Guide to the Clayton Stafford Papers, 1911-1981

Processed by Special Collections staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Steven Mandeville-Gamble and Meri Rada
Department of Special Collections
Green Library
Stanford University Libraries
Stanford, CA 94305-6004
Phone: (650) 725-1022
Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
© 1997
The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.

Guide to the Clayton Stafford Papers, 1911-1981

Collection number: M434

Department of Special Collections and University Archives

Stanford University Libraries

Stanford, California

Contact Information

  • Department of Special Collections
  • Green Library
  • Stanford University Libraries
  • Stanford, CA 94305-6004
  • Phone: (650) 725-1022
  • Email: specialcollections@stanford.edu
  • URL: http://library.stanford.edu/spc
Processed by:
Special Collections staff
Date Completed:
n.d.
Encoded by:
Steven Mandeville-Gamble and Meri Rada
© 1997 The Board of Trustees of Stanford University. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Clayton Stafford Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1911-1981
Collection number: Special Collections M434
Creator: Stafford, Clayton
Extent: 1.25 linear ft.
Repository: Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.
Language: English.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions:

None.

Publication Rights:

Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.

Provenance:

Gift of Mrs. Clayton Stafford, 1985 and 1986.

Preferred Citation:

[Identification of item] Clayton Stafford Papers, M434, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.

BIOGRAPHY

Clayton I. Stafford was born September 17, 1903 in Albany, New York and died in June of 1981 in Los Altos, California. He studied engineering in college and, after a brief tour in the Navy in the 1920s, joined the Pacific Company in 1930. He served in WWII in the Army from 1942 to 1946 working on radio research and development. During his life Stafford lived mainly in the San Francisco area and was married three times to Jean Adams, Adelaide Fairbanks Ellsworth, and Ruth Homer . His last wife, Ruth, survived him, and is responsible for the selection and donation of the collection, as well as the many notes throughout.
Clayton Stafford is primarily remembered as a writer and poet from the 1950s and 1960s. He published several works in periodicals and a book of poetry, The Swan and the Eagle, in 1968 (collection includes TMS). He was a close friend and contemporary of such notable writers as Howard Baker, J.V. Cunningham, Janet Lewis, and Yvor Winters. The collection includes some of Stafford's correspondence, as well as works by these and other writers. Stafford was also an avid book collector, gardener, and researcher and kept many notebooks on these subjects, which are included in the collection. Stafford's autobiography, Fragments of an Autobiography, was published posthumously in 1983 (collection includes TMS).

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Poems, an unfinished novela, an autobiography, and notes by Clayton Stafford. Poems by and correspondence with Howard Baker, J.V. Cunningham, Barbara Gibbs, Francis Golffing, Janet Lewis, Henry Ramsey, Ann Stanford, and Yvor Winters.

 

Series I: works by Clayton Stafford

Box 1, Folder 1

"The Swan and the Eagle and other poems" TMS

Box 1, Folder 2

miscellaneous poetry, 1931-1981

Box 1, Folder 3

miscellaneous prose

Box 1, Folder 4

copy of original TMS of "Fragments of an Autobiography" with corrections

Box 1, Folder 5

TMS "Fragments of an Autobiography" copyright 1983

Box 1, Folder 6

earliest draft TMS "The Figurehead" with corrections

Box 1, Folder 7

middle draft TMS "The Figurehead" with corrections

Box 1, Folder 8

final draft TMS "The Figurehead" with corrections, abandoned 1937

Box 1, Folder 9

notes for "The Figurehead"

Box 1, Folder 10

TMS "The Pioneers," play adopted from novel by James Fenimore Cooper

Box 1, Folder 11

The Argonaut, (1930-1931), articles by Stafford

Box 1, Folder 12

The New Republic (1934), poetry by Stafford and colleagues

Box 1, Folder 13

miscellaneous notes

Box 1, Folder 14

translations by Stafford of other's poetry

 

Series II: personal ephemera of Clayton Stafford

Box 1, Folder 15

correspondence

Box 1, Folder 16

military service documents

Box 1, Folder 17

photos (1911-1945)

Box 2, Folder 1

photos (1941-1964)

Box 2, Folder 2

photos (1978-1979)

Box 2, Folder 3

"In Memoriam," memorial pamphlet on the death of Stafford, 6/23/81

Box 2, Folder 4

Neutra House, owned by Stafford (built 1939, Los Altos)

 

Series III: journals, notebooks, and lists

Box 2, Folder 5

journal (1942)

Box 2, Folder 6

class notes and notes on books (1957-1966)

Box 2, Folder 7

Garden Notebook (1950-1981)

Box 2, Folder 8

trip log, trip to England (1969)

Box 2, Folder 9

Stafford family genealogy study

Box 2, Folder 10

book lists of Staffords' library

Box 2, Folder 11

miscellaneous notebooks

Box 3, Folder 1

miscellaneous notes

 

Series IV: Ruth Stafford (Clayton's third wife)

Box 3, Folder 2

correspondence

Box 3, Folder 3

particular items & photos with notes from Ruth

 

Series: V: colleagues and friends of Clayton Stafford

Box 3, Folder 4

Ames, Van Meter (articles)

Box 3, Folder 5

Baker, Howard (poetry, correspondence, etc.)

Box 3, Folder 6

"The Gyroscope" by Howard Baker

Box 3, Folder 7

Cunningham, J.V. (poetry, etc.)

Box 3, Folder 8

McClelland, John Mill (memorial resolution)

Box 3, Folder 9

Ramsey, Henry (poetry)

Box 3, Folder 10

Winters, Yvor (poetry, notes, articles concerning Winters, etc.)

Box 3, Folder 11

The Southern Review, Yvor Winters Issue

Box 3, Folder 12

others' poetry

Box 3, Folder 13

others' prose

Box 3, Folder 14

others' articles