The verse “Don’t Quit” was published as early as 1901, though it was very popular in the 1920s among America’s unions. I have copies of several union newsletter journals from the early 1920s with the poem in it, all attributed anonymously.
It was also given to Lou Gehrig on a large parchment on his retirement at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939.
I’m afraid modern claims of authorship are false.

Sorry I saw this movie too and in the scene where the poem is presented the title ‘Don’t Quit’ is the only thing visible.. Isn’t that interesting. The other, even more interesting thing, about this movie’s ‘Don’t Quit’ poem is that if you go to google and type in things like “poem Lou Gegrig was handed in the movie “pride of the yankees’ there are 0 ZERO results on such a poem? Google has other results for a poem for Lou Gehrig but it’s never ‘Don’t Quit’?? Why is that?

I feel that I need to say that no one really knows who wrote this poem. It is a ‘he said’ ’she said’ until this is proven which is highly unlikely. So, when someone says something like “Thank you so much for the information. I did not believe that the guy who claims to have written it” it makes it sound as though someone is speaking in the form of ‘definite knowledge’ which doesn’t exist yet for this poem. Just keep an open mind that’s all I can say because you just never know who is really being ‘honest’ and who is really being ‘a big mouth know-nothing’. In any event, Gerard Haughey, is the only guy with an actual story that makes honest sense about this poem. why haven’t all these other people now claiming they wrote this poem put up their own website? Gerard is the first person to do that, doesn’t that say something? I mean it takes money to put up a website, maybe that’s why no one else put one up because no one would spend money on a thing they weren’t absolutely sure of. just my thoughts.

Thanks,
Jeff

JK