Roma Stewart Goodwin Blackburn papers, 1942-1985 and undated
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Summary
- Creator:
- Blackburn, Roma Stewart Goodwin
- Extent:
- 1.2 Linear Feet
564 Items - Language:
- English.
- Collection ID:
- RL.10015
Background
- Scope and content:
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Primarily correspondence between Roma Blackburn and literary personages, including former students of her husband, William Maxwell Blackburn, professor at Duke University. Also includes poem by Rose Styron, clippings about the poet Elizabeth Bishop, and a program from Bishop's memorial service. One volume, Heart and Home: A Memoir, was written by Mrs. Blackburn. Correspondence includes: letters and postcards from Elizabeth Bishop discussing travels, intellectual life, and literary interests; letters from William Styron discussing fund-raising in memory of Professor William Blackburn for the Duke University Capital Campaign for the Arts and Sciences; letters from Alice Methfessel, close friend of Elizabeth Bishop; and letters from Professor Blackburn's former students Sean Devereaux, Guy Davenport, and Josephine Humphreys Hutcheson. (1964-1984) (46 items) (.2 linear feet)
This addition (218 items, 1942-1985) includes letters to Blackburn from Reynolds Price and Wallace Fowlie and others regarding invitations, travel plans, news, and condolences; material related to the William Blackburn Fund; correspondence from Blackburn's summers in Magog; a story by Max Steele; 23 manuscript pages of Blackburn's autobiography; copies of tributes to William Blackburn from William Styron and Max Steele as well as statistics on the number of students he taught; and photographs (61 black-and-white prints, 4 color prints, 1 color slide, and 2 black-and-white negatives) of Tennessee Williams, Fred Chappell, William Styron, Sean Devereaux, Wallace Fowlie, and William Blackburn as well as other family members. An unidentified audio tape is included. (.6 linear feet) (acc#01-0036)
Addition (2012-0038) (0.4 lin. ft., 300 items) includes personal correspondence to Roma Blackburn from family members and others, clippings and photographs of William Blackburn, and a recording of William Styron reading from Lie Down in Darkness. Also included are writings and notes by William Blackburn mostly relating to his W.B. Yeats research.
- Biographical / historical:
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Lawyer, poet, and writer originally from Prince Edward Island, Canada.
- Acquisition information:
- The Roma Steward Goodwin Blackburn Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1982-1984, 2001, and 2012.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Rubenstein Library Staff and Katy Wischow
Completed May 4, 2001
Encoded by Ruth E. Bryan
This collection is unprocessed: materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.
- Physical location:
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- 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:
- Women poets -- Correspondence
Women poets -- United States -- Biography
Authors, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence
College teaching -- United States
American poetry -- Women authors
Duke University -- Faculty - Format:
- Black-and-white negatives
Color photographs
Audiocassettes
Black-and-white photographs
Color slides - Names:
- Duke University. Capital Campaign for the Arts and Sciences
Styron, William, 1925-2006
Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979
Blackburn, Roma Stewart Goodwin
Methfessel, Alice
Humphreys, Josephine
Blackburn, William, 1899-1972
Devereaux, Sean
Chappell, Fred, 1936-
Yeats, W. B. (William Butler), 1865-1939
Price, Reynolds, 1933-2011
Fowlie, Wallace, 1908-1998
Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983
Styron, Rose
Steele, Max, 1922-2005 - Places:
- United States -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
Contents
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Using These Materials
- Restrictions:
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Collection is open for research.
However, some of the additions to this collection are not immediately accessible, because they require further processing before use.
Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. There may be a 48-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
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- Terms of access:
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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 Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
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- Please consult our up-to-date information for visitors page, as our services and guidelines periodically change.
- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Roma Stewart Goodwin Blackburn Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.