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Walter H. Smith donated this collection of Beat Literature. The majority relates to the career and life of Allen Ginsberg, a founding member of the Beat Generation. Other writers represented include Anne Waldman, Diane di Prima, and Anselm Hollo. Accessions (2009-0113) and (2009-0130) (200 items; 3.5 lin. ft.; dated 1959-2003) include books, compilations, journals, magazines, and other publications with works by and about Allen Ginsberg. Also included are posters and broadsides advertising events, readings, or publications by Ginsberg; many of these are signed. Accession (2010-0098) (25 items; 0.6 lin. ft.; dated 1950-2009) includes writings and some correspondence from Diane di Prima, Anselm Hollo, and Anne Waldman; also includes some Allen Ginsberg materials. Accession (2011-0045) (27 items; 1.5 lin. ft.; dated 1963-2007) includes pamphlets and publications by Gary Snyder.

This collection, largely the correspondence of the law firm of Theodore Medad Pomeroy, William Allen, and Alonzo G. Beardsley (founded c. 1868), also contains the papers of several combinations of lawyers who preceded them, including John Porter, judge and state senator. During the 1850s the collection also includes the letters of Samuel Blatchford, a New York City attorney. From 1840 to 1860 the papers concern business and legal practice in New York state and throughout the northeastern United States. The Civil War period papers of Theodore M. Pomeroy, U.S. Representative from Cayuga County, N.Y. include mention of appointments and promotions; aid to wounded soldiers; defenses on the Great Lakes, the organization of New York regiments, the Conscription Act of 1863, civilian morale, and the activities of Southern sympathizers. Post Civil War materials include the papers of the Dodge and Stevenson Manufacturing Company, makers of reapers and mowers. Letters after 1870 include information about gold mining in North Carolina and Alabama, 1872, and N. M. Osborne & Company, makers of harvesting machines. There is also genealogical material for the Van Dorn, Peterson, and Quick families of New York.

Eliza Beckwith appears to have been a student in 1860 at an unidentified normal college (a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers) in an English-speaking country, most likely Great Britain, Canada, or the United States. The collection consists of a single commonplace book with the name Eliza Beckwith or perhaps Eliza Beckwith Burton on the front cover. Twenty manuscript pages contain 30 poems and short phrases collected from college acquaintances, some with titles such as The Enquiry, Happiness, Remember Me, Prudent Simplicity, The Old and New Year, Friendship, and The Rights of Woman. A few of the poems are extracts taken from Tennyson and Wordsworth, but most appear to be original pieces from fellow students including Annie Kemball, Martha Ardley, Louisa Gillingham, Annie Morris, Helen Taylor, and Lizzie Capez. A few pieces are signed and dated College 1860, Christmas 1860, or Normal College.

Mary Ritter Beard was an American historian and archivist. Collection comprises 8 letters Mary R. Beard wrote to Margaret Zogbaum, a resident of Mizzen Top in Tryon, North Carolina, between 1947 and 1950.

Salesman and manager for Edison Brothers Stores chains of women's shoe and hosiery stores, headquartered in St. Louis, Mo. Scrapbook consists primarily of letters from regional and corporate managers discussing seasonal promotions, sales figures and goals, and congratulatory messages to Becker for managing successful stores. Also includes copies of photographs and greeting cards. Acquired as part of the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History.

Collection comprises an undated letter Becker wrote to Lady [Downing?] regarding the fate of an unnamed bill before the House of Lords. She mentions that "... we have done what we could to bring a strong body of earnest, intelligent, feminine opinion to bear on the Peers." She then requests help finding accommodations for upcoming meetings in Exeter. Pasted to the letter, probably dated 1890, is a copy of Becker's obituary.

Kenneth Arrow (1921-2017) was a Nobel Prize winner and the Joan Kenney Professor of Economics and Professor of Operations Research, Emeritus at Stanford University. This collection consists of his correspondence, research, writings, and other materials documenting his political and personal interests, as well as his collaborations and professional affiliations across the fields of economics, mathematics, public policy, and international relations. It forms part of the Economists' Papers Archive.

William Blackburn was a professor of English and creative writing at Duke University. The collection includes correspondence, writings, teaching materials and notes, biographical and family papers, printed materials, scrapbooks, audiovisual material, and photographs from William Blackburn and his family.

Bonnie Lee Black is a writer, editor, writing teacher, and chef who has worked both domestically and internationally. The collection centers primarily on her work as a writer, as a member of the Peace Corps in Gabon, as a professor in New Mexico, and as the creator of an economic development project in Mali aimed at teaching local seamstresses the art of patchwork quilt-making. Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.

Professor emeritus of English and Creative Writing at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs; novelist; son of Duke University faculty member William M. Blackburn. Writings and correspondence of Alexander Blackburn, including books, correspondence, postcards, drafts, and typescripts of unpublished works. Also includes Blackburn and Cheney family history materials, genealogical materials, photographs, and a scrapbook.