Robert D. Brotherson collection of the Activist group of poets and other materials BANC MSS 2008/111
Marjorie Bryer
The Bancroft Library
May 2023
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
bancref@library.berkeley.edu
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Robert D. Brotherson collection of the Activist group of poets and other materials
Creator:
Brotherson, Robert
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2008/111
Physical Description:
9.1 linear feet
(6 cartons, 4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): approximately 1912-2004
Abstract: Consists of correspondence, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, poems and publications from members of the Activist group of
poets; business correspondence and administrative records related to the publishers Woolmer/Brotherson Ltd.; correspondence
and personalia from Activist member and publisher Robert Brotherson; and materials related to Works: A Quarterly of Writing,
which Brotherson edited. Includes correspondence and/or writings from Stuart Friebert, Jean McGahey Hart, Lawrence Hart, Rosalie
Moore, Lois Moyles, Fred Ostrander, and Laurel Trivelpiece.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language of Material:
English
.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Accruals
No future additions are expected.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Robert D. Brotherson collection of the Activist group of poets and other materials was given to The Bancroft Library between
2008-2009 by J. Howard Woolmer, on behalf of Robert D. Brotherson.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternative forms of this collection.
Biography
The Activist group had its origins in classes taught by poet Lawrence Hart (1901-1996) in Oakland. Three "especially promising
young students" - Robert Horan, Jeanne McGahey, and Rosalie Moore - attended a class in 1937 and, under Hart's leadership,
they began to regard themselves as a group. The word "Activist" didn't have a political connotation. It was meant capture
their belief that poetry should be exciting, with every line active. The label first appeared in their 1946 publication, "Ideas
of Order in Experimental Poetry." Then W.H. Auden used it in his introduction to Moore's 1949 collection, "The Grasshopper
Man," and the label stuck. The prominent journal, Poetry, featured the Activists in a special issue in 1951, and in a special
half-issue feature in 1958. New writers joined the group in the fifties, including Robert Dale Brotherson, who co-edited the
magazine the Activists published from 1950-1955 (with Don Wobber). Hart and his colleagues openly criticized the Beats in
the San Francisco Chronicle. Hart "saw 1958 as the end point of the Modernist era in poetry," one that began with the publication
of Les Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire in 1858, and ended with the publication of Allen Ginsberg's Howl a century later. Subsequntly,
the popularity of the Activists was eclipsed by that of the Beats and other writers in the "San Francisco Renaissance." Hart,
however, continued to teach and attract new students. All told, he taught poetry in the Bay for 50 years. For more information
on Hart and the Activists, see:
https://lawrencehart.org/the-activist-poets/
Robert Dale Brotherson changed his last name from Botherson. His father, Robert Joseph Botherson, was a Canadian military
officer and participated in World Wars I and II. Nellie Keas, Brotherson's mother, was a silent film actress. J. Howard Woolmer
(1929-2023), Brotherson's publishing partner, was born in Montreal. He moved to New York City in 1958, and began a career
as a professional bookseller in the early 1960s. Woolmer also compiled bibliographies and collections of (among others) American
and Irish poets.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], The Robert D. Broterson collection of the Activist group of poets and other materials, BANC MSS
2008/111,The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
System of Arrangement
Arranged to the folder level
Processing Information
Processed by Marjorie Bryer in 2023.
Processing Information
The collection was stored in manila envelopes, and folder titles were transcribed from those envelopes. Materials were arranged
intellectually in alphabetical order, by name or type of material.
Related Collections
Robert D. Brotherson photograph collection (BANC PIC 2008.084)
Rosalie Moore photographed by Blake Davis (BANC PIC 2008.071)
Scope and Content Note
Correspondence, manuscripts (some final, some annotated), newspaper clippings, original copies of poems, and publications
from members of the Activist group of poets. Also contains business correspondence and administrative records related to Woolmer/Brotherson
Ltd., which published works by members of the group and other writers. There is also correspondence and personalia from Activist
member and publisher Robert Brotherson, and materials related to Works: A Quarterly of Writing, which he edited. Includes
correspondence and/or writings from Stuart Friebert, Jean McGahey Hart, Lawrence Hart, Rosalie Moore, Lois Moyles, Fred Ostrander,
and Laurel Trivelpiece.
Publication Rights
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Brotherson, Robert -- Archives.
Keas, Nellie
Moore, Rosalie, 1910-2001
Friebert, Stuart, 1931-
American poetry -- Women authors.
American poetry--20th century
Poets, American--20th century--California
Publishers and publishing
Hart, Jeanne McGahey
Hart, Lawrence
Moyles, Lois
Trivelpiece, Laurel
Carton 1, Folder 1-7
"A-B"
approximately 1959-1986
Scope and Contents
Jose Luis Aguerrebere letters; Art and Artists Magazine; Artaud's Elbow publications and correspondence, assorted and miscellaneous
letters; and botanical sketchs
Carton 5, Folder 1-5
"A-B"
1940-1978
Scope and Content Note
Assorted materials include various poem, letters, pamphlets, and newspaper clippings; poems from The Alternative Press; and
a complimentary issue of The Black Scholar
Box 1, Folder 1-8
Brotherson, Robert D. "Bob"
1912-1971
Scope and Content Note
Includes correspondence and personalia (amateur theater programs, baby books, and life memories). Correspondents includes
Nellie Keas (mother), Frank Mayes, Frank Uhl
Carton 5, Folder 6-8
Brotherson, Robert D. "Bob"
Scope and Content Note
Journal (1961) and works
Box 2, Folder 1-11
Brotherson, Robert D.
1944-2003
Scope and Content Note
Consists of personalia and manuscripts. Includes scrapbooks of junior college, early poems, miscellany, The Beaudelaire and
Duval Poems, Dan, Goldfish, How It Began, The Second Bed, and Sometime Never
Carton 1, Folder 8
Brotherson, Robert D. - Manuscript Drafts
Carton 1, Folder 9-22
"C-G"
approximately 1960-1984
Scope and Content Note
Includes Committee of Small Magazine Editors & Publishers (COSMEP) letters; Raymond Di Palma letters, Doons, and Macaroons;
ephemera ("hand-set on our Gorden Platen press - Woolmer/Brotherson, Ltd.); Lawrence Fixel letters; flyers and paste-ups [for]
Trivelpiece, Moore, and Ostrander; the Folger Library and Poetry Series; Stuart Friebert - correspondence, permission to reprint,
and Uncertain Health (manuscript and recycled poems); John Gill - New American & Canadian letters and announcements; and David
Glotzer poems.
Carton 5, Folder 9-12
"C-G"
approximately 1972-1978
Scope and Content Note
Includes Barbara Clark - poems; Andre Codrescu - Why I Can't Talk on the Telephone, photo; Stuart Friebert - uncorrected proofs;
and Marie Graybeal - poems in manuscript
Carton 1, Folder 23-26
Hart, Jeanne McGahey and Lawrence - Correspondence
1960-1980
Carton 2, Folder 1
Hart, Jeanne McGahey - Oregon Winter - Notes, Lectures, Drafts
1971-1972
Carton 5, Folder 13-17
Hart, Jeanne McGahey and Lawrence
approximately 1967-1972
Scope and Content Note
Includes Oregon Winter - paste-up, working manuscript, final manuscript, corrected proofs, Blues; and manuscripts on teaching
poetry to children/expermimental teaching at the College of Marin by Lawrence Hart
Carton 2, Folder 2-6
"H-M"
1960-1976
Scope and Content Note
Includes letters from John Hart (Jeanne McGahey Hart and Lawrence Hart's son); Roger Howard letters and announcements; Greg
Kuzman letters; and Anne Middleton letters, cards, etc.
Carton 5, Folder 18-20
"H-J"
approximately 1955-1976
Scope and Content Note
Includes John Hart - poem and letter; Jack Hopper - poems; and The Journals of Pierre Menard (with correspondence)
Carton 2, Folder 7-22
Moore, Rosalie - Letters
1965-1988
Carton 3, Folder 1-4
Moore, Rosalie - Letters
1982-1988
Box 3, Folder 1-7
Moore, Rosalie - Correspondence, Year of the Children (Copy & Review), Poems
approximately 1977-1984
Carton 5, Folder 21-25
Moore, Rosalie
approximately 1975-1977
Scope and Content Note
Includes Year of the Children - unused and first draft material, original copy and corrected proofs, and paste-up; and Einstein
and the Rest of Us - manuscript - poems by Moore, billie hobart, David Newby, and Kay Ryan
Carton 6, Folder 1-3
Moore, Rosalie
approximately 1978-1984
Scope and Content Note
Newspapers, the New Renaissance, and poems
Carton 6, Folder 4-11
Moyles, Lois
approximately 1969-2003
Scope and Content Note
Includes I Prophecy Survivors - original manuscript, revisions, and James Nichols drawings and correspondence; Beware of Jockies
typescript; poems; and Alleluia Chorus - original copy, working papers, and photo
Carton 4, Folder 1-3
Ostrander, Fred - Letters, Photo, The Hunchback and the Swan, Mechanical, and Set of Signatures
approximately 1977-1978
Carton 6, Folder 12-13
Ostrander, Fred - The Hunchback and the Swan
approximately 1977-1979
Carton 6, Folder 14-15
Pound, Omar S. - Pissle and the Holy Grail
Carton 4, Folder 4-9
"P-S"
1959-1977
Scope and Content Note
Includes Terry Patter - Je Suis Rimbaud; Philip Schultz letters; Roberta Shearer letters; Sierra Club trail calendar; Marie
Grey Beal Sparks letters; student letters
Carton 4, Folder 10-16
Trivelpiece, Laurel - Letters, Legless in Flight (Originals or Revised Poems/Poems Rejected from Manuscript), Photo
approximately 1979-1997
Scope and Content Note
Letters from Laurel Trivelpiece Shapiro date from 1993-1997
Carton 6, Folder 16-17
Trivelpiece, Laurel - Legless in Flight (Reprint Permissions, Original Copy, Corrected Proofs)
approximately 1977-1978
Carton 6, Folder 18
Woman Poet - Volume 1 - the West
1980
Carton 4, Folder 17-25
Woolmer/Brotherson Ltd. - Correspondence, Contracts and Copyright Releases
1970s-1980s
Box 4, Folder 1-2
Woolmer/Brotherson Ltd. - Contracts and Copyright Releases
1979
Box 4, Folder 3-7
Works: A Quarterly of Writing - Correspondence
1960s-1974
Scope and Content Note
Brotherson edited the magazine. Some of the correspondence was related to the small press issue (American)
Carton 6, Folder 19
Works: A Quarterly of Writing - Various
