American Literature records, 1927-2000s

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Access restricted. Scholars desiring access must contact the Chair of the Board of Editors in writing.
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Summary

Creator:
American Literature
Extent:
43 Linear Feet
Language:
English
Collection ID:
RL.00039

Background

Scope and content:

The earliest documents date from 1927, the year before the first issue was published. New material will continue to arrive as the journal's office deems files inactive. The bulk of the journal's papers consists of correspondence and editorial comments on submitted articles.

Aside from a relatively few submissions which seem to have been rejected after a single reading by the chair or other in-house editor (because they were too long or clearly unsuitable for the journal), articles were sent out to at least two members of the Editorial Board. They sent back written comments and a recommendation (reject, accept, accept pending revision). These responses make up the Editorial Comments Series (1928-1983) and a portion of the Correspondence and Editorial comments Series (1984-1989). By the late 1980s, the journal was receiving several hundred submissions each year, but the editorial comments suggest that the proportion of fine articles in the pool had not been maintained as sheer numbers increased. Members of the Editorial Board take on this responsibility in addition to their normal institutional duties.

The comments in the Editorial Comments Series are sometimes brief and dismissive, sometimes quite elaborate. Even in the absence of the rejected articles themsleves, they are a rich record of individual and institutional critical predispositions. In its early years, the journal was working to establish a solid documentary foundation for the profession of American literary study. Favored topics were unpublished manuscripts, biographical work, and influence studies. The journal was slow to accept the move to New Critical interpretations of texts, reluctant to give up its tradition of more empirical scholarship. Such moments of critical change or expansion - late 1960s psychoanalytical criticism, 1970s feminist readings, 1980s post-structuralism, etc. - are vividly documented by the Editorial Board's varied members. Not infrequently, one reader will enjoy the provocative nature of an article, while the other considers it to be careless scholarship or too polemical.

Most of the correspondence is in the Alphabetical and Correspondence Series. It deals with submitted articles or reviews, but there are more substantial letters dealing with policy, critical positions, and disputes (primarily about reviews).

All other papers are contained in the Subject Files Series. Included there are correspondence preceding and relevant to the inception of the journal; Foerster Prize records; materials relating to the selection of editors and the formulation of policy; annual reports to the American Literature Section of the MLA; materials relating to Duke Press and publicity; and information gathered in the early years about who was doing what with American literature (for the purpose of mapping the field and finding reviewers).

Additionally in the Card Files Series there are three boxes sized for 3 x 5 cards which are full of information saved by the American Literature offices between (roughly) 1928 and 1950. These constitute something like a scrapbook of American literature, containing: bibliography cards; sketches of periods and genres; course descriptions; etc. These materials are typed and handwritten. Finally, there are samples of the 5 x 7 cards used to process and keep track of submissions and book reviews. These cards do not contain information (in either their content or organization) that is unavailable elsewhere, but they do illustrate the process by which articles and book reviews were handled.

The accessions (2009-0177) and (2009-0242) include editorial comments and correspondence from American Literature, beginning in 1993 and continuing through the early 2000s. Materials are organized alphabetically by each person's last name.

(by box/period divisions, including only regular contributors)

1928-1931:
  1. William B. Cairns
  2. Jay B. Hubbell
  3. Kenneth Murdock
  4. Fred Lewis Pattee
  5. Ralph Rusk
1932:
  1. William B. Cairns
  2. Jay B. Hubbell (minimal)
  3. Kenneth Murdock
  4. Ralph Rusk
  5. Robert Spiller
1933-34:
  1. Killis Campbell
  2. Kenneth Murdock
  3. Ralph Rusk
  4. Robert Spiller
1935:
  1. Norman Foerster (some)
  2. Kenneth Murdock
  3. Ralph Rusk
  4. Robert Spiller
  5. Laurance Thompson
1936-37:
  1. Norman Foerster
  2. Kenneth Murdock
  3. Ralph Rusk
  4. Robert Spiller
1938:
  1. Norman Foerster
  2. Clarence Gohdes (some)
  3. Ralph Rusk
  4. Robert Spiller
  5. Stanley Williams
1939:
  1. Norman Foerster
  2. Kenneth Murdock
  3. Robert Spiller
  4. Stanley Williams
1940-42:
  1. Emory Holloway
  2. Kenneth Murdock
  3. Austin Warren
  4. Stanley Williams
1950 (scanty):
  1. Harry Hayden Clark
  2. James D. Hart
  3. Willard Thorp
  4. George Whicher
1951 (scanty):
  1. Walter Blair
  2. Harry Hayden Clark
  3. Willard Thorp
  4. George Whicher
1952 (scanty):
  1. Harry Hayden Clark
  2. James D. Hart
  3. Willard Thorp
  4. George Whicher
1954 (scanty):
  1. Harry Hayden Clark
  2. James D. Hart
  3. Fred B. Millett
  4. Willard Thorp
1956 (scanty):
  1. Harry Hayden Clark
  2. Ernest Leisy
  3. Fred B. Millett
  4. Willard Thorp
1957 (scanty):
  1. Harry Hayden Clark
  2. Ernest Leisy
  3. Henry Nash Smith
  4. Willard Thorp
1958 (scanty):
  1. Harry Hayden Clark
  2. Ernest Leisy
  3. Russell Nye
  4. Henry Nash Smith
1959 (scanty):
  1. Lewis Leary
  2. Norman Pearson
  3. Henry Pochmann
1960:
  1. Charles R. Anderson
  2. Edwin Cady
  3. Theodore Hornberger
  4. Lewis Leary
  5. Norman Pearson
  6. Henry Pochmann
  7. Henry Nash Smith
  8. Floyd Stovall
  9. George Whicher
1961:
  1. Charles R. Anderson
  2. Edwin Cady
  3. Theodore Hornberger
  4. Lewis Leary
  5. Russel Nye
  6. Henry Pochmann
  7. Floyd Stovall
  8. George Whicher
1962:
  1. Charles R. Anderson
  2. Edwin Cady
  3. William Charvat
  4. Theodore Hornberger
  5. Russel Nye
  6. Henry Pochmann
  7. Floyd Stovall
1963:
  1. Edwin Cady
  2. William Charvat
  3. R.H. Fogle
  4. Theodore Hornberger
  5. Russel Nye
  6. Sherman Paul
  7. Henry Pochmann
  8. Floyd Stovall
1964:
  1. James Beard
  2. Walter Blair
  3. William Charvat
  4. R.H. Fogle
  5. James D. Hart
  6. Theodore Hornberger
  7. Russel Nye
  8. Sherman Paul
  9. Henry Pochmann
  10. Ernest Samuels
1965:
  1. William Charvat
  2. Richard B. Davis
  3. R.H. Fogle
  4. James D. Hart
  5. Theodore Hornberger
  6. Russel Nye
  7. Ernest Samuels
1966:
  1. Gay Wilson Allen
  2. George Arms
  3. William Charvat
  4. Richard B. Davis
  5. R.H. Fogle
  6. James D. Hart
  7. Russel Nye
  8. Ernest Samuels
1967:
  1. Gay Wilson Allen
  2. George Arms
  3. Richard B. Davis
  4. R.H. Fogle
  5. James D. Hart
  6. Russel Nye
  7. Henry Pochmann
  8. Ernest Samuels
  9. Floyd Stovall
1968:
  1. Gay Wilson Allen
  2. George Arms
  3. Richard B. Davis
  4. John T. Flanagan
  5. Russel Nye
  6. Henry Pochmann
  7. Ernest Samuels
1969-1972:
  1. Richard P. Adams
  2. Gay Wilson Allen
  3. George Arms
  4. James M. Cox
  5. John T. Flanagan
  6. R.H. Fogle
  7. Allen Guttmann
  8. David Levin
  9. Russel Nye
  10. Henry Pochmann
  11. Ernest Samuels
  12. John D. Seelye
  13. Lewis P. Simpson
1973-1975:
  1. Richard P. Adams
  2. James M. Cox
  3. Lawrence S. Dembo
  4. Warren G. French
  5. Allen Guttmann
  6. Annette Kolodny
  7. David Levin
  8. Russel Nye
  9. Donald Pizer
  10. Patrick F. Quinn
  11. John D. Seelye
  12. Walter Sutton
1975-79:
  1. Sacvan Bercovitch
  2. Lawrence S. Dembo
  3. Warren G. French
  4. Annette Kolodny
  5. J.A. Leo Lemay
  6. Jay Martin
  7. Terence Martin
  8. Roy Harvey Pearce
  9. H. Dan Piper
  10. Donald Pizer
  11. Joel M. Porte
  12. Patrick F. Quinn
  13. Walter B. Rideout
  14. John D. Seelye
  15. Walter Sutton
  16. G. Thomas Tanselle
  17. Darwin Turner
1979-1983:
  1. Nina Baym
  2. Sacvan Bercovitch
  3. Panthea Broughton
  4. Lawrence Buell
  5. Don Cook
  6. Hamlin Hill
  7. Annette Kolodny
  8. J.A. Leo Lemay
  9. T. Martin
  10. Hershel Parker
  11. Roy Harvey Pearce
  12. H. Dan Piper
  13. Joel M. Porte
  14. Walter B. Rideout
  15. Charles Scruggs
  16. G. Thomas Tanselle
  17. Linda Wagner
1984-89:
  1. Elizabeth Ammons
  2. Martha Banta
  3. Nina Baym
  4. Lawrence Buell
  5. Cathy Davidson
  6. Scott Donaldson
  7. Norman Grabo
  8. Philip Gura
  9. Hamlin Hill
  10. Marcus N. Klein
  11. J.C. Levenson
  12. Horace Porter
  13. Donald A. Ringe
  14. Charles Scruggs
  15. Kenneth Silverman
  16. Werner Sollors
  17. Robert Stepto
  18. Linda Wagner
  19. Christof A. Wegelin
Biographical / historical:

The quarterly journal American Literature was founded in 1928 by Jay Broadus Hubbell as a joint effort of the Modern Language Association's American Literature Group (later Section) and Duke University (it is published by Duke Press). The journal was the first to take American literature as its exclusive subject.

Hubbell served as Chairman of the Board of Editors 1929-1954; Clarence Gohdes 1954-1969; Arlin Turner 1969-1979; Edwin Cady 1979-1985; Louis Budd 1985-1990; Cathy Davidson took over in 1990. The size of the board of editors (in addition to the Chairman and a Managing or Associate Editor) began at four, became eight in 1960, and 12 in 1990. Members must be approved by the American Literature Section. The membership of the Board at any given time can be found at the front of issues of the journal. How commentary by members of the Board is distributed through the collection is detailed in the accompanying guide to the "Editorial Comments" files.

Today the journal retains most of its original form. It consists of scholarly articles on American literature, shorter pieces (usually called "Notes"), long and brief book reviews, and increasingly occasional unpublished manuscripts by American writers. Because such information was available in a more thorough form elsewhere, annotated bibliographies and a listing of articles on American literature in current periodicals stopped appearing in the early 1970s.

In 1964 Norman Foerster, a major literary scholar of the Hubbell generation, endowed an annual award (The Foerster Prize) for the best article published in American Literature each year. The Jay B. Hubbell Medallion was established that same year, initially to recognize Hubbell's own contributions to the field but thereafter as a sort of lifetime achievement award. Though administered by the American Literature Section, overlapping membership means that those involved with the journal often have had much to do with the Hubbell Medallion (as both recipients and selectors).

Acquisition information:
The American Literature Records (1927-2000s) were transferred from Duke Archives and donated by American Literature from 1976-2009.
Processing information:

Processed by: John Hilgart

Completed in: 1995

Encoded by Robin LaPasha

Updated by Meghan Lyon, August 2009 and November 2009

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Subjects

Click on terms below to find related finding aids on this site. For other related materials in the Duke University Libraries, search for these terms in the Catalog.

Subjects:
Periodical editors
American literature -- History and criticism
Women periodical editors
Names:
Modern Language Association of America. American Literature Section
Duke University Press
Pound, Louise, 1872-1958
Places:
United States -- Study and teaching

Contents

Using These Materials

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Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Access restricted. Scholars desiring access must contact the Chair of the Board of Editors in writing.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in the American Literature Records have not been transferred to Duke University. For further information, see the section on copyright in the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], The American Literature Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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