Statement Magazine and School Clubs

Cal State LA's yearbooks from the early 1950s feature pictures of McGrath with other faculty and of McGrath with students in the English Club. One of his mentions in the yearbook from 1952 lists McGrath as the English Club advisor.

When he was at the University of North Dakota, McGrath was involved in another literary club. This page out of their 1939 yearbook features the literary upstart "Tommy McGrath," who had recently been awarded the Rhodes Scholarship and -- perhaps a bit less impressively -- served as president of UND's "Quill Club."

Along with the English Club, during his time at Cal State LA, McGrath also served as the faculty advisor for the school's literary publication, Statement, and published poems there. In the spring of 1950, his poems “The World of the Perfect Tear” and “In Praise of a Dead Body” were published. In the fall of 1950, he had “the Troubled Midnight” and “In Praise of Necessity” published, and in the spring of 1951, “Tourists at Ensenada” and “The Odor of Blood” were published. His last publication in the magazine was in the spring of 1952 when his poem “The Uneven Development” was published. The following spring, spring 1953, McGrath is noted as the advisor for the magazine and publishes his poem “Escape” in the same issue.