Content Description
Dates
- 1931-2011
- Majority of material found within 1960s-1990
Creator
- Brigham, Besmilr (Author)
Language of Materials
Conditions Governing Access
Box 76 (audiovisual materials): Restricted fragile material. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Arrangement
Extent
43.3 Linear Feet (76 boxes)
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
Besmilr Brigham (1913-2000)
While Brigham was a prolific writer throughout her career, she was most active in the late 1960s and 1970s, publishing her work under the all-lowercase name “besmilr brigham.” During this period, she published two books of poetry, Agony Dance: death of the (Dancing dolls (1969) and Heaved from the Earth (1972). Her work was collected posthumously in Run through Rock: Selected Short Poems of Besmilr Brigham (2000), edited by poet C. D. Wright. She first began publishing her work in 1966 with the submission of the long poem Yaqui Deer to Mexican bilingual quarterly El Corno Emplumado. Her later poems were published in anthologies such as 31 New American Poets (1969) and Rising Tides: 20th Century American Women Poets (1973), and periodicals including The Atlantic, Harper’s Bazaar, and The New York Times, as well as Thomas Merton’s literary magazine Monks Pond. Her work was recognized with a National Endowment for the Arts Discovery Award grant in 1970. Brigham also wrote short stories; “The Lottery Drawing” was featured in The Southern Review (1982) and Mississippi Writers: Reflections of Childhood and Youth (1985).
Brigham married newspaperman Roy Brigham, with whom she had one daughter, Heloise. From 1950 to the mid-1970s, the family traveled frequently throughout Mexico and Central America, Canada, and Alaska. She lived much of her later life in Arkansas. She died in Las Cruces, New Mexico on September 30, 2000.
Processing Information
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and minimal organization.
Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
- American literature -- 20th century
- American poetry -- 20th Century
- Atlases
- Audiovisual materials
- Authors, American -- 20th century
- Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archives
- Bly, Robert
- Brigham, Besmilr
- Drawings (visual works)
- Duncan, Robert, 1919-1988
- Glicksberg, Charles I. (Charles Irving), 1900-1998
- Howard, Richard, 1929-
- Laughlin, James, 1914-1997
- Levertov, Denise, 1923-1997
- Poets, American -- 20th Century -- Archives
- Poets, American -- 20th century
- Randall, Margaret, 1936-
- Regional maps
- Road maps
- Women poets, American
- Wright, C. D., 1949-2016
- Yaqui Indians -- Rites and ceremonies
Creator
- Brigham, Besmilr (Author)
- Title
- Guide to the Besmilr Brigham Papers
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- by Brooke McManus
- Date
- March 2021
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.