Norman Holmes Pearson

Norman Holmes Pearson was an influential figure in twentieth-century American literature. He was born on April 13, 1909, in Gardner, Massachusetts. Pearson graduated from Phillips Andover Academy in 1927, going on to receive his AB in English from Yale College, as well as a second AB and an MA from the University of Oxford. After Oxford, Pearson returned to Yale for his PhD, although his studies were delayed due to a series of operations. He completed his PhD in 1941, specializing in the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

While still a graduate student, he and William Rose Benét coedited the two-volume Oxford Anthology of American Literature (Oxford University Press, 1938). Through Benét, Pearson met H.D., with whom he maintained a long-term literary friendship. In 1941, Pearson joined the faculty at Yale as an instructor in English, and, in 1942, was recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). He was soon promoted and was sent to England to train recruits in counterintelligence. His work with OSS earned him decorations from the United States, France, and Norway, and the curriculum of counterintelligence training he created would continue to be used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for the next decade. After World War II, he returned to academia, turning down a position from the newly formed CIA.

Upon his return to Yale, Pearson was promoted to assistant professor and made responsible for their new program of American studies. Although he remained in academia for the rest of his professional life, he served as a CIA recruiter at Yale throughout the 1950s. He continued to work as an editor, primarily for H.D. but also for writers such as Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and William Carlos Williams. Pearson maintained correspondence with many writers and was influential in acquiring their work and materials for the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale. 

Pearson was twice the recipient of a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Additionally, he served as a member of the American Studies Association, as a judge for the National Book Award, and on the boards of American Quarterly and American Literature. From 1964 to 1975, Pearson was a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. 

Pearson died on November 5, 1975, in New Haven. He is buried in Grove Street Cemetery, in New Haven.