Lawrence Thompson, author of The Young Longfellow, was to give a speech about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's time teaching at Bowdoin College on February 10, 1939.

It was advertised as his first speaking engagement since the publication of book.

Reports about the lecture noted that the hall to capacity despite a winter storm.

Thompson's speech focused on the influence on Longfellow of four Bowdoin professors: Samuel Phillips Newman, professor of rhetoric and oratory; Parker Cleaveland, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy; Alpheus Spring Packard, professor of ancient languages; and Thomas Cogswell Upham, professor of mental philosophy.