Awards

Honorary Degree - 1907

LL.D.

Doctor of Laws

Bloomington, Indiana

Presenter: William Lowe Bryan

About James Whitcomb Riley

James Whitcomb Riley, famed Hoosier writer, poet, and best-selling author, inspired the creation of a children’s hospital that has allowed Indiana University to significantly contribute to children’s health and wellbeing. Riley’s death in 1916 sparked the formation of the Riley Memorial Committee that worked with Indiana University and the Indiana Child Welfare Association to secure passage of 1921 legislation that appropriated state funding toward building and support of The James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children (Riley Children’s Health) in Riley’s honor. The partnership between the Riley Memorial Committee’s and Indiana University flourished; in April 1921, the Riley Memorial Committee incorporated to become the James Whitcomb Riley Memorial Association (today the Riley Children’s Foundation), and the newly established Joint Executive Committee (chaired by IU President William Lowe Bryan and made up of 5 representatives each from the Indiana University Board of Trustees and Association) went to work to raise additional building funds and to plan and supervise construction of the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children which opened on November 19, 1924.

Riley tapped memories of his hometown, Greenfield, Indiana, to inspire much of his poetry, which celebrated childhood and captured the innocence and sentimentality of a vanishing rural past. Books and volumes of Riley’s poetry and short stories were published regularly and became national best sellers, while he traveled the national lecture circuit gaining celebrity status as a Hoosier poet. Riley’s poetry shaped Indiana’s Golden Age of literature and influenced fellow writers like Booth Tarkington, George Ade and Meredith Nicholson. In 1915, Indiana Governor Samuel Ralston proclaimed the first official public celebration of Riley Day on the poet’s birthday, October 7th with Riley’s poems taught and memorized by students and banquets held in his honor. Most states were observing Riley Day by 1916 with Indiana continuing the celebration until 1968.

The inspired mission of Riley Hospital for Children that IU President William Lowe Bryan often spoke of was that children came to Riley so “that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Dr. Morris Green, chairman of the department of Pediatrics at Riley Hospital in the 1960’s once wrote: “What is more like poetry than love for children?” Riley Hospital for Children (today, Riley Children’s Health) remains a living memorial to James Whitcomb Riley and his poetry with the offering since 1924 of a worldclass healthcare setting providing excellence in patient care and pediatric research for all children everywhere. Indiana University recognized Riley’s invaluable contributions by awarding him the Honorary Degree, awarded to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in scholarship or creative activity, in professional achievement, in public service, or an unequivocal commitment to Indiana University.