Baylor Wreath To Be Placed On Poet's Grave In London

by Alan Hunt

Dr. Mairi Rennie, director of Baylor University's Armstrong Browning Library, will visit Westminster Abbey Dec.12 to lay a wreath on English poet Robert Browning's grave.
Rennie said the annual pilgrimage to Westminster Abbey was started many decades ago by the late Dr. A.J. Armstrong, chairman of Baylor's English department from 1912 to 1952. Armstrong established the Armstrong Browning Library, which houses the world's largest collection of letters, manuscripts, personal items and other materials relating to Robert Browning and his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Today, Baylor annually joins the London Browning Society in placing a wreath on Browning's grave in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey. The date marks the anniversary of Browning's death in Venice on Dec. 12, 1889.
"The ceremony will take place after the abbey is closed to the public so it will be particularly atmospheric," Rennie said.
Armstrong Browning Library was dedicated on Dec. 2, 1951. The building and its artifacts were a life-long project for Dr. Armstrong, who died March 31, 1954, two days after his 81st birthday.
For more information, contact Rennie at 710-4968/3566 or by e-mail at Mairi_Rennie@baylor.edu .