Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
David Lovett Papers, 1920-2006
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Lovett, David
- Title
- David Lovett Papers
- Dates
- 1920-2006 (inclusive)19202006
1930-1950 (bulk)19301950 - Quantity
- 0.4 linear feet, (1 box)
- Collection Number
- WCMss.039
- Summary
- David Lovett was a Whitman College English professor in the 1930s. This collection includes his literary manuscripts, correspondence, and other personal papers.
- Repository
-
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Whitman College and Northwest Archives
Penrose Library, Room 130
345 Boyer Avenue
Walla Walla, WA
99362
Telephone: 5095275922
Fax: 5095264785
archives@whitman.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
David Lovett was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 5, 1907, into a working-class Jewish family. He attended public schools and was the first in his family to attend college. He graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with a bachelor's degree in 1927 and a PhD in English in 1932.
In his mid twenties, Lovett began suffering from an illness that was later diagnosed as Parkinson's disease. Despite his failing health, Lovett pursued his academic vocation and joined the Whitman College English faculty in 1936. When he arrived in Walla Walla, Lovett was surprised to discover that he was the only Jew among the faculty and students. Nevertheless, Lovett thrived and immensely enjoyed his time at Whitman.
After two years, due to declining health, Lovett left Whitman and returned east. He was not able to work regularly and became a resident of the Levindale Hebrew Home and Infirmary, where in 1947 he started a literary periodical, "The Voice of Levindale." Lovett died in January 1950.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The David Lovett Papers include Lovett's unpublished literary manuscripts, his published dissertation and the first two issues of "The Voice of Levindale", photographs, correspondence, newspaper clippings, student's recollections of Lovett, and a booklet titled "The David Lovett Collection," with an introductory biographical essay by David Kairys.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Container(s) | Description | Dates | |
---|---|---|---|
Box | Folder | ||
1 | 1 | "Shakespeare's Characters in Eighteenth-Century Criticism" (PhD dissertation, Johns Hopkins) | 1935 |
1 | 2 | Photographs | circa 1920-1948 |
1 | 3 | Correspondence | 1936-1943 |
1 | 4 | Poem | Undated |
1 | 5 | Prose compositions | Undated |
1 | 6 | Manuscript: "Remnant" | Undated |
1 | 7 | Program from "Is Zat So?" | Undated |
1 | 8 | Officers and members of the Tudor and Stuart Club | 1938 |
1 | 9 | "The Voice of Levendale" 1:1 | Undated |
1 | 10 | "The Voice of Levendale" 1:2 | 1947 |
1 | 11 | Newspaper clippings and obituaries | Undated |
1 | 12 | Remembrances of Whitman students and others | Undated |
1 | 13 | David Lovett Collection, compiled by David Kairys | 2006 |
1 | 14 | Inventory of David Lovett's library | 2006 |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Corporate Names
- Whitman College