TABLE OF CONTENTS


Descriptive Summary of the Collection

Administrative Information

Biography of James T. Farrell

Scope and Content of the Collection

Organization

Selected Search Terms

Container List

Series 1: James T. Farrell, ca. 1909-2004

Series 2: Cleo Paturis, 1974-2006

Series 3: Photographs, 1912-2004

Series 4: Audiocassettes, 1955-1982 and undated

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Inventory of the James T. Farrell-Cleo Paturis Papers, 1909-2006, bulk 1949-2006


The Newberry Library
Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610-7324
USA
Phone: 312-255-3506
Fax: 312-255-3646
E-Mail: specialcolls@newberry.org
URL: http://www.newberry.org

Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Polly Smith, 2012.

©2012.


Descriptive Summary of the Collection

Creator Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979
Title James T. Farrell-Cleo Paturis Papers
Dates 1909-2006,
Dates bulk 1949-2006
Extent 3.3 linear feet (7 boxes, 3 cassette boxes)
Abstract Stories, articles, manuscript and photocopy drafts and notes by Farrell; a small collection of Farrell correspondence; miscellaneous material including reviews and appreciations of Farrell’s work; photographs of Farrell, Paturis, friends and occasions; and many audiocassettes of Farrell lectures, speeches and interviews. Paturis material includes several drafts of her unpublished memoir of her life with Farrell, a synopsis of his work, correspondence dating mainly after Farrell’s death in 1979, and a miscellany concerning conferences on Farrell’s career and posthumous publications of Studs Lonigan.
Language Materials are in English.
Repository Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections
Collection Call Number Midwest MS Farrell-Paturis
Collection Stack Location 3a 38 14 ; 3a 39 14

Administrative Information

Cite As

James T. Farrell-Cleo Paturis Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Provenance

Gift, Cleo Paturis, 2004, 2006.

Processed by

Virginia Hay Smith, 2011.

Access

The James T. Farrell-Cleo Paturis Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The James T. Farrell-Cleo Paturis 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 James T. Farrell

Born in southwest Chicago in 1904 to immigrant Irish parents, James T. Farrell was the first of his working-class family to attend college. His boyhood was tough, but once he pushed hard for an education and found some success in publishing short stories and newspaper articles, he became committed to a literary career.

Throughout his life Farrell was involved in socialist and liberal causes and committees and was well educated in political and social issues. He was a prolific writer, establishing himself as a realist in the naturalistic tradition of Theodore Dreiser and Frank Norris. He said himself about the consistent themes in his novels, sketches, short stories, articles and plays: “The purpose of these works is…to recreate a sense of American life as I have seen it, as I have imagined it, and as I have reflected upon it and evaluated it.”

Perhaps Farrell’s greatest achievement is the Studs Lonigan trilogy, published as a unit in 1935, and then the five books about Danny O’Neill, published between 1936 and 1953. Although all his life he wrote every day and his published work continued to be concerned with capturing aspects of American experience as he perceived it, Farrell is best remembered for the Studs novels.

Farrell was married twice to Dorothy Butler and once to actress Hortense Alden, with whom he had two sons, Kevin and John. In 1965 he settled down in Manhattan – where he had lived for many years – with his close friend Cleo Paturis. After his death in 1979, Paturis devoted herself to preserving his reputation as one of America’s most important authors.

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Scope and Content of the Collection

Letters, writings, reviews, miscellany, photographs and audio tapes of James T. Farrell and his longtime companion, Cleo Paturis, all relating to Farrell.

Papers include a small amount of Farrell correspondence, and a sizable collection of his notes and short works, mostly in typescript or photocopy, and some published articles from newspapers and magazines. Miscellaneous material includes his address files, inventories of his works, reviews and articles concerning his work, high school publications, a collection of Chicago Cubs cigarette baseball cards from 1909-1910, a file of clippings about civil rights advocate Bayard Rustin, tombstone information and obituaries, photographs, and a large collection of audiocassettes of lectures and speeches, including a 1976 interview of Farrell for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Also, several copies of Cleo Paturis’ unpublished memoir of her time with Farrell and her synopsis of his work, and her extensive correspondence with various friends and admirers of Farrell’s, most notably Sidney Hook, Mary McCarthy, Paul R. Porter, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. and Mr. And Mrs. Kurt Vonnegut. There is a large group of condolence letters upon Farrell’s death, material relating to the publication of Studs Lonigan, plus two Farrell centennial conferences held in 2004, with signatures on reply postcards of Edward Albee, Saul Bellow and Tom Wolfe.

Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid.

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Organization

Papers are organized in the following series:

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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

  • Cave, Eldon
  • Draper, Louis
  • Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979
  • Farrell, James T. (James Thomas), 1904-1979 -- Portraits
  • Fertik, Irene
  • Hook, Sidney, 1902-1989
  • Krementz, Jill
  • McCarthy, Mary, 1912-1989
  • Paturis, Cleo
  • Porter, Paul R. (Paul Robert), 1908-2002
  • Rustin, Bayard, 1912-1987
  • Schlesinger, Arthur M. (Arthur Meier), 1917-2007
  • Vonnegut, Kurt

Subjects

  • American literature -- Irish-American authors
  • American literature -- 20th century
  • Audiocassettes -- 1951-2000
  • Authors, American -- 20th century
  • Correspondence -- 1951-2000
  • Correspondence -- 2001-2050
  • Manuscripts, American
  • Novelists, American -- 20th century
  • Photographs -- 1901-1950
  • Photographs -- 1951-2000
  • Sound recordings -- 1951-2000

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Container List

Series 1: James T. Farrell, ca. 1909-2004

A small amount of Farrell correspondence, a collection of articles, short stories, notes and sketches, poems, address files, works inventories, reviews and articles regarding Farrell, cancelled checks, receipts and other miscellany, a baseball card collection, will and probate items and obituaries.
Arranged by type of material.

Box Folder Contents
1 1 Correspondence, outgoing (8 letters), 1977-1979
1 2 Correspondence, incoming (7 letters), 1971-1979
1 3 Works: "Alexander Solzhenitsyn" in American Girl, Sept., 1975
1 4 Works: Articles, published, 1949-1979
1 5 Works: "Baseball: A Fan's Notes" in American Scholar, Summer, 1979
1 6 Works: Baseball novel list of names (typescript), undated
1 7 Works: "Berthe's Telephone Call" (unpublished), undated
1 8 Works: "Berthe's Telephone Call" (photocopy of typescript)
1 9 Works: "The Big Choke-up" (2 versions), 1979
1 10 Works: Book reviews, 1972
1 11 Works: "Christmas Cards", 1949
1 12 Works: "Christmas Cards" (photocopy of typescript)
1 13 Works: "Cigarette Card Baseball Pictures" (typescript), 1978
1 14 Works: "Civic Pride", undated
1 15 Works: "Civic Pride" (photocopy of typescript)
1 16 Works: "Day by Day - Fashions and Civil War", undated
1 17 Works: "Day by Day - Fashions and Civil War (photocopy of typescript)
1 18 Works: "Day by Day - The Guy Who Beat up Jud Jennings", undated
1 19 Works: "The Dentist's Wife", undated
1 20 Works: "The Dentist's Wife" (photocopy of typescript)
1 21 Works: "Destineier and Friendships", 1979
1 22 Works: "Destineier and Friendship" (photocopy of typescript)
1 23 Works: "Development of American Novel" (published)
1 24 Works: "Discovery" (fragment in notebook), undated
1 25 Works: "Dressing Room Scene", undated
1 26 Works: "Dressing Room Scene" (photocopy of typescript)
1 27 Works: "The Eternal Question of John O'Hara" (published), 1970
1 28 Works: "The Golden Years with Golden Memories", undated
1 29 Works: "The Golden Years with Golden Memories" (photocopy of typescript)
2 30 Works: "Gussy Ickstein", undated
2 30a Works: "Halfway to the Cradle" in Earth, June, 1930
2 30b Works: "Helen, I Love You!" in The American Mercury, July, 1932
2 31 Works: "How to Get Along With Stalin" by Jonathan Titeslecu Fogarty (Farrell pseudonym) in The Commonweal, Oct. 3, 1947
2 32 Works: "How We Survived the Depression" in Family Circle, March, 1975
2 33 Works: "Incident at a Family Reunion" in Family Weekly", Aug. 16, 1964
2 34-35 Works: "Keeping it in the Family" (2 copies), undated
2 36 Works: "The King is Dead" in Sport, May, 1974
2 37 Works: "Learning to Live with Studs Lonigan" (newspaper column), undated
2 38 Works: "A Modern Lover Tries to Speak of Love" (poem and fragment), undated
2 39 Works: "Movie Report Inadequate Lacks True Discernment" in The Call, May 21, 1947
2 40 Works: "New York, New York", 1970
2 41 Works: "New York, New York" (photocopy of typescript)
2 42 Works: "The 1920's in American Life and Literature" in The Fitzgerald/Hemingway Annual, 1974
2 43 Works: Notes on a letter from Elinor Hays to Alan Wald, Feb. 2, 1976
2 43a Works: "A Note on Contemporary Literature" in Earth [Located in Box 7], Feb, 1931
2 44 Works: Note on the 40th anniversary of the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, 1979
2 45 Works: Notes, draft of a letter (in spiral notebook), 1979
2 46 Works: "Old Danny O'Neill", undated
2 47 Works" "Old Danny O'Neill" (photocopy of part of the typescript)
2 48 Works: "Old Danny O'Neill" (photocopy of part of the typescript)
3 49 Works: "On the Middle Ages: An Excerpt from James T. Farrell's The Vast Present", undated
3 50 Works: "Pat", undated
3 51 Works: "Pat" (photocopy of typescript with note), undated
3 52 Works: Poem, untitled (photocopy of typescript), Feb. 28, 1966
3 53 Works: "Random and Not-So-Random Thought on How I Work" (typescript lacking p. 2), undated
3 54 Works: "Scenes from the Life of Henry Wallenstein", undated
3 55 Works: "Scenes from the Life of Henry Wallenstein" (typescript)
3 55a Works: "Studs" in This Quarter, July-Aug.-Sept., 1930
3 56 Works: "The Sheik: A Story" in Chicago, Jan., 1975
3 57 Works: "The '30s" in Chicago Tribune Magazine, April 27, 1975
3 58 Works: "Tom Roberts in Washington" (fragment), undated
3 59 Works: "Universe of Time" - List of titles (photocopy), June 2, 1979
3 60 Works: "The World is Today", undated
3 61 Works: "The World is Today" (photocopy of manuscript and typescript)
3 62 Works: "The World is Today" (newspaper column), 1966-1975
3 63 Works: Untitled article on Countess Markiewicz (typescript), undated
4 64 Miscellaneous: Address files, undated
4 65-68 Miscellaneous: Articles, Reviews relating to Farrell, undated-2004
4 69 Miscellaneous: Biographical material, ca. 1979
4 70 Miscellaneous: Cancelled checks, 1962-1975
4 71 Miscellaneous: Cigarette Baseball Cards, Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs (46 cards), 1909-1910
4 72 Miscellaneous: Handwriting analysis (incomplete), Nov. 15, 1951
4 73 Miscellaneous: Inventories of Works, undated
4 74 Miscellaneous: Medical items: Letter, receipts, re amphetamine prescription, 1979
4 75 Miscellaneous: Memo board note to Cleo Paturis, Jan. 1, 1977
4 76 Miscellaneous: Rolodex cards, undated
4 77 Miscellaneous: Ryan, Edward A.: typescript of novel, Apartment Building with Farrell's editing pp. 1-7, undated
4 78 Miscellaneous: Saint Cyril High School - Yearbook and literary magazine, 1922-1923
4 79 Miscellaneous: "Salute to James T. Farrell", 1976
4 80 Miscellaneous: Tombstone in Calvary Cemetery, Evanston, Illinois, 1980-1981
4 81 Miscellaneous: Will and Probate documents, 1979
4 82 Miscellaneous: Obituaries, 1979
4 82 Miscellaneous: Obituaries, 1979

Series 2: Cleo Paturis, 1974-2006

Correspondence, mostly dated after Farrell’s death, with friends and acquaintances of Farrell and Paturis. Notable correspondents are Sidney Hook, Mary McCarthy, Paul R. Porter, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., and Jill and Kurt Vonnegut,with subject material on Hook, McCarthy and Porter included with the letters. Also, many condolence letters, a sympathy list and other memorabilia, signatures of Edward Albee, Saul Bellow and Tom Wolfe, clippings regarding Bayard Rustin, material about two Farrell centennial conferences in 2004 and the republication of Studs Lonigan by the Library of America and Penguin Putnam. Also, Paturis’s synopsis of Farrell’s work and several copies of her memoir of her years with him.
Arranged by type of material.

Box Folder Contents
5 83 Correspondence: Paturis, Cleo - outgoing (10 letters), undated-1995
5 84 Correspondence: Paturis, Cleo - incoming, A-D (13 letters), 1978-2004
5 85 Correspondence: Paturis, Cleo - incoming, E-J (14 letters), 1979-1986
5 86 Correspondence: Paturis, Cleo - incoming, M-W (21 letters), 1979-2004
5 87 Correspondence: Paturis, Cleo - incoming, unidentified (2 letters), 1978
5 88 Correspondence, miscellaneous: "Ron" to Charles Fanning, undated; Edgar Branch to Charles Fanning, 1996
5 89 Correspondence, miscellaneous: Hook, Sidney - Letters and cards, 1979-1987
5 90 Correspondence, miscellaneous: Hook, Sidney - Subject file, 1982-1990
5 91 Correspondence, miscellaneous: McCarthy, Mary - Letters, 1975-1988
5 92 Correspondence, miscellaneous: McCarthy, Mary - Subject file, 1979-2000
5 93 Correspondence, Miscellaneous: Porter, Paul R. - Letters and subject file, 1982-1986
5 94 Correspondence, miscellaneous: Schlesinger, Arthur Jr., 1979-2004
5 95 Correspondence, miscellaneous: Vonnegut, Kurt and Jill, 1979-1994
5 96 Correspondence: Condolence A-E, 1979
5 97 Correspondence: Condolence F-I, 1979
5 98 Correspondence: Condolence J-O, 1979
5 99 Correspondence: Condolence P-Z, 1979
5 100 Correspondence: Condolence unidentified, 1979
6 101 Works: "James T. Farrell, a bio by Cleo" (earlier version with excerpts from condolence letters), undated
6 102 Works: "James T. Farrell, a bio by Cleo" (with corrections), 2005
6 103 Works: "James T. Farrell, a bio by Cleo", 2006
6 104 Works: Synopsis of James T. Farrell's unpubl;ished work, 1997
6 105 Miscellaneous: Bayard Rustin material, 1976-1988
6 106 Miscellaneous: Condolence -flowers cards, 1979
6 107 Miscellaneous: Memorabilia, 1974-2004
6 108 Miscellaneous: Signatures: Edward Albee, Saul Bellow, Tom Wolfe, 1980
6 109 Miscellaneous: Sympathy list, 1979
6 110 Miscellaneous: Library of America material, 2001-2003
6 111 Miscellaneous: New York Farrell Centennial Conference, Feb., 2004
6 112 Miscellaneous: Paris, France Farrell Centennial Conference, June, 2004
6 113 Miscellaneous: Ann Douglass Introduction to Penguin Studs Lonigan, 2001
6 114 Miscellaneous: Penguin Putnam Inc. edition of Studs Lonigan, 1999-2003
6 115 Miscellaneous: Compact disk: "James T. Farrell", undated
6 116 Miscellaneous: Audio tape, contents unknown, undated
6 116 Miscellaneous: Audio tape, contents unknown, undated

Series 3: Photographs, 1912-2004

Portraits and snapshots of James T. Farrell including two 1979 images by Eldon Cave; Farrell in group pictures; “A Salute to James T. Farrell” at the St. Regis Hotel in 1976 with photos by Jill Krementz; and miscellaneous proof sheets. Also, photographs of Cleo Paturis and friends, 1982-2003; the Farrell Centennial Conference in 2004; undated negatives; and one signed portrait of Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph by Irene Fertik.
Arranged by type of material.

Box Folder Contents
7 117 James T. Farrell: portraits, ca. 1912-1979
7 118 James T. Farrell: Eldon Cave portraits, undated
7 119 James T. Farrell with others, 1979 and undated
7 120 James T. Farrell with friends by Louis Draper, undated
7 121 "Salute to James T. Farrell" at the St. Regis Hotel, N.Y., N.Y., photographs by Jill Krementz, 1976
7 122 Miscellaneous proof sheets, undated
7 123 Cleo Paturis and Sidney Hook, Oct. 29, 1982
7 124 Cleo Paturis: 3 miscellaneous photos, 1988-2003
7 125 James T. Farrell Centennial Conference, N.Y., 2004
7 126 Negatives, undated
7 127 Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, signed photograph by Irene Fertik, undated
7 127 Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, signed photograph by Irene Fertik, undated

Series 4: Audiocassettes, 1955-1982 and undated

James T. Farrell lectures, speeches and an interview, 1955-1975 and undated; Farrell memorial service; Sidney Hook’s birthday party, and several tapes found in the apartment of Hortense Alden. Also, several unidentified tapes and five labeled but empty cassette boxes.
Arranged in 3 small vertical boxes chronologically and by type of material.

Box Folder Contents
8 128 Lectures and Speeches: Band music, then Q and A by Farrell. Venue unknown, Feb. 18, 1955
8 129 Lectures and Speeches: "20th Century Novel". USIS Library, New Delhi, India, June 8, 1956
8 130 Lectures and Speeches: "John Dewey - The Role of His Ideas". Stanford University, Feb. 17, 1960
8 131 Lectures and Speeches: "Theodore Dreiser and Literature". Stanford University, Feb. 18, 1960
8 132 Lectures and Speeches: "The Modern American Writer". Yale University, March 3,1965
8 133 Lectures and Speeches: "A Portrait of the Artist", Part 1. Venue unknown, Sept. 19, 1973
8 134 Lectures and Speeches: "Frank Copperwood". Venue unknown, Oct. 23, 1973
8 135 Lectures and Speeches: "Character of Frank Cowperwood". Venue unknown, Nov. 6, 1973
8 136 Lectures and Speeches: "The Critics of Dreiser". Venue unknown (Glassboro College?), Dec. 4, 1973
8 137-138 Lectures and Speeches: Symposium at Glassboro College, Dec. 5, 1973
8 139 Lectures and Speeches: "The Bulwark". Venue unknown, Dec. 11, 1973
8 140 Lectures and Speeches: Prof. Vasta's Class. Venue unknown, March 4, 1975.
8 141 Lectures and Speeches: S. R. Kolbenschlag's Class. Venue unknown, March 5, 1975
8 142 Lectures and Speeches: Prof. K. Moore's American Culture and Subcultures Class. Venue unknown, March. 5, 1975
8 143 Lectures and Speeches: Ken Kinslow's Freshman Class. Venue unknown, March 6, 1975
9 144 Lectures and Speeches: Jane Robinett's Freshman Class. Venue unknown, March 6, 1975
9 145-146 Lectures and Speeches: Lecture at Southampton College, July 15, 1976
9 147 Lectures and Speeches: Lecture at Foreign Language Group. Glassboro College, 1976
9 148 Lectures and Speeches: Speech to Social Democrats. Columbia University, April 5, 1977
9 149 Lectures and Speeches: Speech to the New School, April 7, 1977
9 150 Lectures and Speeches: "The Rise of David Levinsky". Venue unknown, Oct. 10, 1977
9 151-152 Lectures and Speeches: Talk at Episcopal Academy, May 8, 1979
9 153 Lectures and Speeches: Reading at Glassboro College, undated
9 154 Lectures and Speeches: Notre Dame - Sophomore Literary Festival, undated
9 155-156 Lectures and Speeches: "Technical Writers". Venue unknown, undated
9 157 Lectures and Speeches: Trilogy: "The Financier", "The Titan", and "The Stoic". Venue unknown, undated
9 158 Lectures and Speeches: Writer's Forum. Venue unknown, undated
9 159-160 Lectures and Speeches: No title, no venue, undated
10 161 Interview with Patrick Hynan of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Dec. 6, 1976
10 162 Miscellaneous: Farrell with Hortense and Kevin, undated
10 163-164 Miscellaneous: Tapes found in Hortense Alden's apartment after her death, ca. 1978
10 165 Miscellaneous: "Jim's Memorial service", undated
10 166 Miscellaneous: Sidney Hook's Birthday, Oct. 29, 1982
10 167 Three unidentified tapes, undated
10 168 Five labeled but empty cases, undated