Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick papers, 1964-2013

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Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile audiovisual/photographic formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access. Personal correspondence...
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Summary

Creator:
Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky
Abstract:
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950-2009) was a literary critic, teacher, artist, and poet. She is best remembered as one of the founders of the field of queer theory. Her work on sexuality influences our continuted understanding of contemporary culture. This collection contains materials that document her scholarly career, her visual art, and her personal life. It includes drafts and copies of her published and unpublished works, her correspondence, research files, and teaching materials, as well as her visual artwork, and some documentation of her personal life, particularly her experience living with breast cancer. Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
Extent:
130.0 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11829

Background

Scope and content:

Materials in this collection include writings and speeches, writings of others, notebooks and calendars, research, teaching, and activism files, event and travel files, correspondence, photographs, memorabilia, legal, medical, and financial materials, books and other published material, as well as her paper, textile, clay, glass, ceramic, and other artworks.

The materials reflect the scope of Sedgwick's work, which includes queer theory, queer performativity, feminist theory, Buddhism, psychoanalysis, Proust, experimental writing, critical pedagogy, artists' books, and fabric and textile art.

Biographical / historical:

Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1950-2009) was a literary critic, teacher, artist, and poet whose work is foundational to the field of queer theory. She was on the faculties of Boston College, Amherst College, Duke University, and the City University of New York.

Biographical information drawn from The Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Foundation website: www.eveksedgwickfoundation.org (accessed May 1, 2020)

Date Event
1950
Born, Dayton, Ohio
1969
Married Hal Sedgwick
1971
Graduated summa cum laude from Cornell University
1976
Completed Ph.D. in English at Yale
1978-1981
Assistant Professor, Hamilton College
1981-1984
Assistant Professor, Boston University
1984-1988
Associate Professor, Amherst College
1985
Published Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire
1988-1997
Professor, Duke University
1990
Published The Epistemology of the Closet
1991
Diagnosed with breast cancer
1993
Published Tendencies
1994
Published first poetry volume, Fat Art, Thin Art
1998-2009
Professor, The Graduate Center, City University of New York
1999
Published A Dialogue on Love
1999-2005
Mounted four solo visual artwork exhibits
2003
Published Touching Feeling: Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity
2009
Died
2011
The Weather in Proust published.
Acquisition information:
The Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2008 and 2019.
Processing information:

Processed by Megan E. Lewis, May, 2020

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2008-0080; 2019-0181

This collection guide was created or updated with information provided by donors or external parties, and box or file lists have not been verified by Rubenstein Library staff. Errors may be present and can be reported to AskRL@duke.edu.

Some portions of this collection rehoused and inventoried by Shiloh Jines, Elizabeth Berenguer, Leah Tams, and Tracy Jackson, March 2023; and Tracy Jackson, June 2023.

Art object descriptions added by Mary Mellon, April 2024.

Arrangement:

The Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick papers are arranged into the following series: Duke Office Files, Correspondence, Works by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Works About Eve Kosofky Sedgwick, Subject and Research Files, Events and Conferences, Teaching Materials, Personal Materials, and Audio Visual Materials.

The Duke Office Files materials were created during Sedgwick's time in Durham from 1988-1997, and had been held at Duke since 2008. The remainder and bulk of the collection was transferred to Duke in 2019. The order and folder titles of both accessions have largely been preserved.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile audiovisual/photographic formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

Personal correspondence in Box 63 closed to use until 2040 by donor request.

Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile objects in need of further processing before use. Contact Research Services for more information.

Access restricted. Some materials in this collection, located in the Duke Office Files series in Box 6, include student records. In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, Duke University permits students to inspect their education records and limits the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records. Contact Research Services for more information.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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