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Robb White Papers

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 24 Oct 2010

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.]

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.

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.

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.

Subject Headings

Persons

White, Robb, 1909-1990.

Corporate Bodies

Doubleday and Company, Inc.

Subjects

Adventure stories, English.
Authors, American.
Juvenile fiction.
Popular culture -- United States.
Screenwriters -- United States.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Juvenile fiction.

Places

Middle East -- Description and travel

Genres and Forms

Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Drafts (documents)
Galley proofs.
Manuscripts for publication.
Screenplays.

Occupations

Authors.

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.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Memorabilia

Writings

Inventory