Agrarian Reunion Collection – 1968
This collection of 3 Hollinger boxes (1.26 linear feet) contains reel to reel audio tapes and transcipts (original and photocopies) of the proceedings of the Agrarian Reunion at the Southern Literary Festival which took place at the University of Dallas in Texas on April 19, 20, 21 1968. Participants in the Reunion were Agrarians Andrew Lytle, Frank Owsley, John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren. All had contributed to the Agrarian manifesto I’ll Take My Stand which was published in 1930.
Other participants in these conversations were Melvin E. Bradford, author of books on Allen Tate and Andrew Lytle; Thomas Daniel Young, professor of English at Vanderbilt University and author of books on John Crowe Ransom and other southern writers; Thomas H. Landess, author of a work on Caroline Gordon; and Dr. Louise Cowan of the University of Dallas who was the moderator of these conversations. She is the author of The Fugitive Group: A Literary History and The Southern Critics.
A member of the Vanderbilt faculty from 1937 until 1956, Richmond Croom Beatty served as literary editor for the Nashville Tennessean newspaper and was a prolific author and editor. Correspondence includes letters from Cleanth Brooks, Brainard Cheney, Donald Davidson, Mildred Haun, Randall Jarrell, George Marion O’Donnell, John Crowe Ransom, Alec Brock Stevenson, Jesse Stuart, Walter Sullivan, Allen Tate, Peter Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. Other materials in the collection include manuscripts for Beatty’s books and article and newspaper clippings.
Cleanth Brooks was born October 16, 1906 in Murray, Kentucky. He graduated from Vanderbilt University where he met John Crowe Ransom, Donald Davidson, and Andrew Lytle as well as Robert Penn Warren, his lifelong friends and colleagues. From 1932 to 1947 he was a Professor of English at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. From 1947 to 1975 he was an English professor at Yale University, where he held the position of Gray Professor of Rhetoric from 1960 until his retirement in 1975.
This small collection (.21 linear feet ) includes correspondence between Cleanth Brooks and a number of Vanderbilt University faculty about the Fugitive Poets Reunion at Vanderbilt in 1956, the Literary Symposia in 1958 and 1964, and other literary and academic matters. There are also newspaper clippings and articles and several photographs taken by Merrill Moore at the 1956 Fugitive Poets Reunion at Vanderbilt.
Chapman, Robert Harris/Robert Penn Warren Correspondence
Robert Harris Chapman [1919-2000], was born in Highland Park, Illinois. He became a Professor of English Literature, was an accomplished playwright, a theatrical consultant, and Director of the Loeb Drama Center at Harvard University. He was a colleague and long-time friend of Robert Penn Warren. This collection contains seven letters from Robert Penn Warren to Robert Harris Chapman, and one poem by Robert Penn Warren.
Cheney, Brainard and Frances Neel
Brainard Cheney was a reporter for the Nashville Banner, a novelist and playwright. Frances Neel Cheney worked for the Vanderbilt libraries for 14 years, at the Library of Congress, and taught library courses at George Peabody College. The Brainard and Frances Neel Cheney Papers, 1841-1989, include correspondence, manuscripts of writings, speeches, research materials, publication materials, publicity for books and play productions, reviews, legal and financial documents, family records, memorabilia, clippings and photographs, programs from cultural events, clippings on race relations, materials from Brainard Cheney’s career in politics, and manuscripts of writings by other authors. Among their many correspondents were Caroline Gordon, Donald Davidson, Mildred Haun, Andrew Lytle, Flannery O’Connor, Allen Tate, Peter Taylor, Robert Penn Warren, and Stuart Wright.
A member of the Fugitives literary group, Walter Clyde Curry received his B.A. from Wofford College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University. He was professor of English at Vanderbilt University from 1915-1955, spending the last thirteen years of this period as head of the department. His papers include correspondence; business papers; offprints; printed articles; unpublished lectures, essays, and speeches; book reviews; research and lecture notes; and miscellaneous material relating to his duties as department head.
A member of the Fugitives literary group, Davidson received his B. A. and M. A. degrees from Vanderbilt University and remained at the University his entire professional career (1920 - 1968) teaching English. In addition to being a teacher Davidson was also a poet, novelist, and critic. The Donald Davidson Papers (1906 - 1968) include correspondence and writings by Davidson as well as reviews, research materials, publications materials, publicity for books, legal and financial documents, family records, newspaper clippings and photographs, segregation materials, and manuscripts of writings by others. The bulk of the materials come from the 1920's through the 1960's.
Frank, James Marshall
A member of the Fugitive literary group and a brother-in-law of Sidney Mttron Hirsch, James Marshall Frank was a successful manufacturer with an interest in literature and education. His materials include correspondence, publications, reprints, clippings, material on the Fugitive Reunion of 1956, and a few photographs.
Fugitive/Agrarian Collection
This collection consists of a variety of material on members of the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups. It includes material on Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Ridley Wills, Lyle Lanier, Donald Davidson, and Sidney Hirsch, as well as critical reviews of the Fugitive Magazine.
Fugitive Reunion – 1956
This collection consists of reel-to-reel audios and transcripts from the Fugitive Reunion held in 1956 at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Gordon, Caroline [small collection]
Wife of the author Allen Tate and a professional author in her own right, this small collection of personal letters highlights her own difficulties in publishing her works as well as problems on the domestic front. Additional Gordon letters can be found in the Cheney Papers.
Haun, Mildred Eunice
Tennessee folklorist and author Mildred Haun studied under Donald Davidson and John Crowe Ransom at Vanderbilt in the late 1930s. She later worked as an editorial assistant to Allen Tate at the Sewanee Review. She later worked for the Arnold Engineering Development Center in Tullahoma. The bulk of the collection consists of folktales and writings by Haun. Also included in the collection is correspondence, personal diaries, and personal papers.
A member of the Agrarian literary group, Andrew Nelson Lytle was an author, educator, editor, and critic. These papers include correspondence, manuscripts of writings, research materials, reviews, publicity, legal and financial documents, theatrical clippings and programs, photographs, journals and diaries, family records and manuscripts of writings by others. The collection documents, in varying extent, Lytle’s trips abroad; his life at school; his careers as actor, farmer, author, teacher and editor; his activity in the Agrarian literary group; his strong family ties; and his friendships, which include many fellow writers such as Donald Davidson, Caroline Gordon, Frank Lawrence Owsley, Katherine Anne Porter, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren.
McDowell, David
The papers of David McDowell, editor, consist primarily of correspondence and cover the period of 1939-1980. While attending St. Andrew’s (Sewanee), Vanderbilt, and Kenyon College, McDowell became acquainted with many of the laureates of Southern literature. James Agee, Brainard Cheney, Caroline Gordon, Robert Lowell, and William Carlos Williams all corresponded with McDowell. Members of the Fugitive and Agrarian groups – John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, Cleanth Brooks, Donald Davidson, and Andrew Lytle – are also represented in the collection. A large portion of the correspondence and other papers relate to McDowell’s duties as executor for the James Agee Trust and the dedication of the Agee Library at St. Andrew’s, an event organized by McDowell.
Mims, Edwin
Edwin Mims served as professor of English as well as head of the English Department at Vanderbilt University from 1912 until 1942, when he retired as professor emeritus. A prolific author and editor, he also served as editor for the South Atlantic Quarterly. His papers include correspondence, class notes and lectures, book manuscripts, and research notes.
Mizener, Arthur/John Crowe Ransom Correspondence
This collection is an exchange of letters between Arthur Mizener and John Crowe Ransom, Mizener and Robert Penn Warren, and Mizener and Allen Tate. It covers the years 1938 through 1974. Literature, criticism, research, publishing, and employment possibilities are the major subjects of the letters.
Mizener, Arthur/Allen Tate Correspondence
This collection is an exchange of letters between Arthur Mizener and John Crowe Ransom, Mizener and Robert Penn Warren, and Mizener and Allen Tate. It covers the years 1938 through 1974. Literature, criticism, research, publishing, and employment possibilities are the major subjects of the letters.
Mizener, Arthur/Robert Penn Warren Correspondence
This collection is an exchange of letters between Arthur Mizener and John Crowe Ransom, Mizener and Robert Penn Warren, and Mizener and Allen Tate. It covers the years 1938 through 1974. Literature, criticism, research, publishing, and employment possibilities are the major subjects of the letters.
Moore, Merrill/Louise Davis Collection
Merrill Moore graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1924. He was a member of the Fugitive literary group. He became a physician and wrote sonnets throughout his life.
Louise Littleton Davis was a writer for the Tennessean newspaper.
The Merrill Moore and Louise Davis Collection, 1943-1956, includes an autobiographical sketch of Merrill Moore, correspondence, poetry, bibliography and articles, publication materials, articles about Merrill Moore, and personal and biographical materials. The collection is small, only 1/3 of a cubic foot. The majority of this collection is focused on the person of Merrill Moore, both as a doctor and a poet.
Nixon, Herman Clarence
A member of the Agrarian literary group, Herman Clarence Nixon donated the essay “Whither Southern Economy?” to the 1930 Agrarian manifesto I’ll Take My Stand. Nixon’s papers consist of correspondence, newspaper clippings, offprints, and manuscripts.
In 1934, George Marion O’Donnell transferred from Memphis State University to Vanderbilt University, where he was influenced by several well-known Southern literary figures, including Allen Tate, Cleanth Brooks, and Andrew Lytle. He received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Vanderbilt in 1936 and continued his graduate studies there, receiving the Master of Arts in 1939.
The papers of George Marion O'Donnell date from approximately the 1870s to 1982. The bulk of the collection, however, dates from the 1940s and 1950s. It includes O'Donnell's correspondence, journals, and daybooks, which reflect his interest in modern literature and the influence of several Vanderbilt and other Southern literary figures over his own work. His correspondence includes one letter each from Allen Tate, John Peale Bishop, and Harriet Owsley, and a brief scribbled note from John Crowe Ransom. His journals from the 1930s and letters from friends and colleagues in the 1940s, however, often mention Tate and Ransom, along with Andrew Lytle, Cleanth Brooks, Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, and Katherine Anne Porter. Two photograph albums include numerous pictures of these literary figures, notably of Tate and Welty, but also of Porter, Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, and William Faulkner. O'Donnell's literary career is further documented by the manuscripts and published versions of many of his poems, stories, essays, and reviews included in this collection. Lecture notes provide a glimpse into his teaching career.
Frank Lawrence Owsley joined the staff of Vanderbilt University in 1920. He was a member of the Agrarians literature movement at Vanderbilt and wrote the essay entitled "The Irrepressible Conflict" for I'll Take My Stand: the South and the Agrarian Tradition published by Harper Brothers of New York and London in 1930.
The papers of Frank Lawrence Owsley cover the period 1913 - 1959 and consist of ten cubic feet of materials which are primarily concerned with the professional life and career of this historian, author, and teacher. The major series in the papers include the Correspondence, the Writings, Personal and Biographical Materials, Agrarians, Publication Material, Academic Career, Professional Activities, and Research Materials.
Plumly, William/Robert Penn Warren Correspondence [small collection]
William Plumley corresponded with Warren from 1969-1984. This collections includes correspondence, three manuscripts (typescripts); one signed photo; the original video of the PBS interview; s/s unit of the same interview; audiotape of Dr. Foster's interview with him; ephemera. Plus signed typescript by Allen Tate, colleague.
Pratt, William [small collection]
William Pratt received his Masters and Ph.D. degrees from Vanderbilt University with his thesis on William Faulkner and his dissertation on Henry James, Ezra Pound, and T.S. Eliot. In 1957 Pratt joined the English Faculty at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He has lectured widely on Modern Poetry and American Literature.
This collection includes letters to Pratt from seven of the original Fugitive poets and Andrew Lytle dating from 1963 to as late as 1991. There are a total of 50 letters written by 11 different people. Also included is the photocopy of the entire collection, 40 original envelopes, the 1964 contract for publication, the cover of The Fugitive Poets with a painting by Paul Davis, and the manuscript introduction to the first edition of The Fugitive Poets. Ransom, Stevenson, and Lytle also included some poems with their letters to Pratt.
The Query Club was founded by Olympe Trabue in 1885 to discuss intellectual and popular topics of the era. This collection contains a member roster, a short history of the club, and cassettes of programs and reminiscences of the Fugitives and Agrarians by Query Club members during the 1993-1994 year.
John Crowe Ransom, noted poet, critic, educator and editor, was born April 30, 1888 in Pulaski, Tennessee. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1909, was a Rhodes Scholar at Christ Church, Oxford, 1910-1913, and joined the faculty of Vanderbilt in 1914, where he taught English until 1937. While at Vanderbilt, Ransom was a major figure in the Fugitive and Agrarian Groups and their publications, The Fugitive (1922-1925) and I'll Take My Stand (1930). In 1937, Ransom accepted a position at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio as professor of poetry and later founded and edited an important literary quarterly, The Kenyon Review (1939-1959). Ransom retired in 1959, but remained active in literary pursuits until his death in 1974 at the age of eighty-six. His works of poetry include Poems About God (1919), Chills and Fever (1924), and Selected Poems (1945, 1963, 1969).
The collection consists primarily of correspondence and manuscripts produced during Ransom's retirement (1959-1974), although important earlier materials are included, such as Ransom's letters to his wife, Robb Reavill Ransom, dated 1920-1938. Also included are class rolls, clippings, family records, financial records, Kenyon College items, lecture notes, memorabilia, photographs, programs, publications, recommendations, and school catalogs. There are also a few scattered older pieces of incoming correspondence, such as a 1917 letter from Macmillan rejecting the manuscript which was eventually published as Poems About God. Transcripts of telegrams from various notable persons honoring Ransom on the occasion of his departure from Vanderbilt in 1937 are also preserved here.
Riding, Laura [small collection]
The Laura Riding Collection, 1923-1933, includes correspondence, poetry, and lists of potential subscribers to The Fugitive magazine. The collection is very minimal, containing seven letters, six poems, and several pages of lists and notecards. The focus of this collection is Laura Riding’s connection to The Fugitive magazine.
Stevenson, Alec Brock
Alec Brock Stevenson was a graduate and member of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust, a writer for the Nashville Banner newspaper, and investment banker. While a student at Vanderbilt, he was a member of the Fugitive literary group. His papers include correspondence, biographical material, and papers relating to his membership and service with the Alumni Association and the Athletic Association.
Walter Sullivan, a native of Nashville, is a 1947 Vanderbilt University alumnus who later became a Professor of English at Vanderbilt University for 51 years, and retired in 2000. Professor Sullivan is Vanderbilt's leading authority on the Fugitives and the Agrarians, and was personal friends with Donald Davidson, Peter Taylor, Allen Tate, Andrew Lytle, and Robert Penn Warren. This collection contains 157 pieces of correspondence, in 27 file folders, to Walter Sullivan from the following Southern literary writers, who were part of the Fugitives/Agrarians: Donald Davidson, Andrew Lytle, Allen Tate, Peter Taylor, and Robert Penn Warren. It also includes four (4) books, and 43 reel-to-reel tapes, in chronological order, from Literary Symposium Lectures, panels, readings, and interviews with Southern writers.
The Allen Tate papers primarily consist of correspondence between Tate and Donald Davidson and Mark Van Doren. Also included in the collection is additional correspondence with family members, general correspondence, miscellaneous manuscripts, and a collection of reel-to-reel audios of the 1975 symposium held at Vanderbilt University in honor of Tate’s 75th birthday.
A native of Tennessee and a Vanderbilt alumnus, Peter Taylor was a novelist and short story writer who won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his 1986 novel A Summons to Memphis. He was a student of John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren, members of the Fugitive and Agrarian literary groups. The collection contains the following series materials: correspondence, writings, literary career, academic career, biographical/personal papers, associates and writings by others. In his letters, Taylor describes his feelings on such varied topics as education, teaching, writing, reading, religion, his military and wartime experiences, marriage, and relationships with family and friends.
Warren, Robert Penn and William Meredith Correspondence [small collection]
William Meredith born in New York City is an American poet. He graduated from Princeton University in 1940 and later taught at Princeton, the University of Hawaii, and Connecticut College. He has published nine volumes of poetry and in 1988 won the Pulitzer Prize for Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems (1987) and in 1997 the National Book Award for Effort at Speech. This collection is an archive of his personal correspondence with Robert Penn Warren, Eleanor Clark Warrren, and their daughter Rosanna for the years 1962-1980. Also included: an album of over 80 manuscript pages of poems by R.P.W.; a folder of invitation cards to Meredith from the Warrens; and a folder of several miscellaneous materials including R.P. Warren’s letter to the Editor of the New York Times dated May 24, 1980.
Weaver, Richard Malcolm
A Vanderbilt University graduate and professor of English literature at University of Chicago, Richard Malcolm Weaver studied under both Donald Davidson and John Crowe Ransom while a student at Vanderbilt. His papers include correspondence, book manuscripts, papers from his undergraduate days at Vanderbilt, reprints of published essays, speeches and reviews.
Jesse Ely Wills, 1899-1977, a Nashville native, was a member of the group of poets who met in Nashville in the early 1920's to write and publish the influential literary magazine The Fugitive. He was an officer and executive of the National Life and Accident Insurance company during his business career and was active in Vanderbilt University affairs as a member of the Board of Trust and chairman of the Board of the Joint University Libraries. This collection contains literary correspondence and manuscripts.
Wills, William Ridley
A member of the Fugitive literary group, William Ridley Wills was a graduate of Vanderbilt University and a Nashville and Memphis newspaper man. This small collection of his papers includes manuscripts of his writings and newspaper clippings.
Stuart Wright of Winston-Salem, North Carolina was on the faculty of the School of Education at Wake Forest University. He was the owner/publisher of Palaemon Press Limited, a private press that published books, pamphlets, and broadsides by Southern authors. He was a bibliographer and collector of southern literature especially for Fugitive/Agrarian authors and their associates.
This collection contains correspondence between Robert Penn Warren and George Core, as well as correspondence between Robert Penn Warren and Stuart Wright. There is also correspondence from Eleanor Clark to Stuart Wright. Many of the letters refer to the publishing of books, but many are personal in nature. The collection is arranged into two series, in two boxes: Series I contains 232 pieces of correspondence, eight poems, four report cards of Robert Penn Warren, and 21 envelopes; Series II contains 131 photographs (mostly of Robert Penn Warren), and 2 contact sheets with 44 images. The folders are arranged by subject and chronologically within the collection.