Beatrice Roethke Lushington papers, 1958-2009

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Roethke, Beatrice
Title
Beatrice Roethke Lushington papers
Dates
1958-2009 (inclusive)
Quantity
2.64 cubic feet (3 boxes)
Collection Number
4538 (Accession No. 4538-006)
Summary
Correspondence, clippings, poems, drafts of manuscripts, and other materials collected by Beatrice Roethke Lushington about her late husband, the poet Theodore Roethke, as well as other 20th century writers.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

No restrictions on access.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Beatrice Heath O’Connell Roethke Lushington was born in 1926 to Beatrice Heath O’Connell and Irvin O’Connell in Maryland. She was raised in Winchester, Virginia and attended Handley Elementary School. Beatrice attended Bennington College in 1947 where she met her then English instructor, Theodore Roethke. She graduated Bennington in 1947. In 1952, she reunited with Roethke in New York and later married on January 3, 1953. She moved to Seattle, where Roethke was an English professor and poet at the University of Washington. Beatrice taught French at a Bellevue high school. While living in Seattle, Beatrice met a fellow schoolteacher and friend, Jean Walkinshaw, who would later produce a documentary titled I Remember Theodore Roethke. Beatrice continued to live in Seattle until her husband’s untimely death in 1963. In 1972, she married a British schoolteacher, Stephen Lushington, and remained in England.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Contains personal and general correspondence concerning publications of her late husband’s writings, permission requests, royalty information, and expressions of sympathy. The collection also includes poems written by accomplished twentieth century poets, clippings, a drawing of Theodore Roethke, photographs of T. Roethke’s old acquiantances, printed material on T. Roethke, and drafts of manuscripts by poets and researchers.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Copyrights retained by creator. Contact University of Washington Libraries Special Collections for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Arranged in 3 series.

  • Series 1, Correspondence, 1936-2009
  • Series 2, Printed Materials, 1937-2009
  • Series 3, Pamphlets, 1963-1998

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Series 1:  Correspondence, 1936-2009Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
General Index of Correspondence
List of Letters
undated
1/2
Personal Correspondence
1958-1966
1/3
Poet's Correspondence
1966-1968
1/4
Auden, W.H.
1959-2000
1/5
Bagster-Collins, Mary
1958-1964
1/6
Bishop, Elizabeth
1964-1965
1/7
Bogan, Louise
1956-1963
1/8
British Broadcasting Corporation
1964-1967
1/9
Caedmon Records
1969-1979
1/10
Cunningham, Imogen
1965-1995
1/11
Davenport, John
1963-1966
1/12
Double Day & Company, Inc.
1962-1964
1/13
Double Day & Company, Inc.
1966-1969
1/14
Drachler, Jacob
1964-1965
1/15
Edelstein, J.M.
1964
1/16
Faber & Faber, LTD
1964-1967
1/17
Glozer, William
1964
1/18
Gosling, Veronica
1963-1964
1/19
Graves, Morris
1964
1/20
Hamburger, Michael
1964
1/21
Harper's Bazaar & Harper's Magazine
1963-1964
1/22
Heilman, Robert, & Ruth
1963-1979
1/23
Hellmsn, Lillian
1963-1964
1/24
Heringman, Bernard
1964
1/25
Humphries, Rolfe
1966-1995
1/26
Johnson, Judy
1964
1/27
Jones, Frank
1963-1964
1/28
Kizer, Ben and Carolyn
1963-1964
1/29
Kunitz, Stanley
"An Evening with Theodore Roethke"
1955-1963
1/30
Lawrence, Ruth
1963-1964
1/31
Library of Congress
Permission Request
1963-1965
1/32
Lowell, Robert "Cal"
1963
1/33
Marsanska, Ludmila
1964
1/34
Martin, Shorts, & Bever Associates
1936-1964
1/35
Matheson, William
University of Washington Libraries
1964
1/36
Matthews, Jackson, and Marthiel
1963-1985
1/37
Meliado, Mariolina
1963-1964
1/38
Mills, Ralph J.
1964-1970
1/39
Moore, Marianne
1958-1963
1/40
Murphy, Richard
1963-1964
1/41
New Statesmen
1964
1/42
O'Connell, Irvin
1963
1/43
Roethke, Beatrice
1963-1965
1/44
Royal Shakespeare Theatre Club
1963
1/45
San Francisco State College - The Poetry Center
1963-1964
1/46
Sargent, John
1957-1964
1/47
Sargent, Mary
"A Prince of Small Beginnings: Theodore Roethke," A.B. Honors Thesis
1964
1/48
Seager, Allan
1963-1964
1/49
Seager, Mary
1963
1/50
Seferis, George
1960-1963
1/51
Skelton, Robin
1963-1997
1/52
Smit, Leo
1956-1963
1/53
Smith, William, Jay, & Sonja
1962-2000
1/54
Spendor, Maro Gorky
1964
1/55
Spender, Stephen
1963-1964
1/56
Stokes, Katherine "Kitty"
1968-1987
1/57
Sund, Robert
1964
1/58
Tate, Allen, and Isabella Gardner
1963-1964
1/59
The Bloedell Foundation
1964-1966
1/60
The New Yorker Magazine
1963
1/61
The Observer
1963-1964
1/62
Theodore Roethke Memorial Fund
1963-1965
1/63
Wagoner, David
Includes Clippings
1963-1972
1/64
Walkinshaw, Jean
Photo of Jean Walkinshaw, her mother, and Theodore Roethke, dated 1953
1953-1969
1/65
Walsh, Chad
1963-1965
1/66
Warren, Robert Penn & Elizabeth C.
1965
1/67
Wehr, Wesley
Chapter on "Theodore Roethke in the Classroom"
1969
1/68
Weiss, Daniel
1965
1/69
Weiss, Daniel and Diane
Cards, Drawings
1964-2008
1/70
Wilbur, Richard & Charlee Ellen
1958-1963
1/71
Williams, Florence
1955-1963
1/72
Willis, Elizabeth Bailey
1963-1964
1/73
Wright, C. Bagley & James
1964-1965
1/74
University of Texas - The Texas Quarterly
1963
1/75
University of Washington Libraries
1964-1967
1/76
University of Washington Press
1966-1979
1/77
Valls, Carmen, and Aurelia
1955-1963
1/78
Sympathy Letters
1963
1/79
Sympathy Letters
1964
1/80
Sympathy Letters - Students
Includes Elegies and Poems
1963
1/81
Sympathy Letters - University of Washington Faculty
1963
1/82
Sympathy Cards from Flowers
1963
1/83
List of Condolences
1967
1/84
Greeting Cards - Christmas
1964
2/1
Ader, Richard
1966-1969
2/2
Ader, Richard
1980-2000
2/3
Alexander, Edward
19991-2009
2/4
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
n.d.
2/5
Bebrubaker, Elizabeth
1988-1999
2/6
Bebrubaker, Elizabeth
2000-2009
2/7
Blessing, Richard
1972-1978
2/8
Bowers, Neal
Article "Theodore Roethke Speaks"
1978-1983
2/9
Crotti & Garland Law Firm - Taxes
1977-1978
2/10
Dicky, William
Poems, Holiday Cards
1981-1994
2/11
Fitzpatrick, Richard and Leslie
Includes Audiotape, Play Script "Roethke and Me: Conjuring the Garden Master"
1981-2008
2/12
Frank, Elizabeth
Copy of a Chapter Draft on Louise Bogan
1983-1984
2/13
Goldman, Derrick, & Co.
1970-1072
2/14
Greenbaum, Wolff, & Ernst
1970-1971
2/15
Hall, Donald
Includes Two Poems
1966-1989
2/16
Hall, Donald
1997-2008
2/17
Heilman, Jonathan
1973-1978
2/18
Heilman, Robert
1992-2004
2/19
Myers, Jeffery
Contains Printed Material on Theodore Roethke
1981-1998
2/20
O'Connell, Beatrice Heath
1988-1989
2/21
O'Connell, Jr., Irvin
1988-1990
2/22
Patterson, Margaret
1979-1981
2/23
Recorded Poetry
1969-1972
2/24
Rental Property
1995-1997
2/25
Wagoner, David
Includes Script of a Play, Clippings, and Printed Material
2003-2007
2/26
Walkinshaw, Jean
1970-1979
2/27
Walkinshaw, Jean
1997-2007
2/28
Weiss, Dianne
1970-1977
2/29
Miscellaneous
Dolman Press, Hotel Roosevelt, Helen Bush School, Yale University Library, The Rockefeller Foundation
1962-1963
2/30
Miscellaneous
1964-1967
2/31
Permissions Requests
Includes Printed Material & Articles by Robert Kusch
1962-1988
2/32
Permissions Requests
1990-1999
2/33
Permissions Requests
2001-2006
2/34
Permissions Requests - Dissertations
Includes Requests from Alexander Hutchinson, Bernard Heringman
1969-1982

Series 2:  Printed Materials, 1937-2009Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3/1
Income Tax Returns
1956-1963
3/2
Copyrights
1958-1964
3/3
Royalty Statements - McGraw Hill Book Company
1976-1980
3/4
Manuscript Drafts "The Glass House" and "Manic Power"
undated
3/5
Theordore Roethke Materials
Printed Materials, Correspondence, Writings, Also Includes a Song Book
1937-2004
3/6
Theordore Roethke Typescript "The Rose"
1962
3/7
Theordore Roethke Letter to Beatrice
1954
3/8
Reviews on Theodore Roethke Writings
1986-2005
3/9
Theordore Roethke Memorials
1995-2002
3/10
Theordore Roethke's National Institute of Arts and Letters
1956
3/11
Clippings on Theordore Roethke
1985-1993
3/12
Clippings
1962-1998
3/13
Clippings - Obituaries
Obituaries of Poets, Writers, and Artists
1986-2008
3/14
Clippings of Poets
1985-2007
3/15
Clippings from British Newspapers
1986-1989
3/16
Invitations
Wedding, Bar Mitzvah
undated
3/17
Printed Materials
1980-1998
3/18
Funeral Programs
Poets and Writers
1991-2009
3/22
Theodore Roethke (Drawing by Robert White)
1953
3/23
Drawing by Beatrice Roethke Lusington
undated
3/24
Theodore Roethke's Photos of Old Girlfriends
Eleanor Holt, Mary Bagster-Collins
n.d

Series 3:  Pamphlets, 1963-1998Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3/19
Bennington College Class Reunion 1947
Includes Program Booklet and Registration Packet
1997
3/20
Pamphlets & Booklets
The Atlantic, The Layfayette Alumni Quarterly, "A Link Light" book of poems by Alexander Huchison
1963-1977
3/21
Pamphlets & Booklets
Twentieth Century American Poetry User Manuel
1998

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Personal Names

  • Auden, W. H. (Wystan Hugh), 1907-1973--Correspondence
  • Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979--Correspondence
  • Roethke, Beatrice--Archives
  • Roethke, Theodore, 1908-1963--Archives
  • Roethke, Theodore, 1908-1963--Death and burial

Corporate Names

  • British Broadcasting Corporation--Records and correspondence
  • Doubleday & Company, Inc--Records and correspondence
  • Faber and Faber--Records and correspondence
  • University of Washington. Libraries--Records and correspondence

Form or Genre Terms

  • Business correspondence
  • Ephemera
  • Manuscripts (documents)
  • Personal correspondence

Titles within the Collection

  • New Yorker

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Bloedel, Prentice, 1900-1996 (creator)
    • Bloedel, Virginia (creator)
    • Bogan, Louise, 1897-1970 (creator)
    • Brooks, Cleanth, 1906-1994 (creator)
    • Costigan, Giovanni, 1905- (creator)
    • Cunningham, Imogen, 1883-1976 (creator)
    • Davenport, John (creator)
    • Deutsch, Babette, 1895-1982 (creator)
    • Edelstein, J. M. (Jerome Melvin), 1924-1996 (creator)
    • Glozer, William (creator)
    • Humphries, Rolfe (creator)
    • Johnson, Judy (creator)
    • Jones, Frank W (creator)
    • Lawrence, Ruth (creator)
    • Matheson, William, 1927- (creator)
    • Meyers, Jeffrey (creator)
    • Miller, Karl (creator)
    • Mills, Ralph J (creator)
    • Moore, Douglas (creator)
    • Rorem, Ned, 1923- (creator)
    • Russell, Diarmuid,  -1973 (creator)
    • Sargent, John T (creator)
    • Seager, Allan, 1906-1968 (creator)
    • Skelton, Robin (creator)
    • Stokes, Katharine Martin, 1906-
    • Untermeyer, Louis, 1885-1977 (creator)
    • Wagoner, David (creator)
    • Warren, Elizabeth C (creator)
    • Warren, Robert Penn, 1905-1989 (creator)
    Corporate Names
    • Bloedel Reserve (Agency) (creator)
    • Poetry Center of the 92nd Street YM-YWHA (New York, N.Y.) (creator)

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)