Scope and Contents
The Charles T. Davis papers contains correspondence, research and teaching files, and personal papers documenting the life of American academic Charles T. Davis. Correspondents feature literary scholars and African-American artists, writers, and cultural figures, including Doris Alexander, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Amiri Baraka, Romare Bearden, John Blassingame, Michel Fabre, Leon Forrest, Athol Fugard, Henry Louis Gates, Leon Higginbotham, Ishmael Reed, Jean Toomer, and others. Correspondents also include colleagues and students. Research and Teaching Files contain files documenting Davis's professional activity as an academic at various institutions from the 1950s through 1970s. Research files include notes and subject files on 19th and 20th century writers and African-American history, literature, and culture. Teaching files include course and lecture notes, writings by Davis and others, and administrative files. Personal papers consists of various other materials, including family papers, audiovisual material, and military and academic records.
Dates
- 1931-1980
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Restricted material in boxes 34-37 are restricted until 2051.
Box 38 contains audiovisual material. Restricted fragile. Reference copies may be requested. Consult Access Services for further information.
Conditions Governing Use
The Charles T. Davis Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Charles T. Davis, 2005.
Arrangement
Organized into three series: I. Correspondence, [circa 1930s-1980]. II. Research and Teaching Files, 1936-1980. III. Personal Papers, 1931-1980.
Extent
29.67 Linear Feet (38 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
The collection contains correspondence, research and teaching files, and personal papers documenting the life of American academic Charles T. Davis. Correspondents feature literary scholars and African-American artists, writers, and cultural figures, including Doris Alexander, Anthony Appiah, Amiri Baraka, Romare Bearden, John Blassingame, Michel Fabre, Leon Forrest, Athol Fugard, Henry Louis Gates, Leon Higginbotham, Ishmael Reed, Jean Toomer, and others. Correspondents also include colleagues and students. Research and Teaching Files contain files documenting Davis's professional activity as an academic at various institutions from the 1950s through 1970s. Research files include notes and subject files on 19th and 20th century writers and African-American history, literature, and culture. Teaching files include course and lecture notes, writings by Davis and others, and administrative files. Personal papers consists of various other materials, including family papers, audiovisual material, and military and academic records.
Charles T. Davis (1918-1981)
Charles Twitchell Davis, born April 29, 1918, in Hampton, VA, was a literary critic and scholar. Davis was educated at Dartmouth College (1939), University of Chicago (1942), and New York University (1951), and taught at NYU (1948-1955), Princeton University (1955-1961), Penn State (1961-1970), University of Iowa (1970-1976) and finally Yale University (1972-1981), where he taught until his death in 1981.
Davis's early work was on American poetry of the 19th and early 20th centuries, but later in his career he began to focus more on black literature, culture, and history. His study of black American literature helped bring it to the fore as a significant part of the American literary tradition, and as a leader of the African-American studies program at Yale University, he was an important figure in the development of African-American studies in American universities. His books include Black is the Color of the Cosmos (1982) and The Slave's Narrative (1985).
Biographical information taken from "Charles T. Davis." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 48. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 2 May 2012.
Processing Information
This collection received a basic level of processing, including rehousing and in some instances minimal organization. Descriptive information found in the Collection Contents section is drawn in large part 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.
Former call number: Uncat MSS 837.
- African Americans -- History
- Alexander, Doris
- American literature -- 20th century
- American literature -- African American authors
- Appiah, Anthony, 1954-
- Audiovisual materials
- Baraka, Amiri, 1934-2014
- Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988
- Blassingame, John W., 1940-2000
- Davis, Charles T. (Charles Twitchell), 1918-1981
- Fabre, Michel, 1933-2007
- Forrest, Leon, 1937-1997
- Fugard, Athol, 1932-
- Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., 1950-
- Higginbotham, A. Leon, Jr., 1928-1998
- Reed, Ishmael, 1938-
- Sound recordings
- Toomer, Jean, 1894-1967
- Title
- Guide to the Charles T. Davis Papers
- Author
- by Beinecke staff
- Date
- 2012
- 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.