Collection Guides

Abstract

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.

Abstract

This collection contains the papers of Brainard Bartwell Cheney and Frances Neel Cheney. Major topics of interest include multiple versions of Brainard Cheney’s novels, the Pine Barrens and Rivers of Southeastern Georgia, materials relating to the Cheney’s friendships with many of the Fugitive/Agrarian writers, Brainard Cheney’s interest in Catholicism, Tennessee Politics in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, race relations and civil rights, Library Science and reference services.

Abstract

This small collection of 11 typescript poems with some holograph notes by Donald Davidson dating from 1916. These poems were never published in the Fugitive or in any other collection. They were written just as Davidson was joining members of what was to be the Nashville Fugitive poet group in discussions of poetry, philosophy, literature, and political ideas, and so are an important addition to an understanding of his early work.

Abstract

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.

Abstract These papers consist primarily of correspondence and manuscript material that Fugitive poet James Marshall Frank collected. Also included here are items that came from him and other Fugitive poets and which were donated to Special Collections by his daughter Helen Frank. Donald Davidson, Laura Riding Gottshcalk, Sidney Hirsch, Merrill Moore, Allen Tate, and Robert Penn Warren are among the Fugitive poets whose work is represented, and there are also letters to and from various members of the...

Abstract

This collection contains 1.67 linear feet of materials on the Fugitive Poets and the Nashville Agrarians. Most of the materials have to do with the years in the 1920’s when the Fugitive poet group was formed and the resulting poems, manuscripts, and correspondence. In addition there are a few items, mostly articles, that concern the Agrarian group.

Scope and Content Note

This collection, 3.34 linear feet, is an addition to the Fugitive and Agrarian Collection MSS 160. It includes a wide range of items relating to the Fugitive and Agrarian groups and is especially valuable in the holdings of items from the 1980’s and 1990’s including correspondence, articles, book reviews, and other materials. In addition to the Fugitives and Agrarians themselves, whose biographical notes follow below, associates represented in this collection include:

Scope and Content Note This small collection (2.33 linear feet) consists of the recordings and transcripts of the proceedings of the sessions of the Fugitive Poets Reunion held in Nashville, Tennessee and at Vanderbilt University on May 3, 4, 5 in 1956. The recordings were originally made on reel to reel tape, and have been transferred to audio cassettes and in 2010 to compact disc format. The 26 reel to reel tapes, audio cassettes and compact discs are included here. The transcriptions are bound in...

Scope and Content Note The papers of David McDowell, editor, were acquired by Speical Collections in 1983. The collection, consisting mostly of incoming correspondence, covers a period of 1939-1980. While attending St. Andrew's in Sewanee, Vanderbilt, and Kenyon College, McDowell became acquainted with many of the laureates of Southern literature whose letters can be found in this collection. David McDowell strengthened these ties when he served as an editor for several of the writers at Random House and...

Abstract

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.

Abstract

This collection contains mostly original poetry by Margaret Moore dating from the 1930s to 1990s.

Scope and Contents

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.

Abstract

This three-box collection contains materials relating to the life of Merrill Moore. Merrill Moore (1903-1957) was a native Tennessean, neurological physician, veteran, and poet. The collection is primarily comprised of his poetry, manuscripts, and letters (both incoming and outgoing) about and by Merrill Moore. It also includes photographs, programs, newspaper clippings, biographical materials, tape recordings, and miscellaneous documents all pertaining to Merrill Moore’s life.

Scope and Content Note This small collection .21 linear feet is made up of photocopies of correspondence between Eugene Nassar and Cleanth Brooks, and between Nassar and John Crowe Ransom, for the years 1966-1993. The collection also contains an obituary of Cleanth Brooks and two articles by Eugene Nassar “Rhodes Institutes in America?” in the American Oxonian and “Symbols and Texts: A Personal Sketch of Literary Criticism Since the Fifties” in The Virginia...

Scope and Content Note

William Plumley presents this small archive of material on and from Robert Penn Warren as it reveals Warren’s working as a poet and writer. He corresponded with Warren in the years 1969 through 1984, and that correspondence is an important component of this collection.

Scope and Content Note This small collection (2 ½ Hollinger Box --.33 cubic feet) 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 are 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...

Scope and Content Note:

These papers are contained in 22 Hollinger boxes comprising 9.174 linear feet of manuscript material and are made up of these series:

Writings

Academic Career

1956 Fugitive Reunion

Administrative Career

Writings by Others

Publications

Abstract

This collection contains four typed and signed letters from John Crowe Ransom to Ann Mitchner, a friend and novice writer. The collection was purchased in early 2006. The four letters are dated January 17, February 2, March 15, and March 26, 1950, and include handwritten corrections and some tape repairs. This small correspondence collection records Ransom’s editorial and critical advice over the period of three months to aspiring writer Ann Mitchner.

Abstract

The letters in this small collection were written between September 17, 1959 and June 30, 1966 from John Crowe Ransom to Joseph Edgar Simmons, an aspiring poet and teacher. The letters consist primarily of advice, information, and concern Ransom gives for Simmons’ personal and professional growth as a poet, writer, and teacher. Altogether there are 17 letters. These letters were purchased in the fall of 2001.