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Findind Aid to the Clair Hayden Bell Papers, 1905-1965
BANC MSS 72/157 c
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Collection Title: Clair Hayden Bell Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1905-1965
Collection Number: BANC MSS 72/157 c
Creator:
Bell, Clair Hayden, 1885-1967
Extent:
Number of containers: 2 boxes
Repository: The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please
consult the Library's online catalog.
Abstract: Correspondence relating to his career as professor of German, University of
California, Berkeley, and to his attempts to obtain research materials from post-war Germany; reprints
of his writings; reviews by him and of his work; photocopy of materials relating to Georg Hager.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English and German
Collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or
quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services. Permission for
publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not
intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the
reader.
[Identification of item], Clair Hayden Bell Papers, BANC MSS 72/157 c, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley.
Clair Hayden Bell's papers were given to the Library by Mrs. Bell on March 14, 1972.
Clair Hayden Bell, professor of German at the University of California at Berkeley, was born in
Lafayette, Indiana in 1885. He attended the University of California, graduating in 1908 with a major in
philosophy and German. He also acquired his M. L. at Berkeley in 1909 in philosophy, and began his
teaching career as a teaching assistant in 1909. From 1910 to 1913, he taught in the Los Angeles High
School, with the exception of one year, 1911-1912, which he spent as an exchange teacher at the Real
Gymnasium at Frankfurtam-Main, Germany. He returned to the University of California as an instructor in
1913, took time out for military service from 1917 to 1919, and acquired his doctorate in 1921. He
continued his professorial career in Berkeley until his retirement in 1955.
Professor Bell's work related in large part to the editing and publishing of medieval German texts of the
Minnesänger, particularly the life and works of Georg Hager, and also to the publication of
texts for the use of students learning German.
His Papers include correspondence, much of it relating to the acquisition of research materials in
post-war Germany, and reflecting the social and economic conditions there; mss of his writings; book
reviews by him and about his work; a bibliography of his writings; photocopies of Georg Hager materials;
and clippings, mainly relating to or by Bell.