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Finding Aid for the Carey McWilliams Correspondence, 1924-1975 (bulk 1924-1950)
1356
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Title: Carey McWilliams Correspondence
Date (inclusive): 1924-1975 (bulk 1924-1950)
Collection number: 1356
Creator:
McWilliams, Carey, 1905-
Extent:
2 boxes (1 linear foot)
Abstract: Carey McWilliams (1905-1980) was a writer, lawyer, journalist, lecturer, activist, as well as Chief of the California Division
of Immigration and Housing (1938-1942) and editor of
The Nation (1955-1975). This collection contains correspondence, primarily letters written to McWilliams.
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department
of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Carey McWilliams was born December 13, 1905 in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He completed his Juris Doctorate from the University
of Southern California in 1927. From 1927-1938, McWilliams was an attorney at the law firm Black, Hammack in Los Angeles.
In 1938, he was appointed as Chief of the Division of Immigration and Housing of the State of California, a position he kept
until 1942. During the period from 1945-1955, he began his long association with
The Nation, becoming successively contributing editor, associate editor, and then editorial director. From 1955-1975, he was
The Nation's editor. In addition to his editorial duties, McWilliams was a prolific lecturer and writer, speaking on many subjects and
contributing articles and essays to numerous publications. After his retirement from
The Nation, he continued to write a regular column for that publication. His monographs include
Ambrose Bierce, a biography (1929);
Louis Adamic and shadow America (1935);
Factories in the field: the story of migratory farm labor in California (1939);
Ill fares the land: migrants and migratory labor in the United States (1942);
Brothers under the skin (1943);
Prejudice: Japanese-Americans, symbol of racial intolerance (1944);
Southern California country: an island on the land (1946);
A mask for privilege: anti-Semitism in America (1948);
North from Mexico: the Spanish-speaking people of the United States (1949); California: the great exception (1949);
Witch hunt: the revival of heresy (1950); and his autobiography
The education of Carey McWilliams (1979). In the late 1970s, McWilliams was briefly a Regents Lecturer at the University of California Riverside and then taught
one quarter at the University of California Los Angeles in the History Department. He died of cancer at the age of 74 on June
27, 1980 in New York, New York.
The collection contains Carey McWilliams's correspondence, primarily letters that were written to him. Many of the letters
are from writers mentioning reviews or articles he composed about their work. Some of them discuss future writings or McWilliams's
work on topics such as Ambrose Bierce, Louis Adamic, George Sterling, and western regionalism. The collection also contains
fan mail, letters addressing McWilliams's research or political causes, some of McWilliams's responses, and assorted supporting
materials.
Arranged in the following series:
- Correspondence.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
McWilliams, Carey, 1905- --Archives.
Periodical editors--United States--Archival resources.
Authors, American-20th century--Archival resources.
- Carey McWilliams papers, 1894-1982 (Collection 1319) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Carey McWilliams papers, 1930-1940 (Collection 1243) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Collection of material about Carey McWilliams, 1925-1948 (Collection 2023) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Collection of materials by and about George Sterling, ca. 1901-1935 (Collection 276) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Carey McWilliams collection of material about Ambrose Bierce, 1842-ca. 1914 (Collection 277) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Carey McWilliams collection of material about Mary Hunter Austin, 1868-1934 (Collection 278) . Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
- Carey McWilliams papers, 1921-1980 (Collection BANC MSS C-H 46) . Available at Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley.
- Carey McWilliams miscellaneous papers, 1941-1945 . Available at Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford, CA.
- Honorable in all things oral history transcript: the memoirs of Carey McWilliams [oral history transcript] / Carey McWilliams, interviewee. UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1978. Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.