George Oppen Letters
Finding aid prepared by Special Collections & Archives
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
858-534-2533
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Copyright 2005
Descriptive Summary
Title: George Oppen Letters
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0205
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
1.4 Linear feet
(4 archive boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1930-1982
Abstract: Research files compiled by Rachel Blau DuPlessis concerning American poet George Oppen, comprising photocopies of Oppen's
letters (1930-1982), copies of Oppen's FBI file, and miscellaneous correspondence between DuPlessis and others pertaining
to those Oppen materials. The results of DuPlessis's research were published in THE SELECTED LETTERS OF GEORGE OPPEN (1990).
The addition processed in 1993 consists of letters from George Oppen to Rachel Blau DuPlessis from August 1965 to April 1977.
Creator:
DuPlessis, Rachel Blau
Creator:
Oppen, George
Restrictions
Copies of Oppen letters in this collection that are identified as being held in the original elsewhere may not be photoduplicated.
Researchers wishing to quote from the unpublished Oppen letters in Series 3 are required to ask for permission from Rachel
Blau DuPlessis.
Scope and Content of Collection
Accession Processed in 1992
Primarily photocopies of the collected letters (1930 to 1982) of Objectivist American poet George Oppen, from which DuPlessis
edited and published THE SELCTED LETTERS OF GEORGE OPPEN (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1990). Also included is
a censored photocopy of Oppen's FBI file (1941 to 1966) acquired in 1988 through the Freedom of Information Act. Occasional
research notes dot the collection, and some of DuPlessis's inquiries regarding letters and the responses from correspondents
are also included.
Arranged in two series:1) CORRESPONDENCE and 2) FBI MATERIALS
Accession Processed in 1993
43 typed letters, 1 autograph letter, 1 telegram, and 1 invitation that George Oppen sent to Rachel Blau DuPlessis between
August 1965 and April 1977. Researchers wishing to quote from letters in this series are required to ask for permission from
Rachel Blau DuPlessis.
Arranged in one series: 1) LETTERS FROM G. OPPEN TO R. BLAU DUPLESSIS
Biography
An Oppen family friend for more than twenty years, Rachel Blau DuPlessis is Professor of English at Temple University. She
is also both a poet and literary critic. Among her publications are WRITING BEYOND THE ENDING: NARRATIVE STRATEGIES OF TWENTIETH-CENTURY
WOMEN'S WRITING (1985) and H.D.: THE CAREER OF THAT STRUGGLE (1986).
In 1980, George and Mary Oppen gave DuPlessis permission to collect, select and edit George's letters. The collected letters
were culled from holdings at numerous institutions and in private hands, including libraries at UC San Diego, Yale, Harvard,
AND SUNY-Buffalo.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Preferred Citation
George Oppen Letters, MSS 0205. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1991, 1993.
Use Restrictions
Copies of Oppen letters in this collection that are identified as being held in the original elsewhere may not be photoduplicated.
Researchers wishing to quote from the unpublished Oppen letters processed in 1993 are required to ask for permission from
Rachel Blau DuPlessis.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
DuPlessis, Rachel Blau
Oppen, George -- Correspondence
American poetry -- 20th century
Poets, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence
Accession Processed in 1992
GEORGE OPPEN CORRESPONDENCE
Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) CORRESPONDENCE: Letters, mainly photocopies, the bulk of which were originally written between 1963 and 1976, arranged
chronologically. Prominent correspondents include family members June Oppen Degnan and Linda Oppen Mourelatos; poets William
Bronk, Cid Gorman, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, David Ignatow, Robert Kelly, Denise Levertov, Ezra Pound, Charles Reznikoff,
Jerome Rothenberg, John Taggart, William Carlos Williams, Louis Zukofsky, and others; editors, publishers, and professors,
including John Crawford, L.S. Dembo, Milton Hindus, Eric Homberger, Hugh Kenner, David McAleavey. Oppen's letters detail his
life not only at the forefront of contemporary American poetry, but en famille. In them he reveals his love of conversation,
his coming to fame, his various public stances, his aesthetic opinions and positions, his participation in publishing. The
CORRESPONDENCE series also includes "Miscellaneous queries," which contain name and address lists of Oppen correspondents,
DuPlessis's letters of inquiry,and negative, but at times anecdotal, responses to her letters.
Box 3, Folder 11
Miscellaneous queries
1980 - 1989
Box 4, Folder 1
DuPlessis correspondence with CIA/FBI regarding Oppen's FBI file
1980 - 1989
General note
Correspondence with CIA and FBI regarding opening of G. Oppen's file.
Accession Processed in 1993
LETTERS FROM G. OPPEN TO R. BLAU DUPLESSIS
Box 4, Folder 4
Oppen to DuPlessis
1965 - 1966
Box 4, Folder 5
Oppen to DuPlessis
1966 - 1969
Box 4, Folder 6
Oppen to DuPlessis
1969 - 1977
