Scope and Contents
The collection consists of correspondence, diaries, literary manuscript material, an autobiography, idea notebook, published newspaper pieces, photographs, and the personal correspondence, diary and manuscripts of Elizabeth Pennell, nee Horton.
Pennell's diary contains repeated references to the toil associated with creative work. It is written from 1932-1937 and has three later entries, 1946, 1948, and 1951.
Correspondence include sixty five letters from Pennell to Elizabeth Horton (Pennell), 1945, and 304 letters received. Major correspondents are: Jean Benedict (1941-1942, 18 letters) Luada Boswell (1941-1943, 40 letters) Martha Gellhorn (1931, 1936, 23 letters); Marian Ives (1945-1951, 20 letters); and the publisher of Rome Hanks Maxwell Perkins (1943-1946, 61 letters).
Book manuscripts include unpublished chapters of The History of Rome Hanks, the originals of Nora Beckham and The History of Thomas Wagnal. Also available are manuscripts of two other novels, a holograph science fiction novel titled Atmen, and an autobiography, not completed. Other manuscripts include thirty five short stories and essays.
There are also poetry manuscripts and a notebook of ideas. The notebook contains a wide range of potential subjects, character possibilities, scraps of description, dialogue, and pertinent historical information.
The papers of Elizabeth Pennell, nee Horton, include her diary, 1927-1928, when she was enjoying life in Paris and North Africa, letters to Claude Kent (1927-1928) and George Reese (1933-1934), and letters from Ramsay Brown (1933-1938). Her manuscripts include Bali notes and other Bali subjects, college themes, and other topics.
There is a file of Pennell family miscellany.
Graphic materials include a photograph album of Elizabeth Pennell's, and photographs by Joseph Judd Pennell of Junction City, Kansas and Fort Riley, 1897-1925.
Dates
- 1924-1961
Creator
- Pennell, Joseph Stanley, 1903-1963 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
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
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
Joseph S. Pennell (1903-1963), novelist and short story writer, was born in Junction City, Kansas and educated at the University of Kansas and Oxford. He was a newspaper reporter and teacher.
His first novel, The History of Rome Hanks and Kindred Matters (1944) was a book "based on the author’s recollections from his own Kansas family as well as his reading of more than 1,000 Civil War books and the 128 volumes of the Official Records, Pennell depicted in Rome Hanks the lives of ordinary soldiers with gripping realism."
Pennell’s second novel, The History of Nora Beckham: A Museum of Home Life (1948), continued his family’s Kansas saga, focusing on the life of Pennell’s mother. A projected third volume, entitled The History of Thomas Wagnal, apparently further continued the family’s Kansas saga and exists in manuscript, and is part of the Pennel collection.
He married Elizabeth Horton in St. Louis in 1945. After she died from an overdose of sleeping pills in 1949, he married her sister, Virginia Horton, who survived him. He had no children.
In 1947, Pennell moved to Oregon and he published one more book, Darksome House, a collection of his poems, in 1959. He lived in Oregon for sixteen years until his death, at the age of 60, in 1963.
Source: Biography Reference Center website: http://web.ebscohost.com/brc/detail?sid=0393e300-942e-4578-8e76-a9b345aa9a22%40sessionmgr110&vid=6&hid=104&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=b6h&AN=35194877
Extent
6 linear feet (4 containers) : 4 record storage boxes
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Joseph S. Pennell (1903-1963), novelist and short story writer, is most known for his book on the Civil War, The History of Rome Hanks and Kindred Matters, where he "depicted the lives of ordinary soldiers with gripping realism." The collection consists of correspondence, diaries, literary manuscript material, an autobiography, idea notebook, published newspaper pieces, photographs, and the personal correspondence, diary and manuscripts of Elizabeth (nee Horton) Pennell.
Arrangement
Material within this collection is minimally arranged. Any arrangement is either derived from the records' creators or custodians or from staff at the time of initial processing. It may be necessary to look in multiple places for the same types of materials.
Processing Information
Collection processed by staff.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
This collection received a basic level of processing including minimal organization and rehousing.
Description information is drawn in part from information supplied with the collection and initial surveys of the contents. Folder titles are based on those created by the creators or previous custodians. Titles have not all been verified against the contents of the folders. In some cases, staff supplied folder titles during initial processing.
- Authors, American -- 20th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Authors, American -- Kansas Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Authors, American -- Oregon Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Autobiographies Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Correspondence Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Diaries Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Historical fiction Subject Source: Local sources
- Historical fiction, American -- Authorship Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Kansas -- Fiction Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Kansas -- Photographs Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Literature Subject Source: Archiveswest
- Manuscripts for publication Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Pennell, Elizabeth Horton, -1949
- Pennell, Elizabeth Horton, -1949
- Pennell, Elizabeth Horton, -1949
- Pennell, Joseph Stanley, 1903-1963
- Pennell, Joseph Stanley, 1903-1963
- Pennell, Joseph Stanley, 1903-1963
- Photographs Subject Source: Art & Architecture Thesaurus
- Title
- Guide to the Joseph Stanley Pennell Papers
- Status
- Complete Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by University of Oregon Libraries, Archivists' Toolkit Project Team and Tanya Parlet.
- Date
- 2012
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for production of this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
