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MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1892 - 1982

Biography

Archibald MacLeish, poet, playwright, and government official, was born on May 7, 1892, in Glencoe, Illinois. He graduated from Yale in 1915, entered Harvard Law School, and married Ada Hitchcock in 1916. After the United States entered World War I, he enlisted as a private in the army, served in the artillery in France, and was discharged with the rank of captain. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1919 and the next year joined the Boston law firm of Choate, Hall, and Stewart. In 1923 the MacLeish family moved to Paris, where they remained for five years. After returning to the United States, he travelled to Mexico to follow the route of Cortez's army in preparation for writing Conquistador.

During the 1930s MacLeish was an editor of Fortune magazine. He served as Librarian of Congress, 1939-44, Assistant Secretary of State for Public and Cultural Affairs, 1944-45, and Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Poetry at Harvard University, 1949-62. MacLeish's poetry and dramatic writings earned him Pulitizer Prizes in 1932, 1952, and 1959, the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award for poetry in 1953, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977, and the National Medal for Literature in 1978. Archibald MacLeish died in Boston on April 20, 1982.

His major works of poetry include Tower of Ivory (1917), The Pot of Earth (1925), The Hamlet of A. MacLeish (1928), New Found Land (1930), Conquistador (1932), America Was Promises (1939), Collected Poems, 1917-1952 (1952), and Songs for Eve (1954). MacLeish also wrote several plays, some of the most important being Panic (1935), The Fall of the City (1937), Air Raid (1938), J.B. (1958), Herakles (1967), and Scratch (1971). Counted among his works of prose are A Time to Speak (1941), The American Story (1944), Poetry and Experience, (1960), and A Continuing Journey (1968).

Found in 41 Collections and/or Records:

Dean Gooderham Acheson papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1087
Abstract: The papers include correspondence, writings, speeches, memoranda, and photographs, documenting Dean Acheson's life after leaving the U.S. State Department in 1953. Also documented is his work as a member of the Yale Corporation and his long friendship with Felix Frankfurter, Archibald MacLeish, and others. The correspondence and memoranda contain Acheson's views on many contemporary issues in American foreign policy such as Korea, the Middle East, NATO, Germany, the war in Vietnam, and...
Dates: 1898-1989

Bangs family papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 47
Abstract:

Scrapbooks, manuscripts, diaries. letters, and personal papers documenting the lives and careers of American humorist John Kendrick Bangs and his son, Francis Hyde Bangs.

Dates: 1881-1964

Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 1046
Scope and Contents:

The Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, printed material, and personal and family papers documenting the life and work of American authors Stephen Vincent Benét and Rosemary Benét. The collection spans the years 1829 to 1962, with the bulk of the collection dating from roughly 1910 to 1943.

Collection material is chiefly in English; with some material in French, German, Polish, and Swedish.

Dates: 1829-1962, bulk 1920-1943

Millicent Todd Bingham papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 496D
Abstract:

One-fifth of the papers are devoted to correspondence, books, articles, speeches and research notes relating to her publication of Emily Dickinson's poems in Bolts of Melody (1945) and three subsequent books about Emily Dickinson. Bingham's education as well as her professional life as a teacher of French and as a geographer, particularly of Peru, are thoroughly documented with correspondence, research notes, publications and other papers (1885-1929).

Dates: 1865-1968

William C. Bullitt papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 112
Abstract:

The papers consist of correspondence, government documents, writings, speeches, photographs, research materials, printed matter, motion picture film, and other material which document William C. Bullitt's career as a diplomat and journalist and his personal and family life.

Dates: 1813-1998, bulk 1909-1967

Ethel Fogg and William Brooks Clift memorial collection

 Collection
Call Number: MS 817
Abstract: A collection assembled by John M. Whitcomb of the letters and other papers of European and American cultural and political figures from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. With the collection is the correspondence (1948-1989) of John M. Whitcomb with writers, historians and political figures on subjects such as the Russian Revolution, Communism, the Sacco-Vanzetti case, Woodrow Wilson, and American foreign policy. Also included is biographical material relating to Ethel Fogg Blair and...
Dates: 1769-1992

Correspondence : to Barbara A. Cohen, 1952-[58?], n.d.

 Part of Collection — Box 34: [Barcode: 39002137170438], Folder: GROUP 551, F-2
Call Number: YCAL MSS MISC
Scope and Contents:

Eleven TLS, two signed postcards, and one telegram to Barbara Cohen at Caedmon Publishers regarding audio recordings of MacLeish reading his work, his play "J.B.," and other subjects. Letters mention Robert Frost, Mark Van Doren, Jean Cocteau, Charles Laughton, and "Curt" Canfield.

Dates: 1952-[58?], n.d.

Mina Kirstein Curtiss papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 14
Abstract:

The papers consist of personal and professional correspondence.

Dates: 1917-1966 (inclusive)

James Joseph Daly papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 649
Abstract: Collection contains correspondence, writings, and personal papers documenting the life and professional activity of poet and playwright James Joseph Daly. Correspondence in the collection consists chiefly of incoming correspondence from writers, journal editors, publishers, and others, but also includes drafts and carbons of outgoing letters and writings and enclosures. Correspondents include Elizabeth Ames at Yaddo, Kenneth Burke, John Cheever, Padraic Colum, Malcolm Cowley at The New...
Dates: 1916-1949

Alfred de Liagre papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1474
Abstract:

The papers contain correspondence, manuscripts and typescripts, photographs, and printed material relating to the careeer of Alfred de Liagre as theatrical producer and director.

Dates: 1927-1987

Decision Magazine papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 176
Abstract: Correspondence, drafts of articles and poems, legal documents, press releases, clippings and other papers of the magazine which was published in New York from January 1941 to February 1942 under the editorship of Klaus Mann. Correspondents and writers include W.H. Auden, André Gide, Sir Julian Huxley, Christopher Isherwood, Heinrich Mann, Thomas Mann, William Carlos Williams and Stefan Zweig. Also in the papers is the proof for an unpublished article by Vladimir Nabokov, "Soviet Literature...
Dates: 1940-1942

William Adams Delano papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 178
Abstract: The papers consist almost entirely of social and professional correspondence. They also include an unpublished autobiography, The Reminiscences of William Adams Delano; printed matter; and a drawing made for the 46th anniversary of The Record. Much of the personal correspondence concerns Delano's membership in various New York clubs and his classmates in the Yale College class of 1895. His professional correspondence relates in part to important commissions, among them his work on the White...
Dates: 1902-1960, bulk 1939-1960

John Sylvester Fischer papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 850
Abstract: Family and general correspondence, subject files, writings, diaries and memorabilia. The general correspondence makes up nearly half the papers, documenting Fischer's professional career. As editor of Harper's Magazine (1935-1967) with time out as an editor of Harper & Brothers (1947-1953) he numbered many prominent writers among his correspondents. Notable are Bruce Catton, Norman Cousins, Ralph Ellison, Malcolm Foster, John Kenneth Galbraith, John...
Dates: 1907-1980

Dudley Fitts papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 296
Abstract:

The Dudley Fitts Papers consists chiefly of writings and correspondence relating to the production of the first American edition of An Anthology of Contemporary Latin-American Poetry (New Directions, 1942).

Dates: 1928-1968, bulk 1941-1943

Robert Fitzgerald papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 222
Abstract: Series I, Correspondence, consists chiefly of incoming personal and professional correspondence and family correspondence. The collection is particularly rich for its correspondence with poets, editors, translators, publishers, and literary scholars and critics during the middle part of the 20th century. There are letters from many well-known poets writing in English during this period, including W.H. Auden, John Berryman, Elizabeth Bishop, Louise Bogan, James Dickey, T.S. Eliot, Seamus...
Dates: 1892-1986

Jerome New Frank papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 222
Abstract: The papers consist of correspondence, legal material (including opinions, decisions, calendars, memoranda, and other papers), writings, speeches, Yale course materials, and family and personal papers of Jerome N. Frank, lawyer, government official during the New Deal, author, legal philosopher, teacher, and federal judge. The papers reflect Frank's wide range of activities, interests, and associations, and include important correspondence with many well known government officials, lawyers,...
Dates: 1918-1972, bulk 1929-1957

Furioso papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 75
Abstract: The Furioso papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts of submissions, editorial board files, and other office files relating to the publishing history of Furioso; a Magazine of Verse (1939-1953). Correspondents include E. E. Cummings, Richard Eberhart, Weldon Kees, Lawrence Olson, Ezra Pound, Peter Viereck, and William Carlos Williams. Manuscripts are primarily typescripts and setting typescripts of submissions to Furioso. The office files include advertising and publicity material, the...
Dates: 1938-1951

Arthur Twining Hadley, president of Yale University, records

 Collection
Call Number: RU 25
Abstract: The records contain the official correspondence of Arthur Twining Hadley during his tenure as president of Yale University. The papers document the rapid change and expansion which occurred at Yale during Hadley's presidency. The incoming correspondence contains letters with members of the Yale faculty and administration; requests for personal appearances and speeches and articles; inquiries from educational administrators; and correspondence with alumni relating to fund-raising and class...
Dates: 1899-1921

Victor Jeremy Jerome papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 589
Abstract: Correspondence, writings, research notes, biographical material, obituaries and eulogies, and other personal and family papers of Victor J. Jerome, American communist, writer, editor of Political Affairs, and political activist. The bulk of the papers relate primarily to Jerome's activities with the American Communist Party during the period from 1930 to 1965. Of special interest is correspondence relating to Jerome's trial and conviction for violation of the Smith Act (1952); correspondence...
Dates: 1923-1967

Alvin Saunders Johnson papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 615
Abstract:

The papers consist of correspondence, writings, notes, clippings and photographs of Alvin Saunders Johnson. Although records relating to his career are relatively scanty, two manuscript drafts of his autobiography, Pioneer Progress, are among the writings. The correspondence of some 1,700 letters includes: Max Ascoli, Jacob Billikopf, Gerhard Colm, Agnes DeLima, Thomas E. Dewey, Eduard Heinmann, Edith Johnson, Corliss Lamont, Adolphe Lowe, Thomas Mann, Harry Scherman.

Dates: 1902-1969