Finding Aid for the Carey McWilliams Correspondence, 1924-1975 (bulk 1924-1950)

Processed by Andrea Eitsert, with assistance from Laurel McPhee; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.

UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections

Manuscripts Division

Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library

Box 951575

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575

Email: spec-coll@library.ucla.edu

URL: http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/special/scweb/

Descriptive Summary

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.

Administrative Information

Restrictions on Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.

Restrictions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Gift of Wilson Carey McWilliams, June 2004.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Carey McWilliams Correspondence (Collection Number 1356). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.

Processing History

Collection 1356 was donated to the Library in 2004 by McWilliams's son, Wilson Carey McWilliams. At the time of accessioning, the papers were organized in an approximate alphabetical order. In 2006, Andrea Eitsert rehoused the materials and created a folder-level inventory of the items to facilitate enhanced access to materials and to generate a finding aid.

Biography

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.

Scope and Content

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.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:

Correspondence.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects

McWilliams, Carey, 1905- --Archives.

Periodical editors--United States--Archival resources.

Authors, American-20th century--Archival resources.

Related Material

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.

Container List

Correspondence 1924-1975 (bulk 1924-1950)

Physical Description: 2 boxes (1 linear foot)

Scope and Content Note

This series consists of correspondence. Files are arranged alphabetically by the surname of the correspondent, in respect to the original order. In each folder, letters are arranged chronologically with undated ones filed at the beginning. Unidentified correspondents are located at the end of the series, as is a folder of miscellaneous printed materials.

Box 1, Folder 1

American Jewish Committee 1948

Physical Description: 3 items.

Scope and Content Note

Letter from McWilliams, a joint memorandum, and a 7-page typewritten manuscript entitled "Memorandum" by McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 2

American Red Cross 1946

Physical Description: 3 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 3

Appell, George 1946 July

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 4

Baldwin, Roger 1945-1946

Physical Description: 6 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 5

Bancroft, Hubert Howe 1946 July

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 6

Beardsley, Helen and Charles E. 1946 August

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 7

Bunzel, Jack 1949 September 18

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Content Note

Card to McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 8

California State Library 1936

Physical Description: 5 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes related materials on California's poet laureates.

Box 1, Folder 9

Carlson, Evans 1945 September 11

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 10

Carson, Charles A. 1949 December

Physical Description: 5 items.

Box 1, Folder 11

Chandler, Norman 1931, October 3

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 12

Chapman, Oscar 1949 November 30

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 13

Cohn, Morris 1944

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Letter from McWilliams, and a clipping concerning Judge Goodwin Knight.

Box 1, Folder 14

Collier, John 1934, 1942

Physical Description: 4 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes printed materials dealing with the Mission Indian Federation.

Box 1, Folder 15

Cushman, Rober E. 1950, August 4

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 16

Danton, George H. 1948 August 25

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 17

Davis, H.L. 1930

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 1, Folder 18

Dienstein, William 1948 July 15

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 19

Dobie, Charles Caldwell 1930-1933

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 1, Folder 20

Dumont, Henry 1935-1936

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 1, Folder 21

Elias, Robert H. 1939 August 5

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 22

Federal Parole Board 1950 August 24

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Content Note

Letter from McWilliams concerning Alvah Bessie's parole.

Box 1, Folder 23

Fee, Marcia Gayle 1926

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 1, Folder 24

Fenelon, Eugenie 1928 January 12

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 25

Fenton, Frank undated

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 26

Fergusson, Erna 1949 January 10

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 1, Folder 27

Fergusson, Harvey ca. 1940

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 28

Field, Sara Bard 1929

Physical Description: 4 items.

Box 1, Folder 29

Firkins, O.W. 1931 January 13

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 30

Foote, Mary Hallock 1930-1936

Physical Description: 9 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes typewritten notes on and quotations from her books.

Box 1, Folder 31

Francis, R.W. 1932, November 18

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 32

Gallagher, Leo 1935 October 20

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 33

Gidlow, Elsa 1937 June 16

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 34

Godard, Howard 1938 June 18

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 35

Gray, H.D. 1925 March 4

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 36

Gudenian, Haig 1935

Physical Description: 3 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes a publicity brochure on Gudenian.

Box 1, Folder 37

Hadley, J. Nixon 1943

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 38

Haines, Paul 1934

Physical Description: 3 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes typewritten notes.

Box 1, Folder 39

Hanna, Phil Townsend 1934-1935

Physical Description: 4 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 1, Folder 40

Hart, James D. 1930-1932

Physical Description: 20 items.

Box 1, Folder 41

Hazlitt, Henry 1933 August 7

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 42

Hergesheimer, Joseph 1929 February 11

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 43

Hicks, Granville 1930

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 1, Folder 44

Higgins, F.R. 1931-1932

Physical Description: 14 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with and concerning Higgins. Also includes a clipping, and typewritten and signed copies of Higgins's poems.

Box 1, Folder 45

Hogan, Edward 1939 August 17

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 46

Holt, Madora 1935 December 4

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 47

Hood, Juliette 1937 June 14

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 48

Hubbell, Jay B. 1930 February 11

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 49

Hughes, Glenn 1929 November 25

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 50

James, E. 1924 July 18

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 51

Johnson, Harold R. 1936

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 1, Folder 52

Johnson, Lucius W. 1937 June

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 1, Folder 53

Johnson, Roosevelt 1930

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 1, Folder 54

Johnstone, Helen Louise 1946 October 8

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 1, Folder 55

Jones, Idwal 1929-1939

Physical Description: 7 items.

Scope and Content Note

Also includes 1 letter from Phil Townsend Hanna to McWilliams and 1 letter from Hanna to Jones.

Box 2, Folder 1

Jones, Nard 1929-1934

Physical Description: 20 items.

Scope and Content Note

Also includes 1 clipping, and an image of Jones.

Box 2, Folder 2

Josephson, Matthew 1975 February 13

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 3

Kaplan, J.M. 1947-1948

Physical Description: 3 items.

Scope and Content Note

Also includes an article about the Welch Grape Juice Company.

Box 2, Folder 4

Kelly, Mr. 1948 March 14

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Content Note

6 page letter from McWilliams concerning the publicity for North from Mexico.

Box 2, Folder 5

Klein, Herb 1931-1933

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 2, Folder 6

Kramer, Dale D. undated

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 7

Krutch, Joseph Wood 1925-1930

Physical Description: 5 items.

Box 2, Folder 8

La Motte, Ellen Newbold 1929

Physical Description: 5 items.

Box 2, Folder 9

Lavrin, Janko 1930-1935

Physical Description: 4 items.

Box 2, Folder 10

Le Sueur, M. undated

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 2, Folder 11

Leary, Mary Ellen undated

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 12

Leckenby, Maurice undated

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes a letter of recommendation for McWilliams.

Box 2, Folder 13

Lengyel, Cornel 1943

Physical Description: 7 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes typewritten copies of Lengyel's poems.

Box 2, Folder 14

Lewis, Janet 1930 July 9

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 15

Lewis, Oscar 1929-1930, 1974

Physical Description: 4 items.

Box 2, Folder 16

Lloyd, J. William 1930-1931

Physical Description: 7 items.

Box 2, Folder 17

Long, H. 1930 October 15

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 18

Ludovin, Anthony 1924 September 9

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 19

MacKaye, James 1932 August 7

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 20

Mayo, Morrow 1929

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 2, Folder 21

McCarthy, John R. 1929-1933

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 2, Folder 22

McCoy, Frank J. 1938 April 16

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Content Note

Concerning Horace A. Vachell's books.

Box 2, Folder 23

Merriam, H.G. 1928-1934

Physical Description: 16 items.

Scope and Content Note

Also includes indexes to The Frontier: a magazine of the Northwest, and a program.

Box 2, Folder 55

Miscellaneous materials 1935, 1942

Physical Description: 7 items.

Scope and Content Note

Report on importation of Negro labor to California prepared by McWilliams as Chief of the Division of Immigration and Housing. Also contains a clipping on Henry Lafler, an essay "Benjamin DeCasseres: a fourth dimensional mind" by S.P. Rudens, a typewritten poem "The night court" by Ruth Comfort Mitchell, and ten black and white (approximately) 3.5 x 4 photographs of Lloyd at Roscoe.

Box 2, Folder 24

Monaghan, Frank 1929-1935

Physical Description: 9 items.

Box 2, Folder 25

Moore, Wm. E. 1934-1935

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Moore was the managing editor of The Sun.

Box 2, Folder 26

Nakazawa, Ken 1929-1935

Physical Description: 4 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes a clipping.

Box 2, Folder 27

Nathan, Otto 1947

Physical Description: 9 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes a memorandum, correspondence between Nathan and Margaret O'Connor, and a resume. These materials relate to fund-raising for Harold Laski.

Box 2, Folder 28

Niven, Frederick 1930

Physical Description: 4 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 2, Folder 29

Nussbaum, Olga 1940 August 5

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 30

Pearce, Charles A. 1932 March 15

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Content Note

Letter to Maxim Lieber concerning McWilliams.

Box 2, Folder 31

Phipps, Margaret R. 1950 January 3

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 32

Powell, William Clark 1937-1938

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Letters to McWilliams concerning a column he wrote on Will Levington Comfort.

Box 2, Folder 33

Purdy, James 1972-1973

Physical Description: 5 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams. Includes a press release and a clipping.

Box 2, Folder 34

Rourke, Constance 1931 May 4

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 35

Ryan, Don 1929-1930

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 2, Folder 36

Smith, Paul 1950 August 31

Physical Description: 1 item.

Scope and Content Note

Letter from McWilliams.

Box 2, Folder 37

Stevens, James 1925-1926

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 2, Folder 38

Stewart, George R. Jr. 1931-1936

Physical Description: 6 items.

Box 2, Folder 39

Stolberg, Benjamin 1930-1935

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 2, Folder 40

Tracy, Henry C. 1929-1936

Physical Description: 16 items.

Scope and Content Note

Also includes 1 letter from McWilliams.

Box 2, Folder 54

Unidentified correspondents 1930-1931

Physical Description: 5 items.

Box 2, Folder 41

United States Atomic Energy Commission 1949

Physical Description: 3 items.

Box 2, Folder 42

Vachell, Horace Annesley 1938 March 14

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 2, Folder 43

Wallace, William Kay 1933 April 8

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 44

Watson, E.L. Grant 1930

Physical Description: 6 items.

Scope and Content Note

Also includes an article by Watson, and a brochure on his lectures.

Box 2, Folder 45

Watterson, Elsie 1930

Physical Description: 4 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes a letter from the California State Prison to McWilliams.

Box 2, Folder 46

Weisberg, Goldie 1929-1931

Physical Description: 7 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes 2 letters from McWilliams to publishers, and a clipping.

Box 2, Folder 47

Weisz, George 1949 April 26

Physical Description: 1 item.

Box 2, Folder 48

Welch, Marie de L. 1929

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Includes clippings of Welch's poems.

Box 2, Folder 49

West, G. 1930 August

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 2, Folder 50

Whipple, T.K. 1931

Physical Description: 2 items.

Box 2, Folder 51

Winter, Ella undated

Physical Description: 4 items.

Box 2, Folder 52

Wydra, Miriam 1943 August

Physical Description: 2 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

Box 2, Folder 53

Young, A. Beatrice 1940-1941

Physical Description: 3 items.

Scope and Content Note

Correspondence with McWilliams.

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