Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Lewis, Oscar
- Abstract:
- The papers of Oscar Lewis including correspondence, manuscripts, galley proofs, photographs, clippings, articles, broadsides and other ephemera.
- Extent:
- 14 cartons, 1 box, 3 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders (16 linear feet)
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Oscar Lewis papers chronicle the career of one of the premient historians of California and the American West. They lend insight into the scope of Lewis' literary and historical interests and endeavors, his relationships with other writers and publishers, and his editorial process.
Highlights of the papers include original writings and annotated drafts of published works, as well as correpondence with such literary and artistic figures as Thomas Mann, Carl Van Doren, Mallette Dean and Gertrude Atherton, and the publishing house Alfred A. Knopf Inc. The collection contains a number of primary documents on topics that include the Central Pacific Railroad, entrepreneur Adolph Sutro and philanthropist Albert M. Bender. Included as well are galley proofs, photographs, clippings, articles, research materials, writings by other authors such as Helen Hunt Jackson and William Lewis, broadsides and other emphemera.
The collection spans the years 1859 to 1988 with the bulk concentrating on the years 1930 to 1965. It is divided into three series and two subseries: I. Correspondence, II. Writings (subseries I. Lewis, Oscar; subseries II. Other Authors) and III. Subject Files.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Oscar Lewis (1893-1992) was a historian and author whose work was defined by the literary, social and cultural history of the American West. Born in San Francisco to William F. Lewis and Anna Walter Lewis, and raised in the towns of Red Bluff and Sebastopol, Lewis briefly attended the University of California, Berkeley (1912) and subsequently dropped out to pursue writing professionally. During World War I, he served with an ambulance squad affiliated with the university, and remained in Europe after the Armistice to write. He emerged as a writer of note in the 1930s.
Initially publishing short stories in such magazines as Boy's Life, Lewis went on to write some of the most seminial books on the history and culture of California and San Francisco. Among these were Silver Kings, I Remember Christine, Bay Window Bohemia, A History of San Francisco and The Uncertain Journey. He is best known for his book The Big Four which chronicles the efforts of Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins and Charles Crocker to build the western portion of the first transcontinental railroad, the Central Pacific Railroad.
He was a member of the Bohemian Club and the Westerners, Secretary of the Book Club of California and served on the San Francisco Art Commission from 1944-1960.
- Acquisition information:
- The Oscar Lewis papers were given to the Bancroft Library by Oscar Lewis from 1978-1987. Additions were made by Addison E. and Rosalind Mooney in 1992, Jim Nance in 1992 and Tommy F. Angell in 2003.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481