Newly processed archival collections at the Beinecke, February to March 2024

April 2, 2024

By Mary Caldera

Beinecke staff have made available several collections and additions to existing collections, including: 

New collections 

 

Amiri Baraka papers (JWJ MSS 198)

The Amiri Baraka Papers contains poetry, pamphlet publications, scripts, interviews, photographs, correspondence, and posters of work written or edited by Amiri Baraka, both under the name Amiri Baraka as well as LeRoi Jones. This material mostly documents his professional work between 1965 and 1982 and reflects his work as a playwright and poet.  (4.46 linear feet) 

André Alexis papers (GEN MSS 2121)

The André Alexis papers contain materials related to the life and work of André Alexis including drafts, research notes, diaries, correspondence, photographic prints, audiovisual and born-digital material, as well as other related papers.  (25.33 linear feet) 

Broadsides, covers of publications, and games designed by José Guadalupe Posada. (2.21 linear feet) 

Circa 2,500 business licenses and 2 tax receipts from Montana Territory, 1865-1867. Businesses documented include attorneys, butchers, saloons, merchants, retail liquor dealers, photographers, ranchers, jewelers, toll roads, barbers, a sleight of hand artist, and “dance girls.” (2.09 linear feet) 

Donald Lyman papers (GEN MSS 2122)

This collection contains diary entries, memos, calendars, and other papers created by, or related to, Donald Lyman. Materials also include a sixty-five page diary documenting Lyman’s work in Mexico as Special Assistant to U. S. Ambassador John Gavin and Acting Deputy Chief of Mission from 1981-1984. (0.25 linear foot) 

The Donald Nicholson-Smith papers consist of correspondence, writings, and translations documenting his work as a writer and translator of many works including the writings of the Situationist International. It also includes records of the English radical collective King Mob. (41 linear feet) 

The Edward Parker Read Papers contain the professional papers of Edward Parker Read and the personal papers of Read and his wife, Alphonsenia Smith, and her family. Professional papers include business records, advertisements, correspondence, pamphlets, judicial documents, and real estate documents. Personal papers include family photographs, identification cards, social organization membership documents, correspondence, and family history documents.  (3.33 linear feet) 

Photographs, audiovisual material, and papers of Frank Schilling Cummings relating to the Navajo peoples near Monument Valley, Arizona, circa 1940s-1970s. 1,010 photographs and slides depict Navajo men, women, and children, as well as Monument Valley. 49 reel-to-reel audio tapes contain oral histories, language lessons, and chants, songs, and ceremonies by Navajo peoples. Two additional tapes pertain to the Aleut peoples of Alaska, while a third contains an informal language lesson in “Eskimo” (likely Inupiaq). Included are two VHS tapes, one 16mm film reel, one DVD, and one external hard drive. [This material is closed to research pending consultation with tribal representatives.] (7.3 linear feet) 

John Irwin Viney papers (GEN MSS 2124)

The collection primarily relates to Viney’s time in China from 1906-1911 and includes correspondence, financial and legal documents, printed ephemera, manuscripts and typescripts, and a small number of photographs. Of note are correspondence and ephemera relating to several social and fraternal clubs based in China, papers on a diplomatic embezzler whom Viney escorted from China to U.S. prison in 1910, a typescript Memorandum on the Political Situation by Edward Selby Little, and printed State Department circulars and reports including a Memorandum Concerning Chefoo Foreign Settlement. (1.7 linear feet) 

Kohar Alexanian papers (GEN MSS 2133)

The Kohar Alexanian papers consist of artwork, correspondence, printed materials, and other papers documenting Alexanian’s professional activities as a designer and art director at Harper & Row Publishers from the late 1960s to early 1980s. The papers feature original artwork and correspondence from authors and illustrators of well-known and award-winning children’s books. Contributors include Marie Angel, Sandra Boynton, Palmer Brown, Malcolm Carrick, Patricia Collins, Carolyn Croll, Whitney Darrow, Mayling Mack Holm, Howard Knotts, R. R. Knudson, Anita and Arnold Lobel, Myra McGee, Allen Say, Fritz Siebel, Marc Simont, James Stevenson, Dominique Michele Strandquest, and Sally Wittman. (2.83 linear feet) 

Otto Ege Collection (GEN MSS 498, Series III-IV)

Series III consists of broken, incomplete, and fragments of manuscripts volumes. Leaves from many, potentially all, of the volumes were included on Ege’s portfolios and inventory intended for sale. A few volumes appear complete but are in poor condition. Series IV consists of intact and broken volumes, leaves, and fragments of printed books and one set of plates. Leaves of many of the volumes were included in Ege’s portfolios and inventory intended for sale. Series V primarily documents Otto F. Ege’s career through writings, correspondence, photographs, newspaper clippings and a scrapbook. The correspondence filed under correspondence and in the scrapbook primarily consists of invitations and thank you notes addressed to Otto and Louise Ege. Ege’s trade in manuscripts and rare books is documented in the catalogs, the Lima Public Library listings, and worksheets. The notes and “Development of Sel[ection] of Fine leaves” provide a glimpse into Ege selection process. There are no records in the collection that document the financial side of Ege’s career. 

Paul Kennedy Papers (GEN MSS 2126)

This collection contains correspondence, printed materials, teaching materials, and other papers created by, or related to the life and work of, Paul Kennedy. (4 linear feet) 

Roz Chast Papers (GEN MSS 2127)

The Roz Chast papers contain correspondence, writings, artwork, printed material, production files, personal papers, photographs, realia, and other papers created by or relating to the life and work of Roz Chast. (79.77 linear feet) 

The Sandra Govan collection of Gwendolyn Bennett and Richard Bruce Nugent interviews includes correspondence, transcripts, and audiocassettes relating to Gwendolyn Bennett and Richard Bruce Nugent.  (4 linear feet) 

The Saul Steinberg Papers consist of correspondence, artwork, professional papers, personal papers, photographs, published artwork, clippings, collected and source material, realia, financial papers, and audio-visual material documenting artist Saul Steinberg’s professional and personal activities. (41.6 linear feet) 

This collection contains digital videotapes documenting the 2008 touring production of “The Brig” by Living Theatre. Also included in the collection is a compact disc, printed flyers, brochures, and pamphlets related to the tour. Originally presented in 1963 and performed by Living Theatre, the 2007 revival of “The Brig” featured a new version written by Kenneth Brown. It depicts a typical day in a U. S. Marine Corps military prison. In 2008, the troupe’s touring production traveled extensively throughout Germany and Italy and was documented by filmmaker Ilya Simakov. (1.42 linear feet) 

 

Additions to existing collections 

 

Charles Hill Papers (MS 2070) 

This accession contains copies of notebooks, including writings about foreign affairs and Yale teaching materials created by Charles Hill. (1 linear foot) 

Additions include correspondence, writings, galleys and proofs, photographs, microfilm, and printed material including clippings, menus, trade cards, and stamps relating to Rudyard Kipling. (4.42 linear feet) 

Dewey-Lowell Papers (YCAL MSS 1616)

Consists of correspondence, Orville Dewey’s diary dating from 1865 to 1880, a 26-page manuscript titled Oration Delivered on the 4th of July, 1811 on the 35th Year of the American Independence, clippings, an ink drawing of Dewey’s home in Sheffield, Massachusetts, and a large scrapbook with documents related to family history. This addition also includes material documenting and related to marriage ceremonies performed by Orville Dewey between the years 1826 and 1833. (1 linear foot) 

This accession contains materials related to the life and work of Elizabeth Mayer, William Mayer, Wolfgang Sauerländer, Josef Scharl, and Helen Hokinson. Includes correspondence, notes, writings, personal and family papers, photographs, printed material, and artwork.  (11.26 linear feet) 

Materials in this accession include publications authored by Ellsworth Huntington, some inscribed with manuscript annotations.  (1.08 linear feet) 

Garry Trudeau Papers (YCAL MSS 747)  

The 2020-2022 acquisitions consist of material relating to Trudeau’s long-running, nationally syndicated cartoon, Doonesbury. Materials include pencil and ink versions of the daily cartoon, pencil and ink versions of the Sunday cartoon, animation cels for A Doonesbury special (1977), artwork relating to the special and to published collections, and press clippings. (98.45 linear feet) 

Geraldine Page papers (YCAL MSS 774) 

This accession contains scripts, correspondence, printed material, photographs, realia, ephemera, and other materials related to the life and work of Geraldine Page.  (5 linear feet) 

This accession contains playscripts, programs, and correspondence, primarily between Goldie Russler and Abraham Burstein.  (1.25 linear feet) 

Louise Glück papers (YCAL MSS 946) 

This accession contains notebooks, writings, journals, teaching materials, and other documentation related to the life and work of Louise Glück. (11.26 linear feet) 

Richard Slotkin papers (WA MSS S-2716 )

This accession contains notebooks, writings, teachings, and other papers created by, or related to, Richard Slotkin. (2.5 linear feet) 

Tanja Lorkovic papers  ( MS 1627)

The accession contains correspondence and topical files. (0.25 linear foot)