Primarily correspondence of Ruth Witt-Diamant, director, with poets participating in readings at the Center, together with program notes, publicity material, and biographical information submitted by the poets; papers regarding the history, organization and financing of the Center; appeals for support; lists of poets who read at the Center; reference file of poets' names; form letters for bookings, etc.

The Poetry Center was established at San Francisco State College in 1954, largely as the result of the persistent effort of faculty member Ruth Witt-Diamant. Its purpose was to integrate poetry with the cultural life of the city by bringing poets of national and international reputation to the west coast to read and discuss their work, and by presenting, also, well-known local poets and poets whose work was new and unpublished. The program began with a reading by Theodore Roethke on February 24, and the Center gained increasing support from both the academic community and the public at large. The list of poets appearing over the years is impressive, including W. H. Auden, Richard Eberhart, Langston Hughes, Stanley Kunitz, Stephen Spender, Marianne Moore, William Carlos Williams and Robert Lowell.

Number of containers: 9 boxes and 1 oversize folder

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.

Collection is open for research.