Ferner Nuhn (July 25, 1903 – April 15, 1989) was an American writer, literary critic, and artist born in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the son of William C. and Anna R. Nuhn. He described his background as Middle Western of mixed German, Swiss and Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry.Nuhn, The Wind Blew From the East He lived in various sections of the country, from California to Vermont, and married noted Iowa writer Ruth Suckow in 1929.White, "Biography of Ruth Suckow Nuhn." He was a literary critic, teacher, writer, and artist; he and his wife were both active in the Quakers and part of the Conscientious Objectors movement in World War II. After his wife's death, in 1960, he worked to preserve her literary legacy, founded the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association, remarried Georgeanna (Georgia) Washburn Dafoe, and taught at Claremont College before retiring. He died in 1989 after the death of his second wife, and is buried beside Ruth in Greenwood Cemetery in Cedar Falls, Iowa.Grant, "Ferner Nuhn." The 1998 Ruth Suckow Newsletter.
Early life
Nuhn attended Lincoln School through fourth grade, Jefferson (or West) School through sixth and Lincoln again through eighth grade. He graduated from Cedar Falls High School with the class of 1920. Local Historian Dorothy Grant describes his family this way: his father was in banking and real estate while his mother was a homemaker. He had two siblings: Marjorie and Hilde.
He attended North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, graduating with a B.A. in 1924; he described discovering that he liked English literature during this period of time. His uncle, Dr. Edwin Roll, was the President of North Central College at this time.
He received a fellowship and went on to study at the University of Illinois, where he received an M.A. in English Literature in 1925. He also took several courses at Iowa State Teachers College. Later he taught freshman rhetoric at Urbana. During that time he discovered contemporary American poetry as well as fiction, and especially admired Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg and Vachel Lindsay.Nuhn, "The Wind Blew From the East"
Writing career begins Nuhn drove a Yellow Cab in Chicago and used the pseudonym of Yellow to contribute a number of items to the Daily News column run by Keith Preston. He enrolled at Columbia University graduate school, with the idea of continuing an academic career, which ended when H. L. Mencken accepted one of his stories for the American Mercury. Dorothy Grant says that Nuhn said, “I decided I already knew too much,” and stopped taking classes to have more time to write. This led to the publication of a number of stories, reviews, and articles in The New Yorker, The Nation, The New Republic, The American Mercury, The Christian Century, and other magazines, especially Quaker publications.
Nuhn had been reading the work of Ruth Suckow when, in August 1926, he visited her in Earlville, Iowa. Ruth kept eighty hives of bees in an apiary there while establishing herself as a writer. Dorothy Grant writes that Nuhn described their meeting when he helped to dedicate the Ruth Suckow Memorial Park in Earlville in 1982. He had driven to Earlville from Cedar Falls, they had a long afternoon of good conversation, and then they were invited to a chicken dinner at a neighbor's house. They enjoyed discussing literature, among other topics.
Rebecca Christian wrote a one-woman play about Ruth Suckow, called “Just Suppose,” and to prepare for it, read much of the correspondence of Suckow and Nuhn, now housed in the Special Collections of the University of Iowa’s library, where it fills 56 boxes. Christian wrote, “During this period (of bee keeping) a letter arrived from a young literary critic in Cedar Falls who asked for ‘disposition towards pilgrims visiting you: if or when you are at ‘home.’” She apparently said yes, because he drove his Model T to Earlville, beginning a relationship that lasted both of their lives.Christian, "Just Suppose."
When they met, Ruth was 36 and Nuhn was 25: the age difference did not seem to bother him, but troubled her at first. They shared a love of cats, and Nuhn once playfully compared Ruth to his cat, Persephone, telling her that he wasn't afraid of her sharp claws: "...both of you have sharp claws, though neither of you use them much,"qtd. in Grant, "Ferner Nuhn." From a Letter, August 27, 1928 Ruth Suckow Papers, Special Collections, University of Iowa.
Nuhn and Suckow continued their friendship in New York City, where he attended Columbia University graduate school. His interest in writing was encouraged by the publication of several stories in The American Mercury, edited by H. L. Mencken, in 1927-28.
Marriage and travels
Nuhn and Suckow were married in San Diego, California on March 11, 1929. Ruth wrote to her aunt, “We start out with several things in our disfavor, but a very great deal of love in our favor.” An observer said, “Ferner found an artist who could translate the Midwest, and in Ferner, Ruth found a critic who could understand the translation.”Christian, "She Wrote of Iowa and Life"
Rebecca Christian describes the next seven years of Nuhn and Ruth's lives together by saying that they traveled extensively: “roosting and writing in cabins, ramshackle old houses or writers’ colonies in places such as the Iowa Mississippi river town of McGregor; northern Minnesota; Des Moines; the MacDowell Colony at Peterborough, N. H.; and Washington, D. C. They also visited the writers’ retreat, Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, where Suckow hated the pretentious atmosphere of artsy largesse from people ‘rotten with money’ but loved the quiet and the food.” At Yaddo, each writer had a small cabin and meals were brought on a tray and left at the door, so they could focus on their writing.
At the MacDowell Colony, in Peterborough, New Hampshire, Nuhn began a series of oil character sketches he later called “Figures of the Thirties.” They included John Cowper Powys, Charles Wakefield Cadman, Robert Frost, Henry Wallace – and Charles Hearst, of Cedar Falls, The collection has been exhibited at the University of Northern Iowa. Dorothy Grant provides a more extensive explanation: Ruth and Ferner were at a writers’ workshop when he decided to sketch some of the people in the group. He wrote comments about the people he had sketched, and made copies of the booklet. Eventually, copies of the booklet were given to the Hearst Center, while the original is in the Special Collections Department at the University of Iowa library in Iowa City.
Nuhn's collection of sketches showed his interest in people and their occupations. He wrote, “Most of the persons portrayed in this collection were fellow colonists of myself and my wife, Ruth Suckow, in the early 1930s, at Yaddo, the art colony near Saratoga Spring, New York....Included in the list are the names of some nationally-known artists, playwrights, poets, essayists, composers, and novelists as well as the name of Henry A. Wallace, who is described as “Agriculturist, Author, Statesman.” Dorothy Grant notes that the collection provides valuable insights into the political scene as well as the Arts during the 1930s.
Others on the list of people he sketched include:
William Rose Benet—poet and playwright Charles Wakefield Cadman—composer Carl Carmer—novelist, editor, and conservationist Leo Fisher—sculptor Felix Fox—composer Frances Frost—poet, fiction writer Robert Frost—poet Horace Gregory—poet, critic, and editor Albert Halper—novelist Roy Harris—composer Charles Hearst—Iowa farmer Jeffrey Levy—painter John Cowper Powys—novelist, poet, essayist Evelyn Scott—poet, novelist Ruth Suckow—novelist John Brooks Wheelwright—poet, critic Henry A. Wallace—agriculturist, author, statesmanFerner Nuhn's booklet qtd. in Grant
Two other paintings remain of Nuhn's, now housed at the Ruth Suckow Library in Earlville. One is of Ruth's cottage, while the other one shows one of their cats (always white). Nuhn also designed a bookplate for Ruth, including a cat.
Nuhn wrote for a number of publications, including The Nation; one of his articles is available online.“The Farmer Learns Direct Action,” Nation 136 (March 8, 1933): 254–256 He describes witnessing a forced farm sale in Iowa in the 1930s. The article begins with the comment that “Some may think of farmers as conservative, but that view ignores a long tradition of rural radicalism in the United States. In the early years of the Great Depression, that radicalism found powerful expression in the subverting of farm foreclosures and tax sales. The technique was simple—when a farm was foreclosed for overdue taxes or failure to meet mortgage payments, neighbors would show up at the auction and intimidate any potential buyers. Then the farm and equipment would be purchased at a token price and returned to the original owner.”Nuhn, Ferner. “The Farmer Learns Direct Action,” Nation 136 (March 8, 1933): 254–256. History Matters. “Like a Thick Wall”: Blocking Farm Auctions in Iowa
In 1934 Nuhn was invited to Washington, D. C. to work as a writer in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration under Henry A. Wallace. He served there for two years, enjoying learning something about the workings of the federal government. During part of this time he worked with Henry Wallace in the writing of Wallace's book, Whose Constitution.Nuhn, "The Ice House."
In the fall of 1936, Nuhn and Ruth returned to Cedar Falls because his father was sick. They lived at 2215 Grand Boulevard until 1942, then at 1223 West Second Street. Nuhn helped his father manage his business property. On the death of his father, Nuhn continued in this role.
Nuhn and Ruth were both active in the community and enjoyed being part of the literary and social life of Cedar Falls. Dorothy and Martin Grant became acquainted with Ruth and Nuhn at this time. The two couples were part of a circle of friends who enjoyed many dinners and “fun and game” evenings. Furthermore, she writes that Ruth and Nuhn enjoyed watching the Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Northern Trolley (W. C. F. & N.) trundle by. They rode it often and became such familiar passengers that the motorman would let them off right in front of their house rather than at the regular corner.Grant, "Ruth and Ferner." The 1998 Ruth Suckow Newsletter
Nuhn was interested in art, Dorothy writes, because his sister Marjorie was a talented artist. He founded the Cedar Falls Art League in the early 1940s and his mother, Anna, let him have a large upstairs room over the Miller Shoe store at Main Street for the exhibits. This was an active organization, offering art classes for children and adults, displaying artwork in exhibits, and sponsoring receptions. Nuhn was its president for six years: Dorothy and her husband were charter members. The organization sought to encourage the showing and purchase of original paintings and other art by local and area artists. The present Hearst Center for the Arts grew out of that earlier organization. Nuhn came back to Cedar Falls to exhibit his sister Marjorie's paintings in the old downtown high school. Marjorie was already in a nursing home, but appreciated his efforts. Dorothy remembers that Nuhn was a fine host and that he gave all of her remaining paintings to the Hearst Center, along with money for the Marjorie Nuhn Conservation Room.
Dorothy Grant also notes that Nuhn enjoyed carpentry work and built a solid walnut desk for Ruth while they lived in Cedar Falls; she used the desk until they moved to Arizona. Later, the Grants purchased the desk in 1949 and donated it to the Ruth Suckow Memorial Library in Earlville in 1991.