Jesse Ely Wills

{{short description|American poet}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Jesse Ely Wills

|image = Jesse Ely Wills, May 1923.jpg

|caption = Jesse Ely Wills
(newspaper article published in May, 1923)

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|death_date = March 4, 1977

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|occupation = Businessman, poet

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|children = Ridley Wills II

|parents = William Ridley Wills

|relatives = William Ridley Wills (cousin)

}}

Jesse Ely Wills (1899–1977) was an American businessman and poet. He was the chairman of the National Life and Accident Insurance Company and the author of four poetry collections.{{cite news |title=Jesse Ely Wills Memorial Rites To Be Monday |work=The Tennessean |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/111723220 |accessdate=May 15, 2020 |date=March 5, 1977|pages=1; 4|via=Newspapers.com}} National Life was founded by his father, William Ridley Wills in 1902. Jesse Wills began working there at age 23 when he was a student at Vanderbilt University and remained with the company his entire career. In 1925, the company created radio station WSM to help promote their business and built a studio on the fifth floor of their building. National Life Insurance and station WSM achieved international recognition in creating the "Grand Ole Opry " which was broadcast nationwide and became the longest-running radio broadcast in U.S. history.{{cite web |last1=Connelly |first1=John Lawrence |title=National Life and Accident Insurance Company |url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/national-life-and-accident-insurance-company/ |website=tennesseeencyclopedia.net |publisher=Tennessee Historical Society |accessdate=April 23, 2020 |date=August 22, 2018}}{{cite web|title=Music/Grand Ole Opry|publisher=The Radio Hall of Fame|url=http://www.radiohof.org/music/grandoleopry.html|accessdate=January 26, 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908041736/http://www.radiohof.org/music/grandoleopry.html|archivedate=September 8, 2008|df=mdy-all}}

In 1922, while a student at Vanderbilt, Wills was a member of the "Fugitives," an influential literary movement.{{cite news |title=Fugitives Add to Literary Honors Of Tennessee |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35524665/the_tennessean/ |accessdate=September 3, 2019 |work=Special Features Section |issue=17 |publisher=Nashville Tennessean |date=May 27, 1923|volume=15 }} The Fugitives wrote and published poetry, and included notable writers Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate, John Crowe Ransom and Donald Davidson.{{cite web |last1=Malvasi |first1=Mark G. |title=The Fugitives |url=https://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entries/the-fugitives/ |website=tennesseeencyclopedia.net |publisher=Tennessee Historical Society |accessdate=August 4, 2020 |date=October 8, 2017}} The group published the Fugitive Magazine between 1922 and 1925. Two of the members (Warren and Tate) later became United States Poets Laureate.{{cite web |title=Past Poets Laureate 1937–1960 |url=https://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1937-1960.html |website=loc.gov |publisher=The Poetry and Literature Center at the U.S. Library of Congress |accessdate=August 6, 2020}}