Olsen (Tillie) papers, circa 1890-1997

Summary

Title:

Tillie Olsen papers

Dates:

circa 1890-1997

Creators:

Olsen, Tillie

Abstract:

The collection includes personal and professional correspondence, literary manuscripts by American author Tillie Olsen and others, material on the Longshoremen's Strike and the Socialist Party from during the mid-1930s, teaching material and student work, clippings, pamphlets, book reviews, awards, etc. Accessions from 2009 including photographs have also been processed.

Extent:

162 Linear Feet (200 boxes)

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Tillie Olsen Papers. M0667. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Background

Biographical / historical:

Tillie Olsen was born in Nebraska in 1913 and has lived in San Francisco for most of her life. Her education was cut short by the Depression: she wrote and published when young, but the necessity of raising and supporting four children and full-time work prevented her from writing for twenty years. She was in her mid-forties before she began again. Tell Me A Riddle was originally published in 1962, and its title novella received the O. Henry Award as the best American story of 1961. In 1974, forty years after part of its chapter appeared in an early Partisan Review, her 'lost' novel, Yonnondio: From the Thirties, was published. Tillie Olsen has taught at Amherst College, Stanford University, was Writer-in-Residence at Massachustts Institute of Technology, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute. She has received both a Ford Foundation and National Endowment for the Arts grants, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and an Award for Distinguished Contribution to American Literature from the American Academy and the National Institute of Arts and Letters. Her first work of non-fiction, Silences, was published in 1979.

Acquisition information:

Purchased, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, and 2009.

Processing information:

A preliminary box-level survey for accessions 1995-135, 1995-130, 1998-192, 1998-242, 1998-353, 2003-315, 2009-041, and 2009-220 has been added to the finding aid as Series 15. This material was not arranged or processed.

Physical location:

Special Collections and University Archives materials are stored offsite and must be paged three business days in advance. For more information on paging collections, see the department's website: https://library.stanford.edu/libraries/special-collections.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:

American literature -- 20th century.
Longshoremen's Strike -- United States.

Names:

Radcliffe Institute.
Shameless Hussy Press.
Socialist Party (U.S.)
MacDowell Art Colony.
Murray, Michele.
Mumford, Lewis
Naiman, Adeline.
Myers, Margaret
Ng, Fae Myenne
Nason, Thelma Campbell.
Orr, Elaine Neil.
Miner, Valerie.
Seyersted, Per
Millet, Kate.
Minty, Judith
Green, Hannah
Moers, Ellen
Konecky, Edith
Moss, Rose
Morgan, Ellen.
Randall, Margaret, 1936-
Mirrielees, Edith Ronald, 1878-1962
Redman, Blanche.
Reeves, Nancy
Jong, Erica
Rich, Adrienne Cecile
Roemer, Michael
Rogers, Linda.
Rosen, Norma.
Ozick, Cynthia.
Paley, Grace.
Papanek, Hanna.
Park-Fuller, Linda Marguerite.
Phillips, Jayne Anne
Piercy, Marge
Polite, Frank.
Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890-1980
Appleton, Sarah.
Showalter, Elaine
Aberlin, Betty.
Shanahan, Thomazine.
Atwood, Margaret Eleanor
Barolini, Helen
Sternburg, Janet.
Ballantyne, Sheila.
Starkman, Elaine Markus.
Boucher, Sandy
Bingham, Sallie.
Smith, Alice.
Sarton, May
Boyle, Kay
Russ, Joanne.
Boyde, Blanche
Ruddick, Sally.
Brandon, Dolores.
Rosenfelt, Deborah Silverton.
Boynton, Grace.
Sexton, Anne
Brindel, June Rachuy.
Bridges, Harry
Schick, Carla.
Brown, Rosellen.
Saxton, Ruth.
Brodine, Karen.
Waterman, Ray.
Wilder, Annie.
Ward, Theadora.
Washington, Mary Helen.
Wright, Michael.
Wilson, J.J.
Wong, Nellie.
Sweeney, John.
Tanenhaus, Beverly.
Stone, Ruth.
Swan, Barbara.
Levertov, Denise, 1923-1997
Walker, Alice
Tovish, Margo.
Turow, Scott
Gilgun, John.
Gilbert, Celia
Gerson, Deborah.
Foley, Margaret.
Fisher, Elizabeth.
Ettinger, Elzbieta.
English, Dierdre.
Elman, Richard M.
Guérard, Albert J. (Albert Joseph), 1914-2000
Untermeyer, Louis
Grumbach, Doris.
Yalom, Marilyn
Griffin, Susan.
Greenberg, Joanne.
Zucker, Jack.
Gottlieb, Annie.
Yamada, Mitsuye.
Goldfarb, Sidney
Goedicke, Patricia.
Cooper, Jane
Cowley, Malcolm.
Coiner, Constance.
Conroy, Lynne.
Childress, Alice.
Cliff, Michelle.
Bryant, Dorothy
Cahill, Susan Neunzig.
Durham, Flora.
Earle, Ralph.
Duncan, Erika
DuPlessis, Rachel Blau.
Bacon, Ernst
De Ford, Miriam Allen
DeSalvo, Louise A.
Cumming, Patricia.
Scowcroft, Richard
Cuomo, Joe.
LeGuin, Ursula
Limmer, Ruth
Moffat, Mary Jane
Lewis, Janet
Kumin, Maxine, 1925-2014
Krapf, Norbert.
Lazreg, Marnia.
Lawrence, Margaret.
Meyer, Howard N.
Meehan, Maude.
Miller, Nolan
Meyer, Odette.
Mackenzie, Midge.
Malamud, Bernard.
MacShane, Frank.
Hopkins, Glen
Hughes, Mary Gray
Janows, Jill.
Hedges, Elaine.
Heffernan, Helen.
Henry, Dewitt.
Homley, Elaine.
Kizer, Carolyn.
Klepfisz, Irena
Kolodny, Annette
Kallet, Marilyn.
Kaye/Kantrowitz, Melanie.
Keeble, John
Kitrilakis, Thalia.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:

Processed by Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Steven Mandeville-Gamble. 2009 accessions processed by Tim Noakes.

Date Encoded:

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2026-05-22 10:52:50 -0700 .

Restrictions:

Open for research with the exception of Box 143.

Terms of access:

While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.

Preferred citation:

Tillie Olsen Papers. M0667. Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

Location of this collection:

Stanford University, Manuscripts Division

Department of Special Collections, Green Library

557 Escondido Mall

Stanford, CA 94305-6004, US

Contact:

(650) 725-1022

specialcollections@stanford.edu

Website