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Samuel Hopkins Adams Collection

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: ---
Date: Jul 1967

Biographical History

Samuel Hopkins Adams (1871-1958) was an American author. He was born on January 26, 1871, the son of Myron and Hester Rose Hopkins Adams. After receiving his A.B. from Hamilton College in 1891, Samuel Hopkins Adams joined the staff of the New York Sun, moving in 1900 to McClure's magazine, where he became in succession, managing editor, advertising manager, and staff member in the heyday of Lincoln Steffens and Ida M. Tarbell. Eventually, Adams turned to freelance writing and became a highly successful and versatile writer of short stories (many appeared in the New Yorker), biography, and novels dealing with Americana. His most famous books are: Revelry, a story of the Harding administration which was banned in Washington and sold over 100,000 copies, 1926; A. Woollcott: His Life and His World, 1946; Banner by the Wayside, 1947; Plunder, 1948; Sunrise to Sunset, 1950; The Pony Express, 1950; The Santa Fe Trail, 1952; Canal Town, 1953; Grandfather Stories, 1955.

In 1926, Hamilton College awarded Adams an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. He died at the age of eighty-seven in Beaufort, South Carolina on November 15, 1958.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Samuel Hopkins Adams Collection consists of manuscripts and correspondence. Correspondence is predominantly incoming and outgoing business correspondence with agents and editors concerning Adams' literary works. Correspondents includes Brandt & Brandt; Horace B. Liveright of Boni and Liveright; Bennett Cerf and Saxe Commins of Random House; Thomas B. Costain of Doubleday, Doran & Company; Houghton Mifflin Company; Frank G. Slaughter; Merle Thorpe; Irita Van Doran; and Stewart Edward White.

Arrangement of the Collection

Writings are alphbetical by type and then by title. Correspondence is chronological.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced 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.

Subject Headings

Persons

Adams, Samuel Hopkins, 1871-1958.
Cerf, Bennett, 1898-1971.
Commins, Saxe.
Costain, Thomas B. (Thomas Bertram), 1885-1965.
Liveright, Horace Brisbin, 1886-1933.
Slaughter, Frank G. (Frank Gill), 1908-2001.
Thorpe, M. H. (Merle Harold), 1879-1955.
Van Doren, Irita Bradford.
White, Stewart Edward, 1873-1946.

Corporate Bodies

Boni & Liveright.
Brandt & Brandt.
Doubleday, Doran & Company.
Houghton Mifflin Company.
Random House (Firm)

Subjects

Authors and publishers.
Authors, American.
Journalists -- United States.
Novelists, American.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Correspondence.
Manuscripts for publication.
Photographs.

Occupations

Authors.
Journalists.
Novelists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Samuel Hopkins Adams Collection,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Photographs gift of Beatrice Champany, 1999.

Table of Contents

Manuscripts

Correspondence

Miscellaneous

Inventory