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Finding Aid to the Oscar Lewis papers, undated, 1859-1988 (bulk 1930-1965)
BANC MSS 93/97 c
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Collection Title: Oscar Lewis papers
Date: undated
Date (inclusive): 1859-1988
Date (bulk): 1930-1965
Collection Number: BANC MSS 93/97 c
Creator:
Lewis, Oscar
Extent:
14 cartons, 1 box, 3 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders
(16 linear feet)
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The papers of Oscar Lewis including correspondence, manuscripts, galley proofs, photographs, clippings, articles, broadsides
and other ephemera.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Collection is open for research.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head
of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The
Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
[Identification of item], Oscar Lewis papers, BANC MSS 93/97 c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Lewis, Oscar, 1893-1992 -- Archives
Authors, American -- 20th century
California -- History
San Francisco (Calif.) -- History
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Intellectual life
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Social life and customs
West (U.S.) -- History
West (U.S.) -- In literature
West (U.S.) -- Social conditions
Galley proofs (Printing)
Manuscripts for publication
The Oscar Lewis papers were given to the Bancroft Library by Oscar Lewis from 1978-1987. Additions were made by Addison E.
and Rosalind Mooney in 1992, Jim Nance in 1992 and Tommy F. Angell in 2003.
No additions are expected.
Processed by Mario H. Ramirez in 2012.
Oscar Lewis (1893-1992) was a historian and author whose work was defined by the literary, social and cultural history of
the American West. Born in San Francisco to William F. Lewis and Anna Walter Lewis, and raised in the towns of Red Bluff and
Sebastopol, Lewis briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley (1912) and subsequently dropped out to pursue writing
professionally. During World War I, he served with an ambulance squad affiliated with the university, and remained in Europe
after the Armistice to write. He emerged as a writer of note in the 1930s.
Initially publishing short stories in such magazines as Boy's Life, Lewis went on to write some of the most seminial books
on the history and culture of California and San Francisco. Among these were
Silver Kings,
I Remember Christine,
Bay Window Bohemia,
A History of San Francisco and
The Uncertain Journey. He is best known for his book
The Big Four which chronicles the efforts of Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker to build the western
portion of the first transcontinental railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad.
He was a member of the Bohemian Club and the Westerners, Secretary of the Book Club of California and served on the San Francisco
Art Commission from 1944-1960.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Oscar Lewis papers chronicle the career of one of the premient historians of California and the American West. They lend
insight into the scope of Lewis' literary and historical interests and endeavors, his relationships with other writers and
publishers, and his editorial process.
Highlights of the papers include original writings and annotated drafts of published works, as well as correpondence with
such literary and artistic figures as Thomas Mann, Carl Van Doren, Mallette Dean and Gertrude Atherton, and the publishing
house Alfred A. Knopf Inc. The collection contains a number of primary documents on topics that include the Central Pacific
Railroad, entrepreneur Adolph Sutro and philanthropist Albert M. Bender. Included as well are galley proofs, photographs,
clippings, articles, research materials, writings by other authors such as Helen Hunt Jackson and William Lewis, broadsides
and other emphemera.
The collection spans the years 1859 to 1988 with the bulk concentrating on the years 1930 to 1965. It is divided into three
series and two subseries: I. Correspondence, II. Writings (subseries I. Lewis, Oscar; subseries II. Other Authors) and III.
Subject Files.