Scope and Contents
The John Wesley Noble papers contains materials regarding the writing career of John Noble, including correspondence with publishers between the late 1940’s through the early 1970’s, manuscripts and numerous published and unpublished writings. The collection also contains co-written manuscripts, as well as a folder of miscellaneous papers, and a personal book.
The correspondence series contains a variety of both incoming and outgoing professional letters with publishers between 1948 and 1973. The material focuses largely on Noble’s work being accepted or declined by the publishing companies, and primarily consists of incoming correspondence with a few outgoing materials.
The manuscripts series contains numerous drafts of book manuscripts as well as a wide variety of smaller writings, such as essays and shorter works written for smaller publications. The manuscripts found in this collection include Nobles most prominent works such as Never Plead Guilty (1963) and I Want to Quit Winners (1961), which is written in conjunction with Harold S. Smith, Sr.
The Miscellaneous collection contains two folders, one of which contains ephemeral material, while the other houses the book In Search of My Brother by Carol Albright
Dates
- Creation: circa 1913-1945
Creator
- Noble, John Wesley (Person)
Language of Materials
Collection materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access note
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use note
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
Journalist and novelist, John Wesley Noble, was born in 1913 in Oregon City, Oregon. He resided for much of his adult life in Oakland, California after graduating from the University of California with a degree in History and International relations in 1937. Noble began his professional career as a reporter for the Oakland Tribune, (1935-1948) before moving into a fulltime freelance writing career. Noble maintained a strong focus on the outdoors and environmental conservation throughout his career, and wrote numerous non-fiction articles. These articles were published in many prominent publications, such as Field and Stream and Reader’s Digest. While working as a freelance journalist, Noble also wrote the novel Never Plead Guilty and worked on many other collaborative texts, such as Man the Manipulator and I Want to Quit Winners. Throughout his career, Noble guest lectured at numerous Western universities, junior colleges, and high schools, and conducted writing seminars throughout the Pacific Northwest. Noble was also the founding general manager of the California Writers Conference, as well as a member of the Society of Magazine Writers and the California Writers Club. Noble died in 1975.
Extent
7.5 linear feet (5 containers) : 5 record storage boxes
Abstract
The John Wesley Noble papers contains materials regarding the writing career of John Noble, Oregon born journalist and novelist. Materials include correspondence with publishers between the late 1940’s through the early 1970’s, manuscripts and numerous published and unpublished writings. The collection also contains co-written manuscripts, as well as a folder of miscellaneous papers, and a personal book.
Processing Information note
Collection was processed by staff in 2017.
- Title
- Guide to the John Wesley Noble collection
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by University of Oregon Libraries, Archivists' Toolkit Project Team
- Date
- 2010
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
