Dreiser on the Web

by Roger W. Smith

5. Sites Devoted to Individuals Connected with Dreiser

Henderson, Clayton W. “The Slippery Slopes of Fame: Paul Dresser and the Centennial of ‘On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.’ ” Indiana Historical Society, Indianapolis, IN.

http://www.indianahistory.org/pub/traces/henders.html .

“Paul Dresser—An American Composer.” Vigo County Historical Society, Terre Haute, IN.

 http://www.indstate.edu/community/vchs/dresser.htm .

Charles Fort Institute. 

http://www.forteana.org/aboutfort/fortbiog.html .

Murder in the Adirondacks.

http://www.albany.edu/~brandon/gillette.html . This informative and well-designed site was developed by Keene State College professor Craig Brandon, author of Murder in the Adirondacks (1986). The site provides a wealth of detail about the 1906 murder case that provided the basis for Dreiser’s An American Tragedy. It discusses parallels between the case and the book and also focuses on the film based on the book, A Place in the Sun.

“ ‘On the Banks of the Wabash’ is the official state song of Indiana.”

http://www.roadescape.com/INsong.html . Contains details about the song’s composition and a link to the music.

 “Charles Tyson Yerkes (1837–1905).” Chicago “L”.org, Chicago Transit Authority, Chicago, IL.

 http://www.chicago-l.org/figures/yerkes/ .

“Charles Tyson Yerkes (1837–1905), Financier.” National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC.

http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/brush/yerkes.htm . Downloadable portrait and brief bio of Charles T. Yerkes, on whom the protagonist Cowperwood in Dreiser’s Trilogy of Desire is based. The portrait, dated circa 1893, is by Jan Van Beers and is in the National Portrait Gallery.

“Electrifying London: The Yerkes Era.” Suburban Electric Railway Association, London, UK.

http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~gsgleaves/london3.htm .

Franch, John. “Charles Tyson Yerkes 1837–1905.” University of Chicago Alumni Magazine, Feb. 1997. Yerkes Observatory Virtual Museum.

http://astro.uchicago.edu/yerkes/virtualmuseum/Yerkesnewarticle.html .

Vandervoort, Bill. “Charles Tyson Yerkes.” Chicago Transit Past & Present.

 http://members.aol.com/chictafan/companys.html .