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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:

Harold Dwight Lasswell papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1043
Abstract: The papers consist of correspondence, writings, research material, and personal memorabilia which document Harold Dwight Lasswell's boyhood and his career from 1939-1978, primarily as director of War Communications Research at the Library of Congress and as professor of law and political science at Yale University. The papers also reflect Lasswell's diverse research interests in content analysis, communications, psychology, values, policy sciences, and other fields in political and social...
Dates: 1877-1999

Max Lerner papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 322
Abstract: The papers consist of correspondence, speeches, writings, and other papers, (including research and teaching materials, photographs, memorabilia, newspaper and periodical clippings, books, and radio and television tapes) of Max Lerner, an American educator, author, lecturer, historian, and political scientist. The papers focus on Lerner's public life and career with very little material on his personal or family life. The papers document Lerner's close association with Justice Felix...
Dates: 1927-1998

Letter : Elizabethan Club, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, to Julia Morrow, #4, Seventeenth Ave East, Duluth, Minnesota, [1913 Jun 7?]

 Part of Collection — Box 34: [Barcode: 39002137170438], Folder: GROUP 551, F-1
Call Number: YCAL MSS MISC
Scope and Contents: ALS announcing that his poem "Gifts" was accepted by the Yale Literary Magazine, mentioning that it is the first poem by a freshman accepted in many years; also asking if Morrow, as the poem's inspiration, is angry with him; mentioning football injuries; and declaring his refusal to be introduced to a girl in New Haven who is said to resemble Morrow. A poem, "The Leaves," is included on the final page. Accompanied by two untitled holograph poems: "We have held our galley anchored for a...
Dates: [1913 Jun 7?]

Letters, 1941 February

 Part of Collection — Box 34: [Barcode: 39002137170438], Folder: GROUP 551, F-3
Call Number: YCAL MSS MISC
Scope and Contents:

One TLS from MacLeish to Leonard Lyons, asking if he will "set the record straight" on an unspecified matter, and one typescript carbon from Lyons to MacLeish.

Dates: 1941 February

Letters : Conway, Mass. 01341, USA, to László Magyar, 24413 Palic, Kizur Ištvan 10/A, Yugoslavia, 1973, 1979

 Part of Collection — Box 94: [Barcode: 39002141010216], Folder: 8
Call Number: YCAL MSS MISC
Scope and Contents:

Two autograph letters, signed, the first listing books by MacLeish published from 1925 to 1971 and the second discussing radio "as a stage" for poetry and verse plays and travel to Yugoslavia. With envelopes.

Dates: 1973, 1979

Annie Burr Lewis and Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis Photographs

 Collection
Call Number: LWL MSS 22
Abstract: The Annie Burr Lewis and Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis Photograph Collection consists of prints, negatives, transparencies, slides, and tintypes that provide visual documentation of the lives, family, friends, and activities of Wilmarth and Annie Burr Lewis. The images range from formal portraits by noted artists such Arnold Genthe and Yousuf Karsh, to hundreds of snapshots taken by friends and family, and by Annie Lewis herself. The material spans a full century in date, from a group of tintypes...
Dates: 1859-1979, bulk 1900-1959

Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis Papers

 Collection
Call Number: LWL MSS 20
Abstract: The Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis Papers consists of correspondence, writings, financial records, and other papers documenting the personal and professional activities and interests of the American author, editor, and collector Wilmarth Lewis and his wife Annie Burr Lewis. At their home in Farmington, Connecticut, the Lewises created a world-renowned collection of eighteenth-century print, graphic, and manuscript material related to the English author, connoisseur, and collector Horace Walpole...
Dates: 1800-1980, bulk 1926-1979

Anne Morrow Lindbergh papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 829
Abstract: The papers consist of correspondence, diaries, writings, childhood, school and college materials, housekeeping and social records, reports, memoranda and correspondence from the many organizations in which Anne Morrow Lindbergh took an active interest. Also included are voluminous mail from members of her reading public and memorabilia, both objects sent by admirers and items collected by her on her travels. The death of Charles Lindbergh in 1974 is documented by mail from friends, members...
Dates: 1906-1997

Robert Abercrombie Lovett papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1617
Abstract: The papers consist of Robert Lovett's personal correspondence, speeches, photographs, and memorabilia, which date from the periods of his adult life when he was not serving in government. The papers document Lovett's personal friendships with business, military, and government associates and pioneer aviators from the Yale Naval Air Unit. The correspondence includes many exchanges with scholars doing historical research on World War II and the Truman administration. The papers highlight...
Dates: 1919-1986

Archibald MacLeish collection

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 38
Abstract:

The collection contains writings, correspondence, a handful of personal papers, and a songbook. The bulk of the material consists of drafts of such works as Songs for Eve (1954), The Wild Old Wicked Men & Other Poems (1968), The American Bell (1962), Herakles (1967), J. B. , and A Continuing Journey (1968).

Dates: 1914-1982 (inclusive)

Archibald MacLeish Collection Addition

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 269
Abstract:

The Archibald MacLeish Collection Addition consists of material related to the life and career of the American poet Archibald MacLeish received by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library after the processing of the Archibald MacLeish Collection acquired in 1976. The Addition consists of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, personal papers, and sound recordings documenting MacLeish and his family between 1801 and 1995.

Dates: 1801-1995

Sara and Gerald Murphy papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 468
Abstract: The collection consists of the personal and family papers of Gerald and Sara Murphy, including material created and accumulated by Gerald and Sara, their children Baoth, Patrick, and Honoria, and the Wiborg family. The collection documents the Murphy's unconventional and artistic lifestyle and their role in the American expatriate community in Paris and Antibes, France during the 1920s and early 1930s, as well as their personal connections with artists and writers of the Modernist period....
Dates: 1854-2005

Myers family papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 27
Abstract:

The papers contain correspondence with family, friends, and acquaintances, plus a variety of personal papers, including obituaries, letters of sympathy, diaries, and scrapbooks documenting the lives of Richard E. and Alice Lee Myers and their children. Prominent correspondents include Stephen Vincent Benét, Nadia Boulanger, Grace Flandrau, John Gielgud, Charlotte Kett, Archibald MacLeish, and Gerald Murphy.

Dates: 1908-1986

Wallace Notestein papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 544
Abstract:

The papers consist of correspondence, writings, printed material, notes, speeches, and other papers of Wallace Notestein, historian, teacher, author, and Sterling Professor of English History at Yale from 1928-1947. The bulk of the papers consist of letters received by Notestein from other historians, scholars, writers, students, and publishers and relate largely to academic and professional matters, to politics, and to his personal life.

Dates: 1899-1969

Ezra Pound Papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 43
Abstract:

The Ezra Pound Papers document the literary career and political interests of Ezra Pound. Major correspondents include Richard Aldington, George Antheil, William Bird, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, James Laughlin, Wyndham Lewis, Marianne Moore, Odon Por, and Henry Swabey. The collection contains manuscripts of many of Pound's works, including the Cantos, Guide to Kulchur, and scripts of Pound's wartime radio broadcasts.

Dates: 1868-1976

Harry Roskolenko collection

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 142
Abstract: The collection consists of correspondence and writings of American writer Harry Roskolenko. Correspondents include William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, Carl Sandburg, Katharine Anne Porter, John Dos Passos, Dwight Macdonald, William Saroyan, Wallace Stevens, Cleanth Brooks, Archibald MacLeish, Lewis Mumford, John Wheelwright, and James Laughlin, among other American poets, editors, critics, and publishers.Writings include a manuscript poem titled "Perfidious Albion," a...
Dates: 1933-1952

Anson Phelps Stokes family papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 299
Abstract: The papers consist of correspondence, writings, subject files, memorabilia, photographs, financial records, and other papers detailing the professional career and personal life of Anson Phelps Stokes and family members, including Olivia, Caroline and Helen Stokes. Papers relating to Anson Phelps Stokes document his work with prominent educators, reformers, religious leaders, businessmen, and politicians. Stokes's work on behalf of black education, social issues, and the Phelps-Stokes Fund...
Dates: 1761-1960, bulk 1892-1958

The Virgil Thomson Papers

 Collection
Call Number: MSS 29, MSS 29A
Abstract:

Music, correspondence and other papers, photographs, and additional materials by and about the American composer and critic Virgil Thomson (1896-1989)

Dates: 1804-1990 (inclusive)

Robert Penn Warren papers

 Collection
Call Number: YCAL MSS 51
Abstract:

The papers consist of drafts of manuscripts and related material, correspondence, photographs, and newspaper clippings documenting Warren's life from his undergraduate years until his death in 1989.

Dates: 1906-1989

Register to the Papers of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya

 Collection
Call Number: MSS 30
Abstract:

Music, correspondence and other papers, photographs, and additional materials by and about the German-American composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) and the German-American actress and singer Lotte Lenya (1898-1981)

Dates: 1890-1984, inclusive