on campus. He had an engaging speaking style and was personally involved with what he taught. He wrote about English and European literature. During trips to Europe he met many of the leading writers of the turn of the 19th century. Phelps taught at Yale for 41 years before retiring in 1933. From 1941 to 1943 he was the director of the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. Public speaking and writing Phelps could be an incandescent and inspirational orator, drawing large audiences wherever he spoke. He lectured on the famous Town Hall Lecture circuit nationwide. During the summer of 1922, the pastor of the Huron City Methodist Episcopal Church asked him to preach regularly for the season. He had previously preached there occasionally, and his afternoon services started to attract large crowds. The little church was remodeled twice in 1925 and again in 1929 to accommodate the crowds. His wife's parents made substantial contributions that made the expansions possible. At the height of his speaking popularity, from 800-1,000 people attended his summer services. Some first-hand accounts describe overflow crowds sitting outside the packed church so they could listen through the windows. He became known throughout the world as a leading literary scholar, educator, author, book critic, and preacher. After his retirement from Yale, he continued to present public lectures, radio talks, and write a daily newspaper column about books and authors. He continued to give a series of Sunday sermons each summer and offer a 20-week lecture course in literature during the winter. He presented several college commencement addresses each year and served as a judge of the Pulitzer Prize for literature and on book club selection committees. Legacy During his time as a Yale professor, Phelps invited a number of the Senior Class' notable students together in 1884 and founded The Pundits. They dined weekly at Mory's, a private club adjacent to the campus. The group regularly lampooned the campus with elaborate pranks. Among the notable members of the Pundits was composer Cole Porter Phelps encouraged Alexander Smith Cochran to dedicate the Cochran family's extensive collection of Shakespearean folios and other rare books to endow a private club for the arts and humanities. This became the Elizabethan Club which is still active as of 2021. In 1938, Life magazine ran an article profiling Phelps' life. His wife Annabel died of a stroke in 1939 and William died in