Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, near Huntington, New York, the second of a family of nine children.

In 1855, Whitman issued the first edition of his Leaves of Grass, long considered one of his greatest works.

In 1838-39 he edited a newspaper, the Long-Islander, at Huntington; becoming bored, he went back to New York City to work as a printer and journalist.