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William Stanley Braithwaite Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: JSP
Date: Oct 1964

Biographical History

William Stanley Braithwaite (1878-1962) was an African-American poet, literary critic, editor, and anthologist. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, he was for the most part educated at home, but his love of literature led him to his first job as an apprentice at the publishing firm of Ginn & Company. Over the course of his career he wrote numerous books of poetry and literary criticism, including Lyrics of Life and Love (1904), The House of Falling Leaves (1908), The Poetry of Thomas S. Jones Jr. (1910), The Story of the Great War (1919), Our Essayists and Critics of Today (1920), The Grecian Influence of John Myers O'Hara (1926), Frost on the Green Leaf (1928), and The Bewitched Parsonage: The Story of the Brontes (1950). Anthologies edited by Braithwaite include The Poetic Year for 1916 (1916), Golden Treasury of Magazine Verse (1918), The Book of Modern British Verse, Victory: Contributed by 38 American Poets, and Anthology of Massachusetts Poets (1922).

He served as literary editor of the Boston Evening Transcript, editor of The Poetry Journal in Boston, Massachusetts, executive editor for B. J. Brimmer Publishing Company, and editor of the annual Anthology of Magazine Verse and Year Book of American Poetry, published from 1913 to 1939. He was also Professor of Literature at Atlanta University for nearly ten years.

In 1918 Braithwaite received Honorary Masters degrees from Atlanta University and Talladega College, and the same year the NAACP awarded him its Spingarn Medal.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The William Stanley Braithwaite Papers is comprised of 3-1/2 boxes of literary correspondence and 3-1/2 boxes of manuscripts.

Correspondence contain more than a thousand letters, cards, telegrams and other items; correspondents include J. Donald Adams, Arna Bontemps, Witter Bynner, James Gould Cozzens, W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes, Joseph Joel Keith, Paul Scott Mowrer, Helen Channing Pollock, A.M. Sullivan, and many others.

Manuscripts contains numerous manuscripts of the author's works, outlines for projected works, and typescripts of work of many leading poets collected for the Braithwaite's famous anthologies.

Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name. Manuscripts are arranged ???

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.

Related Material

A large part of William Stanley Braithwaite's personal library is at Boston University.

Subject Headings

Persons

Adams, J. Donald (James Donald), 1891-1968.
Auslander, Joseph, 1897-1965.
Bardolph, Richard, 1915-2006.
Beebe, Lucius, 1902-1966.
Benét, Rosemary, 1900-1962.
Bligh, E. W.
Bonner, Amy.
Bontemps, Arna, 1902-1973.
Braithwaite, William Stanley, 1878-1962.
Bromfield, Louis, 1896-1956.
Brown, Sterling A., 1901-1989.
Buchman, Marion.
Bullock, Marie, 1911-1986.
Bynner, Witter, 1881-1968.
Canfield, Cass, 1897-1986.
Carman, Bliss, 1861-1929.
Carpenter, Margaret.
Cerf, Bennett, 1898-1971.
Chapin, Katherine Garrison, 1890-1977.
Clemens, Cyril, 1902-1999.
Code, Grant Hyde.
Cozzens, James Gould, 1903-1978.
Cullen, Countee, 1903-1946.
Dargan, Olive Tilford, 1869-1968.
Davidson, Gustav, 1895-1971.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963.
Eaton, Charles Edward, 1916-2006.
Engle, Paul, 1908-1991.
Farber, Norma.
Fenton, Charles A.
Flaccus, Kimball, 1911-1972.
Frost, Robert, 1874-1963.
Gerbaulet, Claire K.
Gerbaulet, Nina Joy.
Ginsberg, Louis, 1895-1976.
Gomme, George Laurence, 1853-1916.
Hagedorn, Hermann, 1882-1964.
Hanes, Leigh, 1893?-1967.
Hillyer, Robert, 1895-1961.
Holmes, John.
Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967.
Johnson, Georgia Douglas, 1886-1966.
Kantor, MacKinlay, 1904-1977.
Keith, Joseph Joel.
Kline, Burton, 1877-1958.
Lennon, Florence Becker.
Mays, Benjamin E. (Benjamin Elijah), 1894-1984.
McCord, David Thompson Watson, 1897-1997.
Moore, Marianne, 1887-1972.
Mowrer, Paul Scott, 1887-1971.
Peloubet, Maurice E.
Perkins, Maxwell E. (Maxwell Evarts), 1884-1947.
Perry, Bliss, 1860-1954.
Perry, Minerva.
Pollock, Helen, 1945-
Reid, Ira De Augustine, 1901-1968.
Roberts, Ruby Altizer.
Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976.
Schmuller, Angelo Aaron.
Schultz, Lulu Minerva.
Schuyler, George S. (George Samuel), 1895-1977.
Schwartz, Delmore, 1913-1966.
Siegel, Eli, 1902-1978.
Siegel, Jules.
Sissle, Noble, 1889-1975.
Smith, Chard Powers, 1894-1977.
Sokoloff, Vladimir, 1889-1962.
Spingarn, Arthur B.
Stuart, Jesse, 1906-1984.
Sullivan, A. M. (Aloysius Michael), 1896-1980.
Swenson, May.
Torrence, Ridgely, 1875-1950.
Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964.
Viereck, George Sylvester, 1884-1962.
Vinal, Harold, 1891-1965.
Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915.
Weaver, Robert C. (Robert Clifton), 1907-1997.
Wheelock, John Hall, 1886-1978.
Widdemer, Margaret.
Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963.
Wright, Roscoe.

Subjects

African American poets.
African Americans -- Biography.
American literature -- 20th century.
American literature -- African American authors.
American poetry -- 20th century.
American poetry -- African American authors.
Authors, American.
Poets, American -- 20th century.

Genres and Forms

Correspondence.
Manuscripts for publication.

Occupations

Authors.
Poets.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

William Stanley Braithwaite Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. William S. Braithwaite, 1964.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Manuscripts

Inventory