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 Series

I. Participants' Correspondence and Conference Papers,, 1978-1983, bulk January 1979-June 1980

Dates

  • 1978-1983, bulk January 1979-June 1980

Scope and Contents

Summary: The correspondence in Subseries A dates from 1978 to 1983, with the majority from between January 1979 and June 1980. Inclusive dates for each individual folder are noted on the box list for this series. Correspondence within folders is sorted chronologically.

This subseries contains all pre- and post-conference correspondence between Conference Organizers (Michael C. Jaye, Peter Ventimiglia [before September 1979], and Ann Chalmers Watts [after October 1979]), and individual CLUE participants and/or their representatives (agents, assistants, etc.). In some instances the majority of correspondence was conducted by surrogates on the behalf of participants (especially Edward Albee and James Baldwin). The majority of post-conference correspondence (after April 1980) is conducted on behalf of the organizers by Ann Chalmers Watts.

Correspondence content includes discussions of conference arrangements, conference papers and their content, publicity materials, resumes, biographical sketches, news clippings sent with correspondence, notes on contractual agreements and copies of contracts, and other correspondence regarding the participant and the conference. Correspondence dated after the completion of CLUE (i.e. after April 19, 1980), sometimes includes remarks about the conference itself. Some folders include handwritten notes from the organizers referring to more than one participant, or to no participant in particular. These notes have been maintained within the Correspondence Folders in the order in which they were deposited. Some post-conference material includes discussions of the RUP Book Publication, video and audio publications, television and radio rebroadcasts, etc. (see also Series II, CLUE Organizational Papers, and Series IV, Information on the Rutgers University Press [RUP] Publication Papers).

Any publicity photographs sent with correspondence have been removed and put in folders under the participant's name in Series V, Photographs. The removal of these materials is noted within the Correspondence folder.

See Appendix A for a list of CLUE participants.

Subseries B includes correspondence between conference organizers and potential conference participants who declined to participate. Contents include contact and response correspondence where available, grouped by the name of the respondent. Dated from 1978 to 1980, most are from 1978 and 1979. Some include publicity materials. Most are simply declinations, although a few offer some passing observations, or are presented in such a way that they may be of some interest. For example, the brief letters from Lillian Hellman (October 31, 1979 and March 28, 1980), where she discusses her failing eyesight; Doris Lessing's postcard from London; the postcard from John Updike, where he alludes to his father's oath to "do and die for dear old Rutgers"; and a postcard from Fire Island sent by David Mamet. Others include only letters from the organizers with no reply (Isaac Bashevis Singer, Joan Didion, Thomas Pynchon). Some responses are undertaken by agents, rather than the invited participant (Arthur Miller, Ralph Ellison, William Styron, Susan Sontag (includes bio-sketch from agent), Norman Mailer, Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller (see individual description of contents below in "Special Folders"), Allen Ginsberg, Günter Grass.

See Appendix B for a list of invitees who declined to participate in CLUE.

Special Folders

Individual folders are assigned to the following in this subseries:

  1. Eric Bentley, who was included in the program for a time. Includes publicity materials for Bentley's Wansee, and other productions. There are brief discussions of several Rutgers productions of Bentley's plays. Bentley was slated to appear at the Drama Forum, but could not attend. Withdrew September 1979.
  2. Joseph Heller's agent conducted lengthier correspondence with the CLUE organizers, and sent publicity materials which included a photograph, biographical and bibliographical materials. Heller was invited to participate in the Novel Forum, but later declined. All correspondence is via Heller's agent.
  3. Edna Acosta, who agreed to serve as discussant on the Public School Curriculum Discussion Group, but dropped out in April 1980 because of professional commitments.
  4. Wendell A. Jeanpierre, Professor of Black Studies, Rutgers, Newark. Jeanpierre originally helped organize the conference. Includes Jeanpierre's biographical sketches of several participants. Jeanpierre withdrew as moderator of the Black Experience Discussion Group, over a disagreement concerning panel arrangements (letter, January 30, 1980).
  5. Joan McEniry who agreed to moderate Children and the Literature of the City Discussion Group, but withdrew in February 1980 because of poor health.

Subseries C includes all drafts of papers originally deposited with the Participants' Correspondence. Other Drafts of Papers, which reflect post-conference revisions for book publication, are included in RUP Publication Series. Researchers wishing to see all revisions of participants' papers should consult the documents in both this series, and the RUP Publication Series. Conference papers have been maintained in the order in which they were deposited, therefore, some papers in this series may reflect revisions made after CLUE. Wherever possible the dates of individual Conference Paper drafts are noted. Dated materials are sorted chronologically. Include Organizers' notes on participants and their panels (i.e. biographical data, schedules, etc.); copies of participants' signed release forms for post-conference print, audio, and video publications; various notes on travel arrangements.

This series includes drafts of presentations which were not included in the RUP publication (Ntosaké Shange, Nikki Giovanni, Jonathan Kozol, and the Spanish language version of Juan Pedro Soto's contribution).

The following are some highlights and notes for participants' correspondence and conference papers. These notes describe content which may be of special interest to researchers. They also serve to give a more specific idea of the general content included in this series.

Scope and Contents
  1. Albee, Edward. News clipping "Albee Returns to the Living Room Wars," and theater review ( New York Times, 01/27/1980). Press release for lecture series, "The Playwriter [sic] versus The Theater" (circa 1980?). Correspondence reflects special contractual dispensations granted Mr. Albee regarding the conference broadcast and recording.
  2. Baldwin, James. Most correspondence conducted on Mr. Baldwin's behalf by his agent, Edward J. Acton, Inc. Includes news clipping: "The Baldwin Method" ( New York Times Book Review, no date).
  3. Bettelheim, Bruno. Includes news clipping: "'Anomie and autonomy' psychologist's topic" ( Rutgers Targum, April 10/1979).
  4. Ciardi, John. Includes a greeting card with poetry and artwork by Ciardi.
  5. DuBois, Rachel Davis. Correspondence includes a copy of an unpublished, "Report of the Conference on Literature and the Urban Experience at Rutgers University in Newark. April 17-19, 1980" by Rachel Davis DuBois (dated May 3, 1980). Includes correspondence from 1983 regarding the publication of DuBois' autobiography.
  6. Ferlinghetti, Lawrence. Includes biographical material which reflects an uncertainty over the exact date of Ferlinghetti's birth (March 24, 1892?). Includes bibliography. Includes an original postcard produced by City Lights Publishers, (San Francisco) a company Ferlinghetti helped to found.
  7. Fielder, Leslie. References are made in correspondence (April 21-24, 1980) to the "disturbances" that occurred on Friday, April 18 at the conference. Includes errata lists for RUP publication.
  8. Giovanni, Nikki. The correspondence includes a discussion with Dr. Watts on publishing, writers, etc., in general. Boston University inquired about materials on the conference for inclusion in Giovanni's archive at that institution. (November 7 and 18, 1980). Correspondence was also conducted with the Mugar Memorial Library in Boston (March 26, 1981). Materials about CLUE were sent to both institutions. Manuscript of Giovanni's Conference Paper has the corrected title: "The Challenge to the Poet: Tell the Truth." This essay was not included in the Book. The reason for non-inclusion—brevity and informality—is outlined in a letter (September 22, 1980-October 15, 1980) and possible other publications are discussed. Conference papers in RUP Publication Series, subseries, RUP revisions, includes a transcript of Giovanni's talk (Box 12, Folder 3). Includes some publicity materials for Giovanni.
  9. Ignatow, David. Includes news clipping: "Poems that Mean" (Review of Ignatow's Thread in Dark, by Hayden Carruth. New York Times Book Review, no date). Includes biographical and bibliographical material. Selma W. Warner, agent.
  10. Innaurato, Albert. Helen Merill, agent. All correspondence undertaken by Merill on Innuarto's behalf. Includes biographical and bibliographical material.
  11. Kazin, Alfred. Includes errata lists for RUP publication.
  12. Kozol, Jonathan. Beverley Bickel and Tisha Graham (Kozol's assistant) writing on behalf of Kozol. Kozol's paper was not included in RUP publication because of its similarity to another of his publications, "Prisoners of Silence." (letter, 28 July, 1980).
  13. Mangione, Jerre. Includes news clippings: "An Independent Identity in Mainstream America" ( Chronicle of Higher Education, vol. xvi, no. 21, 7/31/1978); "Book of the Times" (Review of Mangione's An Ethnic at Large, by Christopher Lehmann-Haupt. New York Times Book Review, no date); "On Books" (article by Rebecca Sinkler, Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/22/1981). Includes biographical and bibliographical materials. Includes errata lists and editorial comments for RUP publication.
  14. Marx, Leo. Includes discussions of RUP copy-editing (esp. letters dated around 12/1980). Folder, Conference Paper 1 (Box 3, Folder 4) includes a copy of Marx's typed lecture notes.
  15. McWilliams, Carey. Carey McWilliams (Prof. of Political Science at Rutgers) died in late June 1980. Included is a copy of "In Memoriam: Carey McWilliams (1905-1980)," a eulogy by his son, Dr. Wilson Carey McWilliams, and some other, minor correspondence from Wilson Carey McWilliams.
  16. Mohr, Nicolasa. Includes publicity material for Mohr's Felita, a children's book. Includes other publicity materials.
  17. Morrison, Toni. Some correspondence (1979) from Morrison is on Random House letterhead, "Toni Morrison, Editor." Correspondence notes "punctuation is correct" in paper title, "The City Limits; The Village Values . . ."—" the ";" was later changed to "," for RUP publication (letter 11/12/1979). Includes other notes on RUP publication corrections.
  18. Novick, Julius. Includes biographical and bibliographical materials. Some correspondence on letterhead from the "Village Voice."
  19. Oates, Joyce Carol. Includes news clipping, "Novelist-poet to read at Douglass" (University Roundup, Rutgers Newsletter, October 19, 1979). Includes a postcard, "Ontario Review Poetry Postcard" (24 April 1980).
  20. Oliver, Doris. Includes biographical material.
  21. Piercy, Marge. Some correspondence from William Thompson (agent) refers to both Piercy and Richard Wilbur. Lordly and Dame (agents). Includes biographical and bibliographical materials. Includes publicity materials. Includes news clippings: Book Review of Piercy's Living in the Open, by Erica Jong ( New York Times Book Review, 11/12/1976); Review of Woman on the Edge of Time, by Karen Lindsey ( Boston Sunday Herald-American, 7/25/1976). Correspondence of February 1980 addresses the issue of smoking or nonsmoking at the President's dinner (the final resolution [letter 4/4/1980] was for a nonsmoking section). Piercy later commented that she had to leave another function because of the smoke, subsequently losing her hat (letter 5/12/1980). Piercy complimented the conference, but noted "the token representation of women on the panels diminished the impact," and further noted that "every panel was chaired by a white male" (letter 4/23/1980). Piercy sought permission to have her essay reprinted in a book issued by the University of Michigan Press (letter, June 1981).
  22. Potok, Chaim. Harry Walker, Inc., Agent. Includes publicity materials.
  23. Shangé, Ntosake. Zaki Pony, Inc., Agency. Bonnie Daniels, Assistant. Includes biographical and bibliographical materials. Includes publicity materials (with multiple news clippings). Includes news clipping, " 'For Colored Girls' will play Newark" ( Star-Ledger, 4/4/1980). Conference paper (Box 4, Folder 1) consists of Shangé's outline for her panel discussion, which she entitled "Our Cities as We See Them." This is a discussion of poetry which is itself poetry—" it includes bibliographic references. Shangé's paper was not included in RUP publication.
  24. Soto, Juan Pedro. Includes news clipping, "Puerto Rico police investigated by U.S." ( New York Times, 4/16/1979: with picture of Soto and his son, who was allegedly killed by a death squad). Conference Papers, 1 (Box 4, Folder 4) include drafts in Spanish and in English translation. Spanish title, "La Ciudad Y Yo" (dated Feb. 25, 1980). Translated to, "The City and I," by Kal Wageheim.
  25. Spencer, Stephen. Includes biographical and bibliographical materials. Selma Warner, agent. Correspondence of 10/9/1980 comments on other Warner clients: Edward Albee, Robert Penn Warren, and David Ignatow.
  26. Taylor, Betty. Includes the draft of an article by Jaye and Watts, "Planning for the Conference on Literature and the Urban Experience," which Taylor helped edit. Includes documents relating to Taylor's Rockefeller Foundation Research Proposal: including a copy of Taylor's research proposal.
  27. Thomas, Piri. Deposited papers included no copy of Thomas' conference paper, "The Last Prison is the Prison of the Mind."
  28. Vendler, Helen. Earlier paper title: "Lowell's Cities," later changed to "The Poet and the City: Robert Lowell."
  29. Ward, Douglas Turner. Some correspondence from Deborah McGee, assistant to Ward.
  30. Warren, Robert Penn. Selma Warner, agent. Includes biographical and bibliographical. Includes publicity materials.

Language of Materials

From the Record Group:

English

Arrangement

Arrangement: Series I is arranged into three subseries: A. Participants' Correspondence with CLUE Organizers and Drafts of Conference Papers (alphabetical by name); B. Correspondence of Persons Invited Who Declined Participation (alphabetical by name); and C. Miscellaneous Papers Related to Participants (filed by folder title).

Part of the Rutgers University Archives Repository

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