Beinecke Collections

Photographic Proofs, A Graduate Student Conference “A photograph passes for incontrovertible proof that a given thing happened. The picture may distort; but there is always a presumption that something exists, or did exist, which is like what's in the picture.” – Susan Sontag   “But the proof of the pictures was in the reading. The photographs had to have their status as truth produced and institutionally sanctioned.” – John Tagg

Joel Spingarn was an educator and writer who published works of literary criticism and collections of his own poetry. He is most well-known for his involvement in social reform, primarily his work with the NAACP, which he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and President. Spingarn's wife Amy was a writer and artist; his brother, Arthur B.

Spencer Brown was born in 1909 in Hartford, Connecticut, graduated from Harvard University with an A.B in 1930 and an A.M. in 1932, and taught at the Loomis School (1930-1931), Taft School (1932-1934), and Fieldston School (1938-1971), where he also served as principal (1965-1971). His published collections of poetry include: My Father’s Business and Other Poems (1956), Looking into the Fire (1967), and Child’s Game, On a Journey (1979). Brown died in Croton-on-Hudson, New York in 1989.

A small archive of letters, manuscripts, and manuscript notebooks by poet, editor, and novelist Charles Plymell; the notebooks include drafts of poems and letters, miscellaneous notes, and drawings by the poet. All materials date from approximately 1968-1969.