Journals and notebooks kept by Ware R. Smith, an openly gay teacher/professor and writer who died of AIDS in 1986. The bulk of the collection consists of Smith's fifteen journals and the loose items he stored in them, documenting his life experience from 1952 to shortly before his death. The collection also includes two notebooks of his writings from 1956-1958.

Ware Rayburn Smith was born on March 20, 1935, in Indiana. He served in the army during the Korean War, then went on to attend Kenyon College and complete his Bachelor's Degree in English in 1959. He was an aspiring writer and kept extensive journals about his life beginning in college as part of his writing process. Finding a calling in academia, he applied to graduate school and completed his Master's Degree in Literature at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1964. He began teaching at Oakland City College and San Mateo College in 1965, then accepted a teaching position at the University of Hawaii. He remained there until 1967, when he decided to pursue a PhD at the University of Iowa. Smith was an outspoken anti-war activist while at the University of Hawaii and the University of Iowa, receiving recognition as such by local newspapers in both cities.

5 archive cartons. 1.5 linear feet.

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The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.