Letter cutters from the venerable John Stevens Shop are seen in this photo from around 1983-1984 working the Poets’ Corner carved letters. It is located in the Arts Bay of the nave of the cathedral. The man on the left is John Everett “Fud” Benson the current owner of the shop. It was founded in 1705, therefore one of America’s oldest continuously operated businesses. It has been owned by the Benson’s since 1927.
The American Poets’ Corner was created in 1984 by the Very Reverend James Parks Morton. It came about after an unsuccessful attempt by The Reverend William D. Eddy to have Washington Irving memorialized at Westminster Abbey’s Poets’ Corner. It is made up of stone slabs, both on the wall and on the floor. Each floor plaque is carved with the writer’s name, dates of birth and death, as well a memorable quotation from the writer’s work.
As of 2018, over thirty writers have been inducted. Before 2000, the cathedral’s board of electors chose two new writers annually (one poet, one novelist). The selection is now limited to one writer a year, rotating between poet and novelist
As for the letter cutters, John Howard Benson designed the inscriptions on the Iwo Jima Memorial among other work. His son, John Everett “Fud” Benson (pictured left above) cut the letters on the John F. Kennedy Memorial at Arlington, and his son, Nick Benson is just now finishing carving the letters at the Eisenhower Memorial.
If you are interested in hand cut letters like the Poets’ Corner carved letters, this TED Talk video will interest you. It is an example of the artisan Nick Benson’s passion for the craft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8IeEYwVQSA