Robert Preston Harriss papers, 1913-1989

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Summary

Creator:
Harriss, Robert Preston
Abstract:
Robert Preston Harriss was a white journalist, arts critic, and author based in Baltimore, Maryland. Collection spans the years 1913-1989 and includes correspondence; autobiographical information on Harriss; clippings (including Harriss' writings); printed material (menus, programs, press releases, travel brochures, itineraries, and maps); biographical sketches of associates and artists; photographs and slides; ledgers containing articles and reviews on music, ballet, opera and the stage; tear sheets; and audiovisual material. Individuals sending letters or referred to in the materials include Gerald W. Johnson, Sara Mayfield, Lizette Woods Reese, August Mencken, H. L. Mencken, Robert Minford, Eugene Ormandy, Art Buchwald, and Harriss's sister, Ruth Tyson, among others.
Extent:
20 Linear Feet
Approximately 7800 Items
Language:
Material in English
Collection ID:
RL.00516

Background

Scope and content:

The Robert Preston Harriss Papers span the years 1913-1989 and consist of the following materials: professional and personal correspondence; an autobiography of Robert ("Robin") Preston Harriss and a description of his early life in Fayetteville and the Cape Fear Valley, N.C.; clippings (including his articles for the Baltimore Magazine and the Baltimore Sun ); printed material (menus, programs, press releases, travel brochures, itineraries, and maps); biographical sketches of associates and artists; photographs and slides; ledgers containing articles and reviews on music, ballet, opera and the stage; tear sheets and newspaper clippings; audiovisual material, chiefly interviews of Harriss; and transcriptions of an interview of Harriss by Lawrence Angle. Includes material relating to Harriss' career as editor of the periodical Gardens, Houses, and People (1947-1957). A run of issues of Gardens, Houses, and People from the same years was transferred to Perkins Library's Periodicals Department at processing.

Writings in the collection by Harriss also come from the Baltimore American , the Frederick News-Post , and the Baltimore News-American . Individuals with significant letters, significant amounts of correspondence, or referred to in other materials include Gerald W. Johnson, Sara Mayfield, August Mencken, H. L. Mencken (two boxes of material), Robert Minford, Eugene Ormandy, Lizette Woodworth Reese, and Harriss' sister, Ruth Harriss Tyson. Correspondence from his sister gives details on life in Fayetteville, N.C., including a description of the time period during World War I and the effects of the Spanish influenza epidemic. Harriss's letters to Ruth document his studies at Trinity College and experiences in newsrooms in Durham, Paris, and Baltimore. There are also letters to Ruth from Margery, Robert's wife.

There are lesser amounts of materials on other individuals as well in the author subject files.

Biographical / historical:

Robert Preston Harriss (1902-1989, also known as R.P. or Robin) was a white American journalist and author originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina. Harriss attended Trinity College (graduated 1926) and while in Durham, worked for the Chronicle as well as a sports editor for the Durham Sun. Following graduation he worked for The Evening Sun in Baltimore, and also spent four years in Paris at the Paris edition of the New York Herald-Tribune. He returned to Baltimore and resumed work as an author and later as an editor at the Evening Sun between 1934 and 1946. He then published a monthly serial, Gardens, Houses, and People, in Baltimore from 1947 to 1957. Harriss joined the staff of News American in 1957 and worked there until it closed in 1986, after which Harriss began a Sunday column for The Sun.

Harriss's wife was Margery Willis. His sister, Ruth Harriss Tyson (nicknamed Rufus by her brother), lived in North Carolina throughout her life. She married Lucian Person Tyson in 1922 and was at times addressed as Mrs. Lucian P. Tyson.

Source: Obituary, accessed 2024 March 1 (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/09/27/Attn-editors-publishersRP-Harriss-dies-at-age-87/7740222098360/).

Acquisition information:
The Robert Preston Harriss Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift from 1973 to 1990.
Processing information:

Processed by Rubenstein Library staff; oversize material processed by Rebecca Evans, June 2012

Encoded by Ted Holt and Paula Jeannet, Nov. 2009; Rebecca Evans and Michael Shumate, June 2012

Accessions from 1973, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, and accessions 89-087 and 90-042 are described in this finding aid.

Ruth Harriss Tyson papers, accession 2-9-1981, is also described in this finding aid.

Some materials may not have been ordered and described beyond their original condition.

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 formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

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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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Robert Preston Harriss Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University

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