Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	White, Robb, 1909-1990.
Title:	Robb White Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1932-1970
Quantity:	4.25 linear ft.
Abstract:	Correspondence, writings, and memorabilia pertaining to the American writer of screenplays, television scripts, and juvenile adventure novels
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Robb White (1909-1990) was an American television and screenplay writer. He also wrote juvenile nautical adventure novels.

White was born June 20, 1909 in the Philippines to Robb and Placidia (Bridges) White. He and his family – mother, father, brother, and two sisters – traveled for a much of his young life before settling in Thomasville, Georgia. He attended the US Naval Academy from 1927 to 1931 and served as an ensign in the Pacific Theater of World War II. In 1937 he married Rosalie Mason, with whom he settled first on Sea Cows Bay on the island of Tortola, then on the tiny island of Marina Cay, and had two children.

From the age of 13 White was determined to be a writer, and he worked very hard towards that goal. He attributed his success and skills to "rigid discipline," not innate talent. He wrote many articles and stories for The Saturday Evening Post, Reader's Digest, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, and Boys' Life, as well as the Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute. He wrote for television and film as well, and produced 24 novels total, all but one of which were juvenile fiction. His Deathwatch won several awards, including an Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery of the Year.

"White is on record saying that young people appreciate his work most. He attributed this to their good, decent and courageous nature, exactly the kind of people about whom he enjoyed writing. White confided to Something About the Author that he liked stories that dealt with ordinary people who survived in the face of terrible hardship ... White's work is typically hero-driven, a characteristic that emerges most clearly in Deathwatch, where the protagonist battles not only his human persecutor, but the impersonal harshness of the American desert ... "

[Sources: Robb White Papers, de Grummond Children's Literature Collection, University of Southern Mississippi; Something About the Author, volume 1: 225-226; "Robb White" author profile, Penguin Random House, retrieved 2023.]

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Robb White Papers contains correspondence, memorabilila, and writings.

Correspondence includes fan mail form young readers; personal corespondence; professional correspondence with John Ernst, White's editor at Doubleday and other publishers; and invitations to visit schools.

Memorabilia contains clippings of book reviews for White’s works, and extensive personal notes and materials relating to an anthropological expedition to the Middle East, sponsored by Harvard University's Peabody Museum. Items of note include White’s passport and a large marked map of the area where the expedition took place.

Writings contains drafts, worksheets, and galleys for several novels, script(s) for the television show Perry Mason, and short stories from very early in White's career.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence and memorabilia are arranged alphabetically by type of material. Writings are subdivided by type (books, script, short stories) and within that are arranged alphabetically by title. Within each title, material is arranged based on rough production order, e.g. early drafts first, galleys last.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Robb White Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Robb White, 1966-1970.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: MRC
Date: 24 Oct 2010
Revision history: 19 Apr 2023 - processed (RR)

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Inventory

	Correspondence
Box 1		Fan mail 1961-1970 (2 folders)
Box 1		Doubleday 1965-1970 - editor John Ernst (2 folders)
Box 1		Personal 1966-1970 - family, friends, business and sailing associates
Box 1		Publishers other than Doubleday 1965-1970
Box 1		School Invitations 1966-1970

	Memorabilia
Box 1		Clippings of book reviews
Box 1		Harvard University Peabody Museum anthropological expedition 1950 - Damascus, Tehran, Kirkuk, other locations; includes notes, letters, itinerary, annotated map, passport, etc.

	Writings
		Novels
			Meridian road - adult novel; evidently never published
Box 1				Manuscript, unfinished (2 folders)
			No man's land
Box 1				Rewrite - pp. 1-80
Box 2				Rewrite - pp. 81 to end (3 folders)
Box 2				Worksheets (5 folders)
			Silent ship, silent sea
Box 2				First draft (2 folders)
Box 3				First draft (cont.) (2 folders)
Box 3				Original manuscript worksheets (4 folders)
Box 3				First rewrite worksheets
Box 3				First rewrite corrections
Box 3				Final manuscript (4 folders)
Box 4				Manuscript as submitted (4 folders)
Box 10				Galley proofs
			Strangers
Box 4				Original manuscript (6 folders)
			Surrender
Box 5				First draft as submitted to Doubleday 1965 (4 folders)
Box 5				Original worksheets (8 folders)
Box 6				Original worksheets (2 folders)
Box 6				First major rewrite - includes editor correspondence (5 folders)
Box 6				First major rewrite worksheets (5 folders)
Box 7				First major rewrite worksheets (8 folders)
Box 7				Final draft (4 folders)
Box 10				Foundry proof (2 folders)
Box 10				Final galley proof
			The Survivor
Box 8				Final draft (4 folders)
		Scripts
			Scripts were originally donated in three packages. Several different titles appear in the three sets of material: "The Case of the Dandy Candy," "The Case of the Deadly Delicacy," "The Case of the Criminal Candy," and "The Case of the Candy Queen." It is impossible to tell whether these represent several different episodes, or are simply alternate titles for a single episode. For this reason, the material has been left in its original order, and with the donor's original envelope designations.
Box 8			Perry Mason Pkg #1 - first folder includes a writer's guide to Perry Mason, an explanatory note from the donor, correspondence with CBS (4 folders)
Box 8			Perry Mason Pkg #2 (4 folders)
Box 9			Perry Mason Pkg #2 [cont.]
Box 9			Perry Mason Pkg #3 - includes final shooting script, "blue sheets" (3 folders)
		Short stories
Box 9			A-N 1932, 1939, 1946-1947, 1950
				Stories are: A ocnflict is joined; High sky; The long way down; Midshipman Lee - Ghost; The moving mountain; Now is tomorrow
Box 9			S-W 1932, 1938-1940
				Stories are: The score; Trial by fire; Two Foot takes a cruise; Weak squad; The whirlpool

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