Randall W. Ackley Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2022
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Randall W. Ackley Papers
Creator:
Ackley, Randall
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0841
Physical Description:
.4 Linear feet
(1 archives box)
Date (inclusive): 1970-2001
Abstract: A very small selection of the papers of Randall Ackley, poet, scholar, professor of English at the University of Alaska-Juneau
and Yarmouk University in Irbid, Jordan. Ackley collected materials from key figures in Chicano and Indigenous poetry movements,
including Ricardo Sánchez, Simon Ortiz, and others.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Randall Ackley Papers contain a small selection of personal letters to Ackley from poets Ricardo Sánchez, Norman MacLeod,
Howard McCord and others; draft copies of written work by Ackley including poems and articles; as well as draft copies of
written work by a few key figures in American poetry, including Ricardo Sánchez, a seminal figure in Chicano poetry movement,
Simon Ortiz, the celebrated indigenous poet and writer of Acoma Pueblo heritage, and typescript poems by Charles Bukowski.
Biography
Randall William Ackley was born on August 9, 1931. He graduated magna cum laude with an A. B. in English from the University
of Minnesota in 1962, and earned his Doctoral degree in American Studies & Creative Writing from Union Graduate School in
Cincinnati, Ohio in 1974. His dissertation was titled "Southwest Native American Tellers, Singers, & Writers."
Ackley taught at several universities throughout the 1960s and 70s, primarily making his academic home at the University of
Alaska from 1977-1985 working in a variety of roles including Director of Arts & Sciences, Acting Dean of the Division of
Humanities, Director of Planning, and Associate Professor of English. He continued at Yarmouk University in Jordan, first
as a visiting Senior Fulbright Scholar from 1983-1985, then as a Visiting Associate Professor of English.
Ackley was also the statewide director of an original program for the rehabilitation of prison inmates through the study of
humanities, under the auspices of the University of Alaska.
In addition to teaching and academic work, Ackley wrote poetry and many articles on the subject of Native American and Chicano
culture and poetry. He was also the editor of Quetzal: A Journal of Native America from 1970-1973, and was the editor of Poetry
of Aztlan: A Southwest Renaissance, an anthology project with roots in the Southwest Poets' Conference in December, 1969.
Contributors included several prominent southwest poets including: Judson Crews, Norman MacLeod, Howard McCord, Simon Ortiz,
Ricardo Sánchez, among others.
Preferred Citation
Randall W. Ackley Papers. MSS 841. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2022
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American poetry -- Mexican American authors
Ackley, Randall -- Correspondence
McCord, Howard, 1932- -- Correspondence
Macleod, Norman, 1906-1985 -- Correspondence
Sánchez, Ricardo, 1941-1995 -- Correspondence
Ortiz, Simon J., 1941- -- Poetry
Bukowski, Charles -- Poetry
Box 1, Folder 28
Curriculum vitae and career review materials
1988
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence - Miscellaneous
1970-2001
General note
Includes photographs sent to Ackley of poets Arthur Gregor, Harry MacCormack, and Silvie Ortiz.
Box 1, Folder 2
Correspondence - Inada, Lawson Fusao
1976-1978
Box 1, Folder 3
Correspondence - MacLeod, Norman
1973-1978
Box 1, Folder 4
Correspondence - McCord, Howard
1978-1988
Box 1, Folder 5
Correspondence - Sánchez, Ricardo
1988-1989
Selected Writings by Ackley
Box 1, Folder 6
Does Their Fiction Allow an Understanding of Our Fiction? An Attempt to Create a Theory from Edelman, Berger, and Foucalt
Box 1, Folder 7
Here We Go Around the Mulberry Bush
1982 July 4
Box 1, Folder 8
A Holistic Approach to Communications, by Dennis Schneider and Randall Ackley
1977 February
Box 1, Folder 9
Leave 'Old Main' Unmolested; and Book Notes, contributions by Ackley published in Carolina Indian Voice
1972 April
Box 1, Folder 10
Native Americans and Other People
Box 1, Folder 11
The Navajo College Level Literacy Program: A Holistic Response to Language Development for the Outsider
1977
Box 1, Folder 12
Neutral Darwinism and an Approach to "Other" Cultures
Box 1, Folder 13
Neutral Darwinism and an Approach to Literature
ca. 1988
Box 1, Folder 14
Out of Sight #46, published occasionally by Out of Sight Library. Ackley was guest editor
1972 March 5
Box 1, Folder 16-17
Poetry of Aztlan: A Southwest Renaissance
Box 1, Folder 18
Proceedings: Juneau 2000, edited by Randall Ackley and Sheila Nickerson
1982
Box 1, Folder 19
The Song of Love and Death
Box 1, Folder 20
A Study of Crane's "Poem to Brooklyn Bridge" as a Unifying Force in The Bridge
Box 1, Folder 21
The Two Worlds of Tribal American Indian Literature
Box 1, Folder 22
Bukowski, Charles - Typescript copies of poetry sent to Ackely
1978
Box 1, Folder 23
Crews, Judson - This is a poem for Dolores Herrera and you
1972 April 18
Box 1, Folder 24
Dreams in the Wind, for Randall. Chapbook by unknown author
1977
Box 1, Folder 25
Ortiz, Simon J. - A Good Journey - A Collection of Poetry and Narratives, photocopy
ca. 1971
Box 1, Folder 26
Sánchez, Ricardo - Canto a la muerte y Grito a la vida, sonrío liberación
1974-1975
Box 1, Folder 27
Sánchez, Ricardo - On Being: Hacia la Liberacion Popular
1974
