Eshleman Family Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2005
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Business Number: 858-534-2533
Fax Number: 858-534-5950
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Eshleman Family Papers
Creator:
Eshelman family
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0177
Physical Description:
2.2 Linear feet
(5 archives boxes, 1 flat box)
Date (inclusive): 1890 - 1985
Abstract: Documents, covering the period 1890-1985, of the family of Clayton Eshleman, writer, editor and translator. Includes correspondence
between Clayton and his parents and between Clayton and his first wife Barbara; an extensive collection of family photographs;
the family's school, church and financial records; and scrapbooks from Clayton's childhood.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection documents the family background and early years of Clayton Eshleman, American post-war writer, editor, and
translator. The documents also shed light on the transition from the 1950s to the 1960s, a period in which Clayton Eshleman,
like many young Americans at the time, rejected the values and lifestyles of the previous generation, crossed former boundaries,
and, in doing so, helped to create a new American culture. This break would be essential to Eshleman's development as an artist,
and exploring the rupture would be a constant theme part of his later work as a translator of international poets and editor
of the influential journal SULFUR.
The Eshleman Family Papers document to some degree Clayton Eshleman's development as a writer. Several facets of the process
are reflected in the collection. The young Clayton Eshleman, seen in the SCRAPBOOKS (1940-57) compiled by his mother, is a
boy scout, newspaper carrier, church member, and football and track star. College papers, included in the series FAMILY RECORDS
- SCHOOL, show his developing interest in poetry. PHOTOGRAPHS and CORRESPONDENCE of the decade following his graduation from
college show his marriage to home-state university sweetheart Barbara Novak and an expressed belief in "commitment" to family
as well as to work. The collection contains one portrait of his second wife Caryl and another of his son Matthew as an adolescent,
but the papers in effect end with the dissolution of his first marriage and his abandonment of the values of his childhood.
Clayton's essay in CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS (included in the series FAMILY RECORDS - BIOGRAPHICAL) provides a written narrative
to these documents and reveals the importance that Clayton gave to his early years.
The Eshleman Family Papers are divided into seven series: 1) FAMILY RECORDS, 2) DIARIES AND NOTEBOOKS, 3) DRAWINGS, 4) SCRAPBOOKS,
5) PHOTOGRAPHS, 6) CORRESPONDENCE, and 7) EPHEMERA.
Biography
Clayton Eshleman, reknowned poet, translator, and editor, was born June 1, 1935, in Indianapolis, Indiana, the only child
of Gladys and Ira Eshleman. His childhood was spent in Indianapolis,and he attended the University of Indiana. After graduating
from the university, he travelled to Mexico, Central and South America, and Japan.
During his early years, Eshleman was a musician, boy scout, and football star. He first majored in Music at Indiana University
but eventually changed his program to Philosophy, earning a degree in that field in 1958. In 1961 he received a Master of
Arts for Teachers from Indiana University, married Barbara Novak, and had his first book of poetry, MEXICO AND NORTH, published.
Eshleman spent the next three years in Japan, teaching and studying. In 1965 the Eshlemans moved to Lima, Peru, where their
son Matthew was born in 1966. That same year, the family moved to New York City, and soon after, Eshleman separated from his
wife and child.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Preferred Citation
Eshleman Family Papers, MSS 177. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1994.
Access
Three original scrapbooks are restricted because of their fragile condition. Researchers may use the photocopy scrapbooks
provided in FB-004 as substitutes.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographic prints -- 20th century
Diaries -- 20th century
Photographic prints -- 19th century
American poetry -- 20th century
Portrait photographs -- 20th century
Eshelman family -- Archives
Eshleman, Clayton -- Archives
FAMILY RECORDS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) FAMILY RECORDS: Divided into five subseries: 1A) Biographical, 1B) Financial, 1C) Medical, 1D) Church, and 1E) School.
The Biographical subseries contains a family memoir of Clayton's grandfather Joseph Eshleman and Clayton's essay in the CONTEMPORARY
AUTHORS AUTOBIOGRAPHY SERIES. The Financial subseries contains Clayton's father Ira's extensive records of family income and
expenditures, organized by decade, as well as receipts from Clayton's childhood financial endeavors. The Medical Records contain
Clayton's birth certificate and recent doctor's notes. The Church Records include Clayton's baptism record, degrees from Vacation
Bible School, and the family's church membership. The School records include Ira Eshleman's 1914 application to Purdue University
and Clayton's elementary report cards, high school and university diplomas, and college papers on literary subjects.
Box 1, Folder 1
Short Sketch of the Life of Joseph Eshleman, Jr.
Box 1, Folder 2
Clayton Eshleman - "Indiana Avenue"
General note
Autobiographical article
Oversize FB-004, Folder 4
Eshelman family reunion news item (1901) and family photographs
ca. 1900, and 1935
Box 1, Folder 4
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1944
Box 1, Folder 6
Clayton Eshleman
1935 - 1957
Box 1, Folder 7
Joseph Eshleman
1904 - 1926
Box 1, Folder 8
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1923 - 1945
Box 1, Folder 8
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1923 - 1945
Box 1, Folder 9
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1931 - 1938
Box 1, Folder 10
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1939 - 1948
Box 1, Folder 11
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1949 - 1958
Box 1, Folder 12
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1959 - 1969
Box 2, Folder 1
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1970
Box 2, Folder 2
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1941 - 1967
Box 2, Folder 3
Ira Clayton Eshleman -- Miscellaneous Receipts
Box 2, Folder 5
Clayton Eshleman
1935 - 1984
Box 2, Folder 6
Ira Clayton Eshleman
1914
Box 2, Folder 7
Clayton Eshleman
1939 - 1953
Box 2, Folder 8
Clayton Eshleman
1945 - 1955
Box 2, Folder 9
Clayton Eshleman
1951 - 1952
DIARIES AND NOTEBOOKS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 2) DIARIES AND NOTEBOOKS: Contains diaries kept by Clayton's mother Gladys during her pregnancy with Clayton; a few
pages of notes by Clayton while in Houston, Texas, and Mexico; and his father's records from the slaughterhouse where he worked.
Box 3, Folder 1
Ira Clayon Eshleman
1941 - 1964
Box 3, Folder 2
Gladys Eshleman
1935, 1946
Box 3, Folder 3
Clayton Eshleman
1940, 1947-1950
DRAWINGS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 3) DRAWINGS: Contains cartoons made by Clayton as a child.
SCRAPBOOKS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 4) SCRAPBOOKS: Include three large memento books kept by Clayton's mother from his early childhood through high school.
They include cards received and sent by Clayton, drawings, Boy Scout records, football and band notices, and photographs.
Oversize FB-004, Folder 1
Scrapbook 1
General note
Original restricted due to fragility of materials. This item is a user copy.
Oversize FB-004, Folder 2
Scrapbook 2
General note
Original restricted due to fragility of materials. This item is a user copy.
Oversize FB-004, Folder 3
Scrapbook 3
General note
Original restricted due to fragility of materials. This item is a user copy.
PHOTOGRAPHS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 5) PHOTOGRAPHS: Extensively documents the middle-class life of Clayton and his parents during the period 1920-1950,
as well as the late-nineteenth century, rural, midwestern lives of his grandparents. One tintype is contained in the series
(Box 4, folder 4); a second tintype is cross-referenced to the photograph archive in Box 1, folder 11.
Box 3, Folder 6
Eshleman Family Photo Album
1890 - 1910
Box 3, Folder 7-11
Eshleman Family Photo Album
1915 - 1922
Oversize FB-004, Folder 5
Eshleman Family Photo Album
1917 - 1923
Box 4, Folder 1
Eshleman Family Photo Album
1917 - 1936
Box 4, Folder 2
Eshleman Family Photo Album
1940 - 1949
Box 4, Folder 3
Eshleman Family Photo Album
1940 - 1949
Box 4, Folder 4-5
Eshleman Family
1890 - 1910
Box 4, Folder 6-7
Eshleman Family
1910 - 1930
Box 5, Folder 1
Eshleman Family
1930 - 1950
Box 5, Folder 2-3
Eshleman Family
1950 - 1970
Box 5, Folder 4
Eshleman Family
1970 - 1985
CORRESPONDENCE
Scope and Content of Series
Series 6) CORRESPONDENCE: Largely comprised of letters written during the early 1960s when Clayton was first away from Indiana
for long periods of time. It also includes a 1918 employment letter to Clayton's father, a telegram from Clayton in Lima,
Peru, to his parents announcing the birth of his son Matthew, and a telegram from Clayton in Florida to his mother reporting
that he had been robbed "in a Cuban hotel" and asking her to wire money soon.
Box 5, Folder 7
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Eshleman to Glady and Ira Eshleman (Clayton's parents)
1940
Box 5, Folder 8
Employment Letter to Ira Clayton Eshleman (Clayton's father)
1918
Box 5, Folder 9
Ira Clayton Eshleman to Clayton Eshleman
1955
Box 5, Folder 10
Gladys Eshleman to Clayton Eshleman
Box 5, Folder 11
Miscellaneous Cards to Gladys Eshleman
Box 5, Folder 12
Clayton Eshleman to Ira Clayton Eshleman
1944
Box 5, Folder 13
Clayton Eshleman to Gladys Eshleman
Box 5, Folder 14
Clayton Eshleman to Gladys and Ira Clayton Eshleman
Box 5, Folder 15
Clayton Eshleman -- Miscellaneous
Box 5, Folder 16
Barbara Novak (Clayton's first wife) to Gladys Eshleman
1961
Box 5, Folder 17
Barbara Novak to Clayton Eshleman
1962
Box 5, Folder 18
Address Books -- Gladys Eshleman
Box 5, Folder 19
Address Books -- Clayton Eshleman
Box 5, Folder 20
Address Books -- Clayton Eshleman
EPHEMERA
Scope and Content of Series
Series 7) EPHEMERA: Includes personal items such as a stained Mexican newspaper, a napkin from Clayton and Barbara's marriage,
and Clayton's numerology chart.
Box 5, Folder 22
Sheet music and miscellaneous materials
