When Polly Met Carl

Polly Angelakis; Park Superintendent at Carl Sandburg National Historic Site

When Polly Angelakis was hired as Park Superintendent at Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, it was not lost on her that her life and that of the Park’s namesake had many similarities. Both children of immigrants, Polly and Carl struck out on life-changing odysseys as young adults after relatively cloistered childhoods. They experienced the breadth and majesty of America and witnessed first-hand the tapestry of the human condition.

“I certainly resonated with important aspects of Sandburg’s life,” explains Polly.  “My grandparents came over from Greece and Italy. I was an English major in college, so his writings certainly resonate with me. When I learned about how he would kind of bounce around the country, that definitely resonated. There are certainly important parts of Carl Sandburg’s life that speak to me.”

In 1897, Sandburg left Galesburg, IL for the first time in his life and crisscrossed hobo-style across parts of the west and mid-west. He carried his worldly possessions from town to town and found various odd jobs to finance his travels before eventually returning to Galesburg. Almost a century later, Polly set out from her childhood home of Lynn, MA and began a decades-long journey that would involve 27 moves in 33 years. As was true for Sandburg, the opportunity to “see the world” has had a profound effect on her appreciation for the tremendous variety of geography, climate, and local culture in the United States.

Polly’s early childhood, like Sandburg’s, was not one of great privilege. Although the family did not have a lot of money, her mother made sure Polly learned about the world beyond the city limits of Lynn.  “My mom was a single mom, and we were very poor,” says Polly. “We didn’t have a car so if the bus didn't go someplace, we didn't either. But mom always made sure I had lots of books. Through books, I would just read about these fabulous places around the country and around the world. Those books made me want to travel.” 

Polly’s mom also made sure that her daughter had an appreciation for nature and being outdoors. “My mom was my girl scout leader. That probably inspired my love of the outdoors.” Polly and her mom also lived just two blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and the beach was a perfect place for a young girl to explore. “I would spend every spare minute down at the beach, exploring tide pools and walking the shoreline, collecting all this flotsam and jetsam that washes up on the beach. That definitely inspired my love of the outdoors.”

Following graduation from the University of Massachusetts in 1987 with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Polly packed her worldly possessions in her car and struck out to discover America - one National Park at a time. “When I was a junior in college, I was lucky to spend my junior year as an exchange student at the University of Hawaii and got to hike in some of the beautiful parks there. That really sparked my interest in working for the National Parks Service.” 

All of Polly’s earliest park jobs were temporary positions. “During the early years, I was a seasonal or temporary employee for the National Park Service. Everything I owned fit in my car and I moved every three to six months for the first eight years. Even when I had my first few permanent jobs, I still moved every one to three years.”

Frequently moving from park to park allowed Polly to experience the places and sites she had only dreamed of seeing when she was a child.  Polly loved the adventure and travel, and she highly recommends the experience. “I absolutely recommend being a seasonal employee for the National Park Service. It gave me a chance to see different types of parks, different ways of doing things, and just the amazing places that we protect in the Park System.”

Early on, Polly discovered that although an English Major may seem incongruous with a career in the National Parks Service, it is actually excellent training for someone committed to sharing their love of parks with the people.  “As an English Major, you focus on communications. Becoming a Park Service interpreter was a good way to put those skills into practice. The same was true when I branched out to manage or lead environmental education programs and volunteer programs. The communication skills I've learned as an English major definitely helped me.”

When asked to name her favorite parks in the country, Polly answers like a mother asked to name a favorite child.  “Oh my gosh, they were all spectacular for different reasons. I love them all - all for different reasons. Olympic National Park has this amazing range of ecosystems. There are elk, meadows, old-growth forest, and beautiful coastal tide pools. I worked in New Orleans at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and it was immersed in the wonderful cultures that make the Mississippi Delta so special. Salem Maritime Historic Site was the first park I worked in, and I grew up around the American history of New England. I love all the parks for different reasons.“

Prior to coming to Sandburg, Polly spent six years working at Haleakala National Park in Hawaii. Life in paradise was rewarding, but something was missing. No longer a 20-something desperate to see the world beyond Massachusetts, her thoughts turned more and more to family and friends back on the East Coast.  When the posting for Sandburg came open, she was ready - and perhaps uniquely qualified - for the job of telling the story of a man whose career was defined by words, poetry, and lyrics.  “My husband and I had been talking for a little while about moving back to the mainland and this job opened up at Sandburg. I loved reading Carl Sandburg's works, love the Blue Ridge area, and love Western North Carolina. I applied and was lucky enough to get it.”

But how does one walk away from paradise? “Hawaii was tough to leave. But we tried to focus on what we were going towards. We knew we would be going to a park with a strong staff, a powerful story. A big motivation was that we were 6,000 miles from family in Hawaii. We had missed a lot of family moments, big and small. So those were all a part of our decision to leave Maui and come here.”  

At Sandburg, Polly has discovered a lot to love about her new job, and the English major in her feels right at home. ”What I love the most about working here is that Sandburg has a powerful voice. You can look at almost anything he wrote 50 to 100 years ago and still find relevancy today.”  Lillian Sandburg’s life is another story Polly loves to tell. “Mrs. Sandburg’s story is just as powerful. She was a leader in STEM (Science Technology Engineering, and Mathematics) before that phrase existed and Carl was her champion. So there's a powerful story of family and love and teamwork. And just doing the best that you can for your community and being a voice for people that can't speak for themselves. There is a very compelling story to be told here.”

To the average visitor to Sandburg National Historic Site, the place seems to be very low-key. In fact, there is a lot going on at the Park. Polly oversees a  staff of 11 employees and roughly 200 volunteers. The Historic Site is also charged with overseeing an incredible number of items in the Sandburg archives. “We work quite closely with Sandburg's granddaughter and grandson and the family is still quite generous. We have one of the largest museum collections in the National Park Service with over 300,000 items. Between 20 to 30,000 are in the house, and the rest are in our museum collection in a climate-controlled building properly documented and cataloged.”

After two years in their new home, Polly and her husband continue to enjoy a warm welcome in North Carolina. “It’s a beautiful area. People are friendly. There's a wonderful focus on family. We have met people with similar interests, so we really love living here.” She’s even discovered a new favorite food. “We've always loved barbecue. But I had never had pimento cheese before. It was a revelation,” she says with a laugh.

When asked what she believes Carl and Lillian Sandburg would think of their home in its role as a National Historic Site, Polly is confident that the famous couple would approve. “Mrs. Sandburg wanted her husband's work commemorated as a National Park, so I would hope that they would like what we are doing in terms of keeping his writings and his relevancy alive. I believe they would like what they see.”

After a lifetime of moving from place to place, Polly Angelakis’s journey has delivered her to the intersection of two lives shaped by wanderlust, a love of words, and an over-riding passion to communicate with the people that cross their paths.  Polly and Carl may come from distinctly different eras, but they clearly share a common bond in their commitment to helping people see the extraordinary richness of the world around us.

The Road and the End
By Carl Sandburg

I shall foot it
Down the roadway in the dusk,
Where shapes of hunger wander
And the fugitives of pain go by.

I shall foot it
In the silence of the morning,
See the night slur into dawn,
Hear the slow great winds arise

Where tall trees flank the way
And shoulder toward the sky.
The broken boulders by the road
Shall not commemorate my ruin.
Regret shall be the gravel under foot.

I shall watch for
Slim birds swift of wing
That go where wind and ranks of thunder
Drive the wild processionals of rain.

The dust of the traveled road
Shall touch my hands and face.

Polly Angelakis Official Bio

Polly Angelakis is a 33-year National Park Service (NPS) employee who has worked in 12 parks and 2 regional offices. Since 2018, she has been Superintendent of Carl Sandburg Home NHS. She transferred to Sandburg from Haleakalā NP, where she spent 6 years as Chief of Interpretation and Education.  

She’s worked in 12 different park units and in 2 NPS regional offices. Before becoming a superintendent, she managed park or regional interpretation, education, and volunteer programs. She also spent 8 years as a seasonal (NPS temp employee) and “absolutely loved it. Everything I owned fit in my car. I moved around the country every 3-6 months, working in different parks.”  

This vagabond lifestyle led to 27 moves over the course of her career, causing her mother to frequently replace her address book, to keep up with the address changes. “She finally started writing my name in ink and my addresses in pencil. She grew tired of buying new address books because I had used up all the A’s.” 

 A Massachusetts native, Angelakis graduated from UMass in 1987 with a B.A. cum laude in English. Angelakis spent her junior year of college at the University of Hawai`i, where a hike with friends through Haleakalā crater inspired her to become a park ranger. Her parks include: Salem Maritime NHS; U.S.S. Arizona Memorial; Everglades NP; Jean Lafitte NHP; Acadia NP; Shenandoah NP; Assateague Island NS: Olympic NP; Marsh Billings Rockefeller NHP; George Washington Memorial Parkway; Haleakalā NP; and Sandburg.  She is a lifetime Girl Scouts member. Her Missouri-born husband, Alan Willis, is an electrical engineering consultant. They enjoy hiking, water sports, theater, traveling, music, and having adventures with their rescue dog Finn and 20+ nieces and nephews.