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Guide to the San Francisco State College Poetry Center records, 1953-1961
BANC MSS 78/161 c
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Table of contents
Collection Title: San Francisco State College Poetry Center Records,
Date (inclusive): 1953-1961
Collection Number: BANC MSS 78/161 c
Creator:
San Francisco State College. Poetry Center
Extent:
Number of containers: 9 boxes and 1 oversize folder
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: 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.
Languages Represented:
English
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], San Francisco State College Poetry Center records, BANC MSS 78/161 c, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley.
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local poets and poets whose work was new and unpublished.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.
Mrs. Witt-Diamant served as director of the Center from its inception until her retirement in 1961, when James Schevill took
over her duties. Robert Duncan, closely associated with the Center from the beginning, was assistant director, 1956-57.
These records, purchased from Mrs. Witt-Diamant in 1978 with funds made available from the Chancellor's Opportunity Fund and
by the Friends of The Bancroft Library, relate to the period of her directorship. Some additions were purchased April 1980
from Ida G. Hodes. They are described in the Key to Arrangement below.