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H.L. Mencken
Program Video Clip List
Clip # Start Time End Time Description
1 00:25.0 01:19.0 Voice of Mencken describing his childhood; visuals of Mencken
2 02:13.7 03:00.0 What made H.L. Mencken a unique writer?
3 03:36.6 03:51.9 The writing style of H.L. Mencken
4 05:01.6 05:20.1 The love letters of H.L. Mencken to Sara Haardt, his wife
5 05:20.1 06:57.1 History of Union Square and H.L. Mencken's home there, where he lived all but a few years of his life; Union Square then and now
6 06:57.2 07:42.5 Mencken's relationship with the Enoch Pratt Free Library; Mencken's love for Baltimore
7 07:48.3 09:44.7 Mencken's religious beliefs; was widely known fact that he was agnostic; despite his beliefs, he was quite well-versed in theology.
8 09:47.0 11:06.9 1948 interview with Mencken; he talks about being agnostic and his relationship with people of other religions
9 11:12.7 14:56.7 Caller anecdote about H.L. Mencken's visits to his high school; how Mencken inspired him and the other students
10 14:56.8 15:33.2 Description of Mencken's prime work, The American Language
11 15:38.4 18:47.7 Caller who was former doctor/friend of Mencken; described Mencken's wit both in writing and in conversation
12 18:51.4 19:26.0 Mencken as a "Renaissance man"
13 19:34.2 20:33.4 Mencken talking about free speech and free press in America
14 20:54.8 22:15.1 Robert Carter's influence on Mencken; Carter was the second managing editor for the Baltimore Morning Herald when Mencken began his journalism career.
15 22:15.2 22:46.8 H.L. Mencken's mentors
16 22:46.7 23:19.2 The H.L. Mencken Collection at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, MD; the most extensive collection of Mencken works
17 23:48.9 24:11.0 Baltimore/Union Square as it pertained to Mencken
18 24:14.0 25:35.1 Mencken and WWII; did not have a regular newspaper forum to express his views on WWII as he did for WWI; had a severe distrust of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
19 25:38.0 26:51.3 Mencken's politics; believed that the best government governed the least; Mencken's political views by today's standards
20 26:59.0 27:27.8 Mencken talking about politicians.
21 27:31.0 28:14.1 Mencken's life after his stroke; lived for 7 more years
22 28:33.6 30:19.9 The Mencken Memorial Fountain; fountain is a testament to Mencken's great achievement and also associates Mencken with Baltimore
23 30:20.0 30:43.9 Significance of the date September 12; Mencken's birthday as well as the date of the Battle of North Point in Baltimore
24 30:44.0 32:32.8 Discussion of Mencken's books Damn! A Book of Calumny, In Defense of Women, and The American Language
25 32:32.9 34:29.4 Mencken discussing his book The American Language; visuals of Mencken
26 34:40.4 36:38.3 Claims that Mencken was bigoted and anti-Semitic; for his time he was not considered so, by today's standards most likely; must put him in the context of his time and place
27 36:42.0 37:38.3 Relationship between William Manchester and H.L. Mencken
28 37:38.4 38:12.1 Mencken's book The Prejudices
29 39:56.5 40:18.2 Would Mencken find a forum for his writing today?
30 40:18.3 41:46.7 Caller reads a letter written by Mencken in 1946 about WWII
31 42:02.3 43:41.3 Mencken's political ideology; likening Mencken to Christopher Hitchens, a present-day journalist
32 43:55.5 46:33.2 P.J. O'Rourke discusses Mencken's views on politics and where he might line up on the political spectrum.
33 46:49.7 48:15.2 Mencken's effect on other writers such as Sinclair Lewis and Theodore Dreiser
34 48:15.7 49:23.2 Mencken's career as a journalist and writer; his Monday column in the Baltimore Evening Sun gained him national prominance
35 49:38.2 52:03.3 Mencken's relationship with Theodore Dreiser; other scholarly biographers of Mencken
36 52:06.8 54:06.5 Mencken was a contributor to the Harlem Renaissance; published such writers as Langston Hughes and W.E.B. DuBois in his magazine
37 54:15.5 55:47.1 Mencken's wit and humor; clever Mencken quotes
38 55:47.5 58:35.1 Mencken's fondness of alcohol; wrote anti-Prohibition articles; Mencken discussing his views about alcohol in an interview
39 58:42.8 01:00:39 The faux history of the bathtub as written by H.L. Mencken; his relationship with George Jean Nathan
40 01:00:49 01:04:07 The Mencken rowhouse in Baltimore; tour of the house along with corresponding photos of the house from Mencken's era
41 1:04:23 01:05:43 Robert Ingersoll and Izzy Stone in relation to Mencken
42 01:05:44 01:06:29 Tour of the second story of Mencken's home
43 01:06:33 01:09:49 Mencken and the Scopes trial; interview clip of Mencken discussing the trial
44 01:09:50 01:10:44 Mencken's marriage to Sara Haardt
45 01:10:45 01:12:31 The death of Mencken; the present-day funeral home
46 01:12:32 01:12:57 Why Mencken spent most of his life in Baltimore
47 01:13:25 01:14:05 The epigraph of Mencken
48 01:16:53 01:18:01 Mencken's views on the Middle East; prophesizes bloodshed in his writings
49 01:18:58 01:21:53 Mencken's views on Germany and Hitler during the World Wars; recitation of a letter written by Mencken in reference to Germany's antics; some people claim Mencken was anti-Semitic; he just wrote in the context of the times.
50 01:21:53 01:22:33 Mencken came from a German-American neighborhood and family.
51 01:22:34 01:22:59 The reason Mencken used H.L. Mencken as his byline.
52 01:23:02 01:24:49 Mencken believed in the complete separation of church and state.
53 01:24:50 01:25:33 The influence of Mencken at The Baltimore Sun; later became disillusioned with the Sun and reporters
54 01:25:47 01:27:09 Fred Rasmussen, current reporter for the Sun, discusses Mencken's relationship with The Baltimore Sun
55 01:27:19 01:27:47 Is H.L. Mencken still relevant today?
56 01:27:48 01:29:37 Reading and discussion of Mencken quotes
57 01:29:45 01:30:38 Why Mencken called his journal The American Mercury
58 01:30:41 01:34:07 More discussion on whether Mencken was anti-Semitic; Mencken was a liberating force for African-Americans and had many Jewish friends; Mencken did not write out against Hitler publicly, mainly did so in letters
59 01:34:11 01:36:10 Mencken's views on segregation and Jim Crow laws
60 01:36:22 01:37:21 How did Mencken shape opinion? What is the volume of Mencken's writings?
61 01:37:37 01:38:55 Comparison of Mencken to William Allen White; differed in opinions about the New Deal
62 01:40:47 01:42:32 Mencken and his wife lived on Cathedral Street while married; the Saturday Night Club was the center of Mencken's social life.
63 01:42:33 01:44:28 Became a journalist during Teddy Roosevelt and continued through Truman; was very critical of politicians
64 01:44:36 01:46:50 Exerpt from A Mencken Chrestomathy
65 01:46:52 01:47:33 Mencken prided himself on being a curmudgeon
66 01:47:46 01:49:00 Mencken's thoughts on being a reporter as heard in a 1948 interview
67 01:49:21 01:51:20 More opinions that Mencken was anti-Semitic; likening of his journalism to post-September 11 journalism; claims that Mencken and journalists like him are wrong in their beliefs
68 01:52:02 01:53:59 What is the true influence of H.L. Mencken and what should be taken from his writings today? Some say his wit and humor, others claim his poignant observations of politics and politicians
69 01:54:03 01:55:04 Mencken held as his ideal the founding fathers.
70 01:55:08 01:56:49 Further discussion on whether Mencken was anti-Semitic; his failing as a journalist was the fact that he did not publicly write against Hitler and the crimes being committed by Germany, especially after having visited there in 1938.
71 01:56:50 01:57:40 Today's Baltimore Sun versus the Sun of Mencken's time
72 01:57:41 01:59:39 Final words on Mencken's legacy and influence; description of Mencken's writing style
73 02:01:00 02:01:54 Mencken discussing his lack of formal education and his life as a reporter

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