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 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 14
translations by Stafford of other's poetry
Series II: personal ephemera of Clayton Stafford
Box 1, Folder 16
military service documents
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 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
Series IV: Ruth Stafford (Clayton's third wife)
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 10
Winters, Yvor (poetry, notes, articles concerning Winters, etc.)
Box 3, Folder 11
The Southern Review, Yvor Winters Issue