Sinclair Lewis and the Esperanto Congress

Sinclair Lewis

Despite the small size of the 1910 Universala Kongreso, many American civic leaders were certain that it would be beneficial to their city to host a future one. And so, on August 20, 1910, there were several newspaper reports that appeals had been made to the attendees of the conference to consider another American city for a future UK.

Despite the small size of the Congreso, the leaders of the Esperanto movement were open to the idea of returning to the United States in 1915, although they noted that decision would not be made until 1913. That didn’t stop New Orleans and San Francisco from sending representatives to deliver addresses to the 1910 UK.

The representative of New Orleans was Grosvenor Dawe, the director of the Southern Commercial Congress, a figure too obscure to get his name in the title of this piece (sorry, Mr. Dawe). A variety of newspapers[1] reported that Dawe had an address prepared in Esperanto to be distributed to the delegates, although it was his intention to deliver his remarks in English. Mr. Dawe had founded the Southern Commercial Congress in 1908; by all appearances he was a reasonably prominent figure in 1910.

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