shaftsbury and to the Bread Loaf School of English in
Ripton.
VT LEG #376041 v.1