Carl Sadakichi Hartmann (1867-1944) was the son of a German trader and a Japanese woman. Born in Japan, Hartmann grew up in Germany after his mother died in childbirth when she had his younger brother. His grandmother and uncle served as his guardians in a luxurious Hamburg home.
When his father remarried, Hartmann was sent to a military school where he refused to comply with the strict discipline. His father sent Hartmann to live with an uncle in the United States and disinherited him.
He arrived in Philadelphia in 1882 and took up menial jobs in printing shops, but at night would study at the library as he became more interested in a career in the arts. Hartmann came to know Walt Whitman, sometimes visiting with him and translating German documents for him. He wrote about his visits with the famous poet in a book Conversations with Walt Whitman (1895). Later he would count among his friends Ezra Pound and John Barrymore.
Hartmann became a poet (deeply influenced by the Symbolists); a critic (he launched a magazine, Art Critic, and was one of the first critics to write about photography); and dramatist.
He once wrote of himself: "I was always somewhat of an aesthetic sybarite, looking primarily for manifestations of Plato's fine frenzy, Aristotle's purification of thought and sentiment, and Schopenhauer's moments of cognition."
During WWII, Hartmann, a citizen since 1894, was questioned about his Japanese-German background. Hartmann lost his place in his social circle because of the government's continued harassment, and pleaded with the government in letters not to intern him.
He died in 1944 at his daughter's home.
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Mixed Experience History Month is an annual blog post series celebrating the history of the Mixed experience. Established on Heidi Durrow's blog Light-skinned-ed Girl in 2007, Mixed Experience History Month is an effort to illuminate achievements of multiracial and multicultural individuals (not tragic mulattoes) and people and events central to the Mixed experience. Please look for more profiles of people, places and events of the Mixed experience every weekday of May at Lightskinned-ed Girl, the blog, or Mixed Chicks Chat blog! Thanks for reading. You can also read past year's series: 2007, 2008, 2009.
