As someone who grew up in severe poverty—his father was also said to be illiterate—Sandburg’s connection to education and literature was hard-won and deeply personal. After the disruptions to his schooling early in his adolescence, Sandburg returned to formal education by enrolling in Lombard College after his stint in the US army, although he did not receive a degree. Sandburg’s later work as a journalist for the Chicago Daily News also brought him back into touch with various social classes in America, including the most impoverished, whose stories he sought to champion. In working across various genres in his professional writing—journalism, poetry, prose—Sandburg explored the various forms and limitations of language, using his work to document the culture and society of the America he witnessed all around him. A three-time recipient of the Pulitzer Prize, Sandburg was recognized both during his own lifetime and posthumously as a master of words.

In terms of both his difficult background and his writing career, Sandburg was keenly aware of the power and limitations of language. His father’s illiteracy and poverty were a constant reminder of the price a lack of literacy could bring, while his own writing career brought him a level of fame and comfort his family had never previously known.