NTDMG218.xml Vardis Fisher Papers 1927-1974 Fisher (Vardis) Papers Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives ©1990 Encoded by ArchProteus2003 Finding aid is in English Overview of the Collection University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives MG218 Vardis Fisher, 1895-1968 Vardis Fisher Papers 1927-1974 1 cubic foot Correspondence of Vardis Fisher, chiefly with Francis Laney, concerning preparation of the manuscript for the Works Progress Administration's Idaho Encyclopedia, and with George Kellogg, primarily concerning Kellogg's bibliography of Fisher; also letters from Harry Schwartz to Milo Nelson concerning an article on Fisher, with draft and edited typescripts; transcripts of radio interviews of Fisher by Alan Swallow; and copies of articles by or about Fisher. English

Born in Annis, Idaho, March 31, 1895, Vardis Fisher was the son of Joseph and Temperance (Thornton) Fisher. He received his early education from his mother until he was ready for grade 5 or 6 and began attending Poplar elementary school. He attended the high school in Rigby, Idaho where he graduated in 1915. He received his A.B. from the University of Utah in 1920, then attended the University of Chicago where he received his M.A. in 1922 and his Ph.D in 1925.

He married his first wife, a childhood sweetheart Leona McMurtrey, on September 10, 1917. They had two children before she died in 1924. In 1928 he married Margaret Trusler with whom he had one child; they were divorced in 1939. In 1940 he married Opal Laurel Holmes, and lived with her in Hagerman, Idaho, until his death on July 9, 1968.

Following his graduation from the University of Chicago he taught English at University of Utah for several years, then at New York University where he became friendly with Thomas Wolfe. In 1931 he moved back to his father's ranch in Idaho in order to continue writing, and when in 1935 he was named director of the WPA writer's project in Idaho he moved to Boise.

Following his marriage to Opal Holmes in 1940 he built a home near Hagerman, Idaho, where he wrote his monumental Testament of Man series. He wrote novels, historical works, essays, and newspaper columns and was considered Idaho's most prominent and prolific author.

The material in this record group includes correspondence from Vardis Fisher to University of Idaho Professor Francis Laney concerning the Idaho Writer's Project, between Vardis Fisher and University of Idaho Humanities Librarian George Kellogg, and letters from Harry Schwartz to Kellogg's successor, Milo Nelson, concerning Schwartz's article on Fisher. There are also articles by and about Vardis Fisher.

The material in this group has been arranged in two series: correspondence and other materials and articles about and by Vardis Fisher.

The first group includes correspondence from Vardis Fisher to University of Idaho geology professor Francis Laney concerning articles to be used in the Idaho Writer's books, original letters to George Kellogg, Humanities librarian who was working on a bibliography of Fisher, and carbons of Kellogg's letters to Fisher, and letters to Milo Nelson from Harry Schwartz concerning his article on Fisher. Also included are transcripts of two interviews with Fisher, several articles about him and printed articles by him, which also include a typescript of a portion of his book Suicide or Murder. The final items in this series are an article about and an invitation to the film "Jeremiah Johnson" based on Fisher's novel Mountain Man.

The second series consists of photocopies of articles about and by Fisher. Those about him are arranged alphabetically by author, those by him are alphabetical by title. With the exception of "Postscript on Maturity" there is no duplication between series.

Related material may be found in Manuscript Group 57 George Kellogg Papers, and Manuscript Group 5320 Letters from Vardis Fisher to Harry Schwartz.

Schwartz manuscript: Dear Mr. Fisher/Dear Mr. Schwartz: A correspondence, The Bookmark 27 (Sept. 1974), 3-26.

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Idaho Literature Fisher, Vardis, 1895-1968 Nelson, Milo Laney, Francis Baker, 1875-1938 Kellogg, George Alexis, 1916-1970 Schwartz, Harry W. (Harry Warren) Swallow, Alan, 1915-1966 Federal Writers' Project (Idaho) Authors, American -- 20th century -- Correspondence Idaho -- Bio-bibliography -- Correspondence Resident of Hagerman, Idaho; novelist and director of Idaho Writers' Project for the Works Progress Administration Detailed Description of the Collection Series I. Correspondence and Other Materials 1935-1974 1/1 Correspondence from Vardis Fisher concerning Idaho Writer's Project 1935-1938 12 items 1/2 Correspondence from Vardis Fisher to George Kellogg 1960-1968 31 items 1/3 Correspondence from George Kellogg to Vardis Fisher 1960-1968 12 items 1/4 Correspondence between Harry Schwartz and Milo Nelson 1974 10 items 1/5 Interviews with Vardis Fisher ca. 1960-1961 2 items 1/6 Articles about Vardis Fisher 1939-1963 6 items 1/7 Articles by Vardis Fisher 1947-1962 7 items 1/8 Jeremiah Johnson: article and invitation 1972 2 items Series II. Articles 1927-1970 A. Articles about Vardis Fisher 1939-1970 1/9 Davis, David B. Children of God: an historian's evaluation. Western humanities review, winter 1953 1 item 1/10 Flora, Joseph M. Vardis Fisher and the Mormons. Dialogue: a journal of Mormon thought Autumn 1969 1 item 1/11 Flora, Joseph M. Vardis Fisher and Wallace Stegner: teacher and student. Western American Literature 1970 1 item 1/12 Kellogg, George A. First man of Idaho letters. Bookmark March 1961 1 item 1/13 Long, Louise. Children of God. [reviewed in] Southwest review October 1939 1 item B. Articles by Vardis Fisher 1927-1964 1/14 Antelope people. Antelope people: the North family. Voices March 1928, April 1929 1 item 1/15 Author's field day; a symposium on Marxist criticism. New masses July 3, 1934 1 item 1/16 Charivari. Rocky Mountain review 1939 1 item 1/17 An Essay for men. Esquire September 1936 1 item 1/18 Fifteen against death. Rocky Mountain review 1943 1 item 1/19 Hometown revisited; the Antelope Hills, Idaho. Tomorrow December 1949 1 item 1/20 Joe Burt's wife. Direction, Autumn 1934 1 item 1/21 A legend of red hair. Direction Spring 1937 1 item 1/22 The Mormons. Transatlantic May 1944 1 item 1/23 The Mothers. Omnibook November 1943 1 item 1/24 My experiences with Thomas Wolfe. Tomorrow April 1951 1 item 1/25 Novel writing is my trade. Tomorrow August 1950 1 item 1/26 Old Timers. Globe, intimate journal 1937 1 item 1/27 Overalls or trails. Globe, intimate journal February-March 1938 1 item 1/28 A Partnership with death. Rocky Mountain review 1942 1 item 1/29 Postscript on maturity. Inland Winter 1950 1 item 1/30 Sonnets to an imaginary Madonna. Voices December 1926/January 1927 1 item 1/31 Swift. Voices October 1927 1 item 1/32 Thomas Wolfe and Maxwell Perkins. Tomorrow July 1951 1 item 1/33 Western novel--a symposium: Vardis Fisher. South Dakota Review Autumn 1964. 1 item