Harold E. Pagliaro

Dr. Harold Pagliaro, Alexander Griswold Cummins Professor Emeritus of English Literature, Provost Emeritus, and Senior Research Scholar at Swarthmore College, passed away on February 15 after a four months’ illness. He was 94.

Born in New York City to Harry and Linda Ricci Pagliaro, Dr. Pagliaro attended New York City schools until age 14. Then his family moved to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia where his father oversaw construction of the Norfolk dry dock for the U.S. Navy in the early years of WWII. Harry was senior class president at Woodrow Wilson High School in Norfolk and went on to Columbia College in New York City. After President Roosevelt lowered the draft age to 18, Dr. Pagliaro enrolled in the Army Specialized Training Program for college students to continue their educations. As war in Europe raged, he was drafted in October 1943. In July 1944, after earning his Expert Infantryman’s Badge, he was shipped to England, then to France as a solo replacement in the 121st cavalry reconnaissance unit. On December 2, he was wounded in a ground battle 10 days before the Battle of the Bulge. He spent seven months in hospitals in France and the U.S. to repair his right leg, undergoing six operations. He received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star “for meritorious achievement in ground combat.” He was discharged in September 1945.

Dr. Pagliaro received the A.B, M.A. and Ph.D. in English Literature from Columbia University. He taught at Columbia until moving to Swarthmore in 1964, where he served as the college’s second provost and was chair of the English department for two terms totaling 13 years. His field was 18th century English literature and Romantic poetry. He published in both fields, with books on Blake, Fielding, and others, and served three terms as editor of the “Proceedings of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.” In retirement, Dr Pagliaro published a memoir of his experience at the front and a study of George Bernard Shaw’s plays. In recent years, he turned to poetry, composing over 200 sonnets that he published in various journals. He and his wife Judith have lived in Swarthmore for over 50 years.

He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Judith Egan Pagliaro; their children, Robert, of New York City; Susanna, of Oak Park, Illinois; and John, of Shelter Island, New York; a son from an earlier marriage, Blake, of Boulder, Colorado; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.