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The William E. Stafford Archives, 1930-2012

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Stafford, William, 1914-1993
Title
The William E. Stafford Archives
Dates
1930-2012 (inclusive)
Quantity
130 linear feet (approx.)
Collection Number
OLPb037STA
Summary
William Stafford (1914-1993) was one of the most prolific and important American poets of the last half of the twentieth century. This collection includes all of Stafford's personal materials relating to his writing and teaching career.
Repository
Lewis & Clark College, Special Collections and Archives

Aubrey R. Watzek Library
615 S. Palatine Hill Rd.
Portland, OR
97219
Telephone: 5037687758
Fax: 5037687282
archives@lclark.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection has no restrictions and is open for research.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

William Stafford (1914-1993) was one of the most prolific and important American poets of the last half of the twentieth century. Among his many credentials, Stafford served as consultant in poetry at the Library of Congress, and received the National Book Award for his poetry collection Traveling through the Dark (1963). During his lifetime, Stafford wrote over sixty books of poetry that still resonate with both scholars and general readers. Stafford’s perspectives on peace, the environment, and education serve as some of the most articulate and engaging dialogues by a modern American writer about three of the most important issues of the second half of the twentieth century with lasting impacts on future generations. Howard Zinn, one America’s most iconic modern historians, was keenly aware of Stafford’s insight into modern American culture. Zinn claimed, “William Stafford’s prose and poetry, wise and eloquent, speak directly to the violence of our time, and to our hope for a different world” (from cover of Every War Has Two Losers).

The William Stafford Archives, donated to Lewis & Clark College by the Stafford family in 2008, contain the private papers, publications, photographs, recordings, and teaching materials of the poet William Stafford. The Lewis & Clark College Special Collections actively add to this collection by acquiring unique Stafford related materials.

Stafford wrote every day of his life from 1950 to 1993. These 20,000 pages of daily writings form a complete record of the poet’s mostly early morning meditations, including poem drafts, dream records, aphorisms, and other visits to the unconscious, recorded on separate sheets of yellow or white paper or when traveling, often in spiral-bound reporters’ steno pads. The archive also includes typescripts of poems submitted for publication and for use in readings. Stafford listed where he submitted each poem, and whether it was accepted for publication on the typescript. Each of his published collections, large and small, is represented by its gathering of documentary copies (typescripts), called by Stafford a “put-together.” Unpublished poems, poems published in journals, and reading copies of published poems were also gathered, in a virtually complete record from 1937 to 1993, totaling about 7,000 items. The collection also includes copies of all known Stafford books and translations. Stafford saved correspondence received, with an indication of the date of reply, and sometimes a copy of the reply, from the early 1960s to August 1993. Estimated at 100,000 sheets, the collected correspondence contains some full exchanges of correspondence initiated by WS. One such exchange is the correspondence with Marvin Bell on their sequence Segues. In addition to many photographs of and relating to William Stafford, the archive includes an estimated 20,000 photographs and negatives taken and developed by Stafford of fellow poets, family, friends, and Lewis & Clark College faculty. The archive provides documentation of Stafford's teaching career, including more than one thousand index cards, some dating from research at Iowa, others from later. These were much used in preparing for classes, workshops, and lectures. The files also contain scattered notes for workshops and lectures. The archive also includes course syllabi, and faculty documents relating to Stafford's teaching years at Lewis & Clark College.

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Content Description

The Stafford Archives includes personal manuscripts, typescripts, correspondence, photographic negatives and prints, audio and video recordings, publications, teaching materials, artifacts, calendars, and materials relating to Stafford's life as a pacifist.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish, exhibit, broadcast, or quote from materials in the Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections requires written permission of the Head of Archives & Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

The William Stafford Archives, Lewis & Clark College Aubrey Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections, Portland, Oregon.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 11 series: 1) Drafts; 2) Professional Engagements; 3) Correspondence; 4) Photographs; 5) Audio/Video; 6) Teaching Materials; 7) Ephemera; 8) Publications; 9) Pacifism Materials; 10) Artifacts; 11) Stafford Archives Administrative Files.

Location of Collection

Special Collections

Custodial History

Donated to Lewis & Clark College by the Estate of William Stafford.

Processing Note

Processing of this collection began in 1995, and is ongoing. The collection has been housed in acid-free enclosures, and arrangement details can be found with each series description.

Bibliography

The primary biography of William Stafford is Early Morning: Remembering My Father, William Stafford.St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 2002.

The best current bibliography of Stafford's writings can be found in William Stafford: A Bibliography. by James Pirie (Oak Knoll Press, 2013).

Related Materials

Lewis and Clark College Special Collections also owns the papers of some of Stafford's colleagues including Vi Gale, Vern Rutsala, and Paulann Petersen. The College also holds the following collections related to William Stafford: the Wixon/Markee Video collection featuring extensive footage of Stafford reading poetry; a Stafford Memorabilia collection assembled by Dorothy Stafford; a collection of correspondence between Kenneth Johnson and William Stafford; and a number of collections related to pacifism and World War II Civilian Public Service camps.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Pacifism--Poetry.
  • Pacifism--United States.
  • Poetry -- Authorship.
  • Poetry -- Study and teaching.
  • Poetry--20th century.
  • Poets, American--20th century.
  • World War, 1939-1945 -- Conscientious objectors -- United States.

Personal Names

  • Stafford, Dorothy
  • Stafford, William, 1914-1993--Archives

Corporate Names

  • Lewis & Clark College (Portland, Or.)

Geographical Names

  • Kansas.
  • Oregon.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Stafford, Kim (creator)

Special Collections Staff
2012

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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