TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
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Inventory of the Nelson Algren Papers, 1960-1975
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Polly Smith, 2009. ©2009. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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| Creator | Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981 |
| Title | Nelson Algren Papers |
| Dates | 1960-1975 |
| Extent | 0.1 linear feet (4 folders) |
| Abstract | Includes three typescripts of Algren works (2 signed), and two articles about Algren when he permanently left Chicago in 1975. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS 152 |
| Collection Stack Location | 3a 35 3 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Nelson Algren Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Gift, Kit Pelletreau, 1991.
Processed by
Virginia Hay Smith, 2008.
Access
The Nelson Algren Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Nelson Algren Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biography of Nelson Algren
Chicago writer.
Born Nelson Algren Abraham in Detroit in 1909, Algren grew up in Chicago, where he lived in the blue-collar neighborhoods of the city. After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1931, he began drifting around the country working at whatever jobs he could find until he made the decision to become a writer.
During World War II Algren served in the military as a private, and after demobilization in 1945, settled in various poor neighborhoods of Chicago, spending his time reading and writing short stories. His novel of 1949, The Man With the Golden Arm, was his biggest success, winning the National Book Award and becoming a movie. Nine years later, his second novel to be filmed was A Walk on the Wild Side. Algren’s body of work, based as it is on much of the seamy side of life, is in the tradition of American social realism, so that he has been described as the poet of the underworld.
Algren moved from Chicago to Paterson, New Jersey, in 1975. He died of a heart attack in 1981.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Includes typescripts of three works by Algren: “The Woman One Roof Away”, “The Chevalier of Vain Regrets” (signed), and “God Bless the Lonesome Gas Man” (signed). Also, two articles about Algren when he left Chicago in 1975.
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981
- Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981. Chevalier of vain regrets
- Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981. God bless the lonesome gas man
- Algren, Nelson, 1909-1981. Woman one roof away
Subjects
- American literature -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Authors, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
- Short stories, American -- 20th century
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Container List |
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| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1 | “The Woman One Roof Away”, typescript, 1960 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | “God Bless the Lonesome Gas Man”, signed typescript, 1962 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | “The Chevalier of Vain Regrets”, signed typescript, n.d. | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Two articles about Algren, 1975 | |||||||||