Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Scope and Contents Note
Indexing Terms
Related Material
Descriptive Summary
Title: Kathryn Winslow Collection,
Date (inclusive): 1950-1988
Collection number: MS 163
Collector:
Winslow, Kathryn
Extent:
1 document box
7 portfolios
Repository:
University of California, Santa Cruz. University Library.
Special Collections and Archives
Santa Cruz, California 95064
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and printed material documenting patronage and friendship
of Kathryn Winslow to Kenneth and Miriam Patchen. Also included are papers pertaining to fund raisers held for Patchen in
Chicago at "Studio for Henry Miller" during 1950-1951.
Physical location: Stored in Special Collections & Archives: Advance notice is required for access to the papers
Language:
English
Administrative Information
Access
Collection open for research
Publication Rights
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permission to publish or to reproduce the material, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Preferred Citation
Kathryn Winslow collection. Special Collections and Archives, University Library, University of
California, Santa Cruz.
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Martha Smith, August 1989
Biographical Note
A novelist, a biographer and a businesswoman, Kathryn Winslow (1906-1989) is known for her life long patronage and friendship
to authors Henry Miller and Kenneth Patchen.
In 1948-1958 she managed a bookstore "The Studio of Henry Miller", also called Studio 'M', with her husband William (Bill)
Mecham. The store, situated in the heart of Chicago in a red building next to Hyde Park, was famous for it's selection of
works by Henry Miller and Kenneth Patchen. Studio 'M' developed into an active gathering place for local artist and literary
enthusiasts, who were drawn not only to buy books, many of which were shipped directly from the authors' homes, but to view
exhibited Miller ephemera, and attend various after hour readings and musical performances.
Kathryn and Bill Mecham were introduced to the Patchens through Henry Miller. A visit to the Patchens at Old Lyme in June
1950 resulted in a lasting friendship and the future efforts by Winslow to bring relief to the Patchen financial predicament
through fund raisers held at Studio 'M'.
An author of three works, Kathryn Winslow received an Associate Press Author of the Week award for her first release
Big Pan-Out (1951), and later became a best-seller biographer for
Henry Miller: A Full Life (1986). Her second book
Alaska Bound was published in 1960.
Kathyrn Winslow moved to Sonoma, California, in the mid 1970's to be near her son Berwick Johnson. She lived there until her
death in January 4, 1989.
Scope and Contents Note
The collection material is divided into outgoing and incoming correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, negatives, and printed
material, of which majority date to 1950-1960. Some of the series are further divided by topics derived from the original
filing titles.
Bulk of the correspondence consists of letters from Miriam Patchen to Kathryn Winslow relating news of the Patchens life in
Old Lyme, Connecticut, their move to San Francisco, and to Palo Alto, and both Patchens' illnesses and surgery. Included also
are six letters from Kenneth Patchen written in 1950's; carbon copies of outgoing mail from Winslow in regards to Patchen
benefit events at Studio 'M' held in 1950-1951.
Manuscript series consist of seven single manuscript pages that contain a collection of statements, poems, drawings, numerals,
and magazine cut-outs. Each page has its own 9"x12" folder, made out of various color construction paper, and with a Patchen
holograph on the cover.
Printed material consists of clippings, mailers, and other ephemera relating to three fund raiser events for Patchen held
in Chicago and New York in 1950-1951.
Photographs are arranged by size and consist of thirteen black and white photographs. Ten of the images were taken in November
of 1951 during Patchen's layover in Chicago when they paid a visit to Kathryn Winslow and Bill Mecham.
All negatives have been separated from the collection and transferred to the Negative Collection, Special Collections and
Archives.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Subjects
Winslow, Kathryn--Archives
Studio for Henry Miller (Chicago, Illinois)
Booksellers and bookselling--United States
Authors, American--20th century
Other Index Terms Related to this Collection
Patchen, Miriam
Patchen, Kenneth, 1911-1972. Kenneth Patchen archive
Related Material
The Kenneth Patchen Archive at UCSC includes the following related collections:
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 160
Title: Kenneth Patchen papers,
Date: 1929-1989
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 161
Title: Miriam Patchen papers,
Date: 1930-2000
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 163
Title: Kathryn Winslow collection,
Date: 1950-1988
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 164
Title: Alan and Beatrice Parker collection,
Date: 1922-1969
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 165
Title: James Boyer May correspondence,
Date: 1956-1972
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 166
Title: Kenneth Patchen Festival records,
Date: 1927-1991
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 167
Title: Chester Kessler papers,
Date: 1951-1952
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 168
Title: Fred Wright correspondence,
Date: 1972-1990
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 169
Title: Charles and Barbara Paine collection,
Date: 1957-1983
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 170
Title: William M. Roth correspondence,
Date: 1941-1965
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 172
Title: Peter Veres papers,
Date: 1973-1977
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 173
Title: "Kenneth Patchen: Hurrah for Anything" film production records,
Date: 1982
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 175
Title: William Plumley collection,
Date: 1942-1972
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 176
Title: Tom and Rita Bottoms collection,
Date: 1946-1958
-
Identifier/Call Number: MS 177
Title: Johnny Wittwer papers,
Date: 1959