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James Woodress, Papers

Title: James Woodress, Papers

Creator: Woodress, James Leslie

Dates: 1967-1997

Quantity: 9 boxes (4.5 linear feet)

Collection Number: MS 0111

Language: English

Restrictions: Contact original repository for permissions associated with Willa Cather correspondence photocopies.

Access and Use: For information on access or copyright, please see our guidelines or email archives@unl.edu.

Historical Records Statement: Please see our statement on historical records and materials.

Preferred Citation: James Woodress, Papers (MS 0111). Archives & Special Collections, University of Nebraska—Lincoln Libraries.

Biography:

James Leslie Woodress received an M.A. from New York University and a Ph.D. from Duke University. He serves as a professor of English at the University of California at Davis. Woodress has published several volumes relating to Willa Cather, including Willa Cather: Her Life and Art, Willa Cather: A Literary Life, and a definitive edition of Willa Cather's The Troll Garden. He provided a historical essay and assisted with explanatory notes included in the scholarly edition of My Ántonia published by University of Nebraska Press in 1994. Along with his work on Cather, Woodress has published and edited works relating to Walt Whitman, Booth Tarkington, and American literature. Woodress received the Jay B. Hubbell Medal for his work in the study and teaching of American literature.

Scope and Content:

The Woodress papers contain correspondence and research materials gathered for the writing and publication of a biography of Willa Cather. The majority of materials created by Willa Cather are photocopies of original items located in other repositories. The materials remain in the original order created by Woodress.

Subjects:

Cather, Willa, 1873-1947

Woodress, James Leslie -- Correspondence

Novelists, American -- 20th century -- Biography

Series Description: Series 1: Correspondence Box 1 Folder 1-Box 2 Folder 1

Series one includes correspondence written to and received by Woodress. The final folder includes correspondence relating to library holdings for the revision of Willa Cather: A Literary Life.

 Series 2: Manuscript, Willa Cather: A Literary Life Box 2, Folder 2-Box 3, Folder 4

This series contains manuscript copies of the work Willa Cather: A Literary Life as well as copies of photographs chosen as illustrations for the book.

Series 3: Research Materials Box 3, Folder 5-Box 8, Folder 23

Series three includes research materials Woodress collected for the Cather biography including newsletters, book reviews, articles on Cather's works, and selected Cather correspondence. All of the Cather correspondence is restricted. The Cather correspondence includes letters written by Cather's niece, Mary Virginia Auld, Cather's sister Elsie, her aunt Frances "Franc" Cather, and her mother Jenny Cather. There is also a letter written to Franc Cather by Willa Cather's great grandmother, Ann Cather. Additional research materials that relate to the novels The Song of the Lark and The Troll Garden include correspondence, book reviews, and articles.

Series 4: Scrapbook Box 9

The final series is comprised of a scrapbook presented to Woodress at the Fifth International Willa Cather Seminar, June 19-26, 1993, in Red Cloud, Nebraska. The scrapbook includes photographs of pertinent places and buildings in Red Cloud as well as pictures of Cather's birthplace.

 Container List: Series 1: CorrespondenceBox 1. Folder 1. Correspondence, 1967, Aug-1970, Dec 15 Box 1. Folder 2. Correspondence, 1971, Jan 6-1983, Dec 30 Box 1. Folder 3. Correspondence, 1984, Jan 24-1985, Feb 28 Box 1. Folder 4. Correspondence, 1986, Jan 9-1987, Dec 14 Box 1. Folder 5. Correspondence, 1988, Jan. 4-1994, June 20 Box 1. Folder 6. Correspondence, undated Box 1. Folder 7. Correspondence, library holdings Box 2. Folder 1. Permission letters, photographs, illustrations Series 2: Manuscript, Willa Cather: A Literary Life Box 2. Folder 2. Draft, chapters 1-2 Box 2. Folder 3. Draft, chapters 3-8 Box 2. Folder 4. Draft, chapters 9-14 Box 2. Folder 5. Draft, chapters 15-22 Box 3. Folder 1. Draft, chapter 23-Epilogue Box 3. Folder 2. Illustrations, photographs for Willa Cather: A Literary Life, 1-27 Box 3. Folder 3. Illustrations, photographs for Willa Cather: A Literary Life, 28-64 Box 3. Folder 4. Illustrations, photographs for Willa Cather: A Literary Life, 65-90, unnumbered Series 3: Research MaterialsBox 3. Folder 5. Cather correspondence, Atkins, Zoe RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 6. Cather correspondence, Auld, Mary Virginia RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 7. Cather correspondence, Bishop, George Beecher RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 8. Cather correspondence, Canfield, Dorothy RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 9. Cather correspondence, Cather, Elsie RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 10. Cather correspondence, Cather, Frances Smith (Franc) RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 11. Cather correspondence, Cather, Jenny RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 12. Cather correspondence, Creighton, Mary RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 13. Cather correspondence, Dwight, H.G. RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 14. Cather correspondence, Fields, Annie RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 15. Cather correspondence, Gere, Mariel RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 16. Cather correspondence, Greenslet, Ferris RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 17. Cather correspondence, Howe, M. DeWolf RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 18. Cather correspondence, Jewett, Mary RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 19. Cather correspondence, Jones, W.O. RESTRICTED Box 3. Folder 20. Cather correspondence, Knoff, Alfred A. RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 1. Cather correspondence, Lewis, Edith and Tennant, Stephen RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 2. Cather correspondence, McClure's Magazine RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 3. Cather correspondence, Pound, Louise RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 4. Cather correspondence, Reynolds, Paul RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 5. Cather correspondence, Roseboro, Viola RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 6. Cather correspondence, Sherwood, Carrie Miner RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 7. Cather correspondence, Stanfield, Mrs. A. RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 8. Cather correspondence, Tarbell, Ida M. RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 9. Cather correspondence, Weisz, Irene RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 10. Cather correspondence, minor, A-G RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 11. Cather correspondence, minor, H-R RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 12. Cather correspondence, minor, S-Z RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 13. Correspondence, to Frances Cather, 1875, July 18 RESTRICTED Box 4. Folder 14. Articles on Cather, A-D Box 4. Folder 15. Articles on Cather, F-H Box 5. Folder 1. Articles on Cather, I-M Box 5. Folder 2. Articles on Cather, M-N Box 5. Folder 3. Articles on Cather, O-P Box 5. Folder 4. Articles on Cather, R-S Box 5. Folder 5. Articles on Cather, T-Z Box 5. Folder 6. Cather family history Box 5. Folder 7. Cather writings Box 5. Folder 8. Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial (WCPM), Red Cloud Box 5. Folder 9. Cather England and France tour Box 5. Folder 10. Newspaper clippings, documents on Cather Box 5. Folder 11. Newspaper clippings, documents on Cather Box 5. Folder 12. Cather obituary, interviews Box 5. Folder 13. Postcards, photos, articles, and transcriptions on Cather Box 5. Folder 14. Woodress notes, University of Virginia Archives Box 5. Folder 15. Papers, Cooper, Beverly J., to Woodress Box 5. Folder 16. Bennett, Mildred R. Teenage Cather Speaks Box 6. Folder 1. The Swedish Immigrant and Others in Willa Cather's Writings, by Mona Pers Box 6. Folder 2. A Guide to the Letters of Willa Cather, Margaret Anne O'Connor Box 6. Folder 3. Willa Cather Seminars, Hastings, Nebraska, 1981-1984, 1987, 1993 Box 6. Folder 4. Willa Cather Seminar, Santa Fe, New Mexico Box 6. Folder 5. PBS Project, Cather's Life Box 6. Folder 6. Research materials, The Song of the Lark Box 7. Folder 7. Research materials, The Troll Garden Box 6. Folder 8. Cather Tribute to James Canfield Box 6. Folder 9. Cather, short stories and non-fiction Box 7. Folder 1. Vibert painting Box 7. Folder 2. Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial Newsletter, 1969-1984 Box 7. Folder 3. Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial Newsletter, 1985-1992 Box 7. Folder 4. Willa Cather Pioneer Memorial Newsletter, 1993-1997 Box 7. Folder 5. Published books, articles, on Cather Box 7. Folder 6. National Geographic Magazine, 1982, July Box 8. Folder 1. General book reviews Box 8. Folder 2. Book reviews, April Twilights Box 8. Folder 3. Book reviews, Alexander's Bridge Box 8. Folder 4. Book reviews, Death Comes for the Archbishop Box 8. Folder 5. Book reviews, Kingdom of Art Box 8. Folder 6. Book reviews, A Lost Lady Box 8. Folder 7. Book reviews, My Antonia Box 8. Folder 8. Book reviews, My Mortal Enemy Box 8. Folder 9. Book reviews, Nebraska State Journal Box 8. Folder 10. Book reviews, Not Under Forty Box 8. Folder 11. Book reviews, O Pioneers Box 8. Folder 12. Book reviews, Obscure Destinies Box 8. Folder 13. Book reviews, One of Ours Box 8. Folder 14. Book reviews, The Professor's House Box 8. Folder 15. Book reviews, Sapphira and the Slave Girl Box 8. Folder 16. Book reviews, Selections: Writings from Cather's Campus Years Box 8. Folder 17. Book reviews, Shadows on the Rock Box 8. Folder 18. Book reviews, The Song of the Lark Box 8. Folder 19. Book reviews, The Troll Garden Box 8. Folder 20. Book reviews, Youth and the Bright Medusa Box 8. Folder 21. Book reviews, Willa Cather on Writing Box 8. Folder 22. Book reviews, on three short stories Box 8. Folder 23. Book reviews, Lucy Gayheart Series 4: ScrapbookBox 9. Folder 1. Scrapbook, for James Woodress, 5th International Cather Seminar



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