Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

Nicholas Delbanco (1942-), came to the University of Michigan in 1985, from Bennington College and Skidmore College, and has served as Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing and as Robert Frost Collegiate Professor of English Language and Literature.He has also served both as Director and Chair of the Avery Hopwood and Jule Hopwood Awards Program. He has published over twenty-four books (novels, short stories, non-fiction, and textbooks), as well as many essays, reviews, and articles, and edited selected works of his friends and mentors, John Gardner and Bernard Malamud. The Nicholas Delbanco Papers includes correspondence, manuscripts, personal materials, professional records, and clippings. The correspondence is a rich collection of personal and professional letters exchanged over many years with fellow authors, publishers, and literary agents. Several manuscripts in various stages are also included.

The Nicholas Delbanco Papers were acquired by the Special Collections Library, University of Michigan, in September, 2006. Five boxes were added in November, 2009. The papers span over 40 years and include a particularly rich collection of correspondence with nearly 800 authors, educators, family members, and friends. Well known authors include, among others, John Updike, John Gardner, Joyce Carol Oates, Annie Dillard, and Raymond Carver. The correspondence traces the growth of friendships and professional relationships over many years. Other materials demonstrate the development and publication of Delbanco's manuscripts, articles, commentaries, speeches, and other writings as well as his professional careers at Bennington College and the University of Michigan. Delbanco's dedication to his students and the advancement of literature are demonstrated in his professional records, the depth of comments offered on student writings, and his active participation in associations and workshops. Personal materials include correspondence with family members, educational records, photographs, and journals from his early years.

The Nicholas Delbanco Papers are divided into six series: Name and Topical, Writings, Personal, Professional, Computer Disks, and Clippings. Books and serial publications have been separated from the collection to be catalogued individually.

The Name and Topical series contains 10 linear feet, Boxes 1-10, of mainly correspondence with fellow authors, academians, literary agents, and publishers. Topics relevant to the collection, such as university and organizational correspondence or special events are also included. Relevant photographs, clippings, ephemera, manuscripts are generally kept with related names and topics although there may be overlap in the Writings Series, especially when Delbanco and his fellow authors reviewed each other's work. The series is arranged alphabetically, and chronologically within. Incoming and outgoing correspondence are not separated. Each name or topic is given a folder as long as there are at least three letters of correspondence or if the person is of significant status. Names or topics that do not meet these minimum requirements are filed by letter in the alphabet, but are not arranged alphabetically nor chronologically within. The correspondence within these folders spans the years of the collection. There are also several folders that have unidentified correspondence in them because signatures are illegible or incomplete. Identified but undated material are generally placed in the back of related folders.

The largest segments of this series include correspondence with Frederick Busch, John Updike, Jon Manchip White, Andrea Barrett, Alan Cheuse, Richard Elman, Jim Landis, and publishers such as Brandt & Brandt, Warner Books, and Paul R. Reynolds, Inc. Although Jim Landis represented William Morrow as Delbanco's editor, the importance of his friendship with Delbanco appears greater than the business relationship; because of the depth of this friendship, the correspondence is arranged under Landis' name. Correspondence with John Gardner includes correspondence before Gardner's death and then with Gardner's family after his death in 1988, after which Delbanco was assigned to be his literary executor. Other notable correspondents include, among many others, Carly Simon, Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, George Garrett, and Wallace Stegner. Any photographs of correspondents or photographs of Delbanco by the correspondents that were originally with letters remain with those letters. Delbanco initially formed many of these friendships and professional relationships in college, graduate school, as a professor at Bennington College, and through writing workshops and conferences at Yaddo, Bennington, and Bread Loaf.

The Writings series is approximately 29 linear feet, Boxes 11-40, and encompasses many but not all of Delbanco's published writings. The series contains six subseries: Fiction, Short Stories, Nonfiction, Editorial Works, Other, and Writings by Others. Titles are arranged chronologically within the Fiction, Short Stories, Nonfiction,and Editorial Works subseries. Each title may contain a variety of formats which are noted – manuscripts, corrigendas, page proofs, typescripts, mock ups, galleys, penultimates, and unbound signatures, etc. These are arranged chronologically and often are titled as such by Delbanco in his notes. Correspondence that relates directly with manuscript materials that were originally with these manuscript materials, remains in this series, while there may be complementary information in Name & Topical.

The bulk of the material in the Fiction subseries, approximately 14 linear feet, is from The Martlet's Tale, News, Fathering, Small Rain, What Remains, and The Vagabonds. It is evident in the collection that some manuscripts were written under a variety of titles before the final decision was made as to the what the published title would be. Every attempt has been made to distinguish and attach these to the final product. One example is Fathering, which was written during the creative process under titles such as "Plague Year", "Times Fool", and "Leave Taking", before settling on the final title.

The Short Stories subseries contains approximately 1 linear foot of materials, Box 25, tracing development of About My Table and four folders, mainly reviews, on The Writer's Trade, and Other Stories. Individual short stories may be found in the Other subseries.

The Nonfiction subseries, Boxes 26-35 with additional materials in oversize Boxes 45-48 and 50, contains material primarily from Beaux Arts Trio, and two textbooks, The Sincerest Form: Writing Fiction by Imitation, and Literature: Craft and Voice. The Beaux Arts Trio was inspired by Delbanco's father-in law, Bernard Greenhouse, a cellist for the original trio.

The Sincerest Form: Writing Fiction by Imitation, a teaching textbook, was a project undertaken with students from Delbanco's English 417 and Strategies in Prose classes. Materials for this textbook include student critiques, opinions, and exercises for the purpose of learning the basics of writing fiction through imitation, "to encourage the students to develop a much more careful and critical eye when reading" (Instructor's Manual, Box 31), and at an advanced level, "to develop what they learn in class into serious critical essays" (Instructor's Manual, Box 31). Student papers, their releases for usage, and Delbanco's comments in response to their writings are included with these materials.

Literature: Craft and Voice is a three volume textbook written in collaboration with Alan Cheuse, covering works of fiction, poetry, and drama by various masters and commentaries on them. The textbook includes "nonfiction accounts of the process of composition (memoirs by playwrights, letters by poets, essays by short story writers, etc.) in which the authors discuss the problems posed and artistic challenges met." (Prospectus, 2003, Box 33).

The Editorial Works subseries contains approximately 1 linear foot, Box 35, of materials for which Delbanco served as editor. These include works by John Gardner, a colleague at Bennington College, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1982, at the age of 55. Delbanco was a great admirer and good friend of Gardner and his family. There are only a few materials relating to Stillness and Shadows, but there is overlapping information and also correspondence in Name and Topical (Gardner, John), reflecting Delbanco's and Gardner's relationship and the trust held by Gardner's family for Delbanco's handling of Gardner's unfinished manuscripts.

In materials relating to Talking Horse: Bernard Malamud on Life and Work, which was a collaboration with Alan Cheuse, there are correspondence, drafts, and an introduction by Delbanco regarding published and unpublished prose by Bernard Malamud. Malamud was Delbanco's mentor at Bennington College; other materials demonstrating Delbanco's and Malamud's relationship are contained in Name & Topical.

The Other subseries, approximately 4 linear feet, Boxes 35-39 and oversize Box 50, contains a variety of materials such as essays, short stories, commentaries for a WUOM radio program with Alan Cheuse, early writings from the late 1950s and early 1960s, articles for various magazines and newspapers such as Travel Holiday and Harper's, reviews on Delbanco's writings, reviews by Delbanco, and unidentified writings. Autobiographical and biographical materials are also located here as well as interviews with, Kurt Delbanco, Bernard Greenhouse, and Amy Tan. This subseries contains some materials for which it is undetermined whether publication occurred.

The Manuscripts by Others subseries, 1 linear foot of materials, in Box 40, contains writings by Robert Boyers, an article by Thomas and Andrew Delbanco (brothers of Nicholas), Jim Landis (friend and editor at William Morrow), and Stewart O'Nan, fellow author. These writings were submitted to Delbanco for his professional review; the reviews are included here.

The Personal series encompasses 1.5 linear feet of a variety of materials, Boxes 40-41, that pertain to Delbanco's childhood, education, and family. There is correspondence with his brothers, mother, father, uncle, and grandmother; also, marriage telegrams, birthday cards, and get well cards addressing his hospital stay and surgical procedure due to heart problems in 2003. Materials collected while at Fieldston, Harvard University, and Columbia University include correspondence, yearbooks, publications, ephemera, and writings. There are limited marriage, financial, and selective service records. Fifteen folders contain photographs of family, friends, travel, and professional portraits. A diary and handwritten journals contain notes and writings dated 1958 through 1966, with some undated material also. In oversize Box 50, inside Sketchbook #2, is a story written and signed by Delbanco as a very young child.

The Professional series contains 3.5 linear feet of material, Boxes 42-45, divided into subseries: Bennington College, Skidmore College, University of Michigan, Associations and Workshops, and Ephemera.

The Bennington College and Skidmore College subseries' include mainly class notes, professional correspondence relating to his academic positions, clippings, and thoughtful, detailed reviews of student work by Delbanco.

The University of Michigan subseries includes class notes, professional correspondence relating to Delbanco's academic status, clippings, lecture notes, certificates of awards and honorary degrees, and over 40 folders containing Delbanco's commentaries on student works, both at undergraduate and graduate levels. Comments on students' works provided by Delbanco are referred to as "comments"; year end evaluations of classes by students are referred to as "class evaluations". Some students are Hopwood Awards winners. There is commentary in this subseries between Delbanco and Elizabeth Kostova regarding her work for the MFA Program and debut novel, The Historian, which won an award for best Novel in Progress through the Hopwood Awards Program, and went on to be purchased for 2 million dollars by Little Brown and Company in 2004.(See Fiction, Comments, 2002.) Also included are speeches and correspondence regarding the Hopwood Awards Program.

The Associations and Workshops subseries contains correspondence, applications, meeting and agenda documents, ephemera, judging and recommendations notes and documents, and fellowship and grant awards information. Bennington Summer Writing Workshops (with photographs), Bread Loaf Writer's Conferences, Pen/Faulkner, the National Book Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the NY Writers Institute are highlighted.

The Ephemera subseries contains flyers and pamphlets that relate to Delbanco's appearances, readings, and publications. There are also catalogues of trade publications and in oversize Box 50, 6 posters.

The Computer Disks series contains unidentified 3.5" and 5.25" floppy disks.

The Clippings series is arranged by decade and contains articles and reviews written about and by Delbanco from the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Ann Arbor News, etc. Reviews and articles can be found with related subjects as well throughout the collection in related files.

The Tom Hayden Papers largely consist of materials generated while Hayden was in the California State Assembly and Senate during the 1980s and 1990s as well as the research he conducted for many of his books.

FBI Files: The FBI files are files Hayden petitioned to be released through the Freedom of Information Act in the 1970s. The bound documents are not in strict chronological order with many dates overlapping, since many of the documents are reports from various field offices from different parts of the U.S. reporting to central headquarters in Washington D.C. Different types of source materials such as photocopies of newsletters, newspapers clippings, pamphlets or any other relevant information are attached to some reports. Some pages are redacted in the reports and not all files are complete with pages missing. Some pages are marked by Tom Hayden with Post-It notes and other notes possibly used for his writings.

Files of interest include a transcript of Hayden’s testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in Washington, D.C. in regard to the Chicago riots during the Democratic National Convention in December 1968. Other documents of interest include reports on Tom Hayden’s first trip to Vietnam in 1965, and transcripts of phone calls between Hayden and Black Panther members during 1969-1971.

The FBI indexes contain a list of document numbers or pages generated in relation to Tom Hayden, a brief description of the document, a description of deletions made or information withheld from documents, exemptions to the deletions and cross references to other pages. The indexes do not match or list all the pages found in the archive. Referral documents means information or specific pages sent to other field offices or agencies such as the CIA.

In the Counter Intelligence Program and New Left folders the FBI the documents were generated either from headquarters (Washington D.C.) or different field offices. COINTELPRO and New Left locations are from different field offices throughout the US, and from Japan and Puerto Rico. The documents show the FBI’s monitoring and infiltrating of colleges and student organizations and their publications, activities and whereabouts. Included in the reports are examples of student publications and copies of articles in these publications and correspondence on how to counteract student organizations and their political activities from 1968-1971.

In the Jane Fonda FBI section, the Reports and Reactions folders contains reports from agents in regard to the Jane Fonda anti-Vietnam war FTA tour/show ( seen under various names such as Free Theater Associates or Free the Army and also the Peace Tour), which later became part of a larger peace tour in locations such as Okinawa, Japan and Manila, Philippines. Documents include reports of itineraries and names of people involved in the tour. Also included is correspondence received by the FBI from the public expressing negative reactions to Jane Fonda's FTA show and comments she made in public captured by the press.

The Freedom of Information Act folders include requests submitted by Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda’s lawyers for any government documents with information pertaining to them in the FBI, CIA, U.S. Department of Justice or NSA files. Subsequently, a lawsuit was filed in 1976 after certain documents were withheld by the CIA. Correspondence between their lawyers, Ira M. Lowe and Martin Echter and various government agencies can be found as well as correspondence addressing both Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda since they filed FOIA requests jointly. Any correspondence or law documents referring to both Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda have been filed under Tom Hayden and any documents referring only to Jane Fonda are in the Jane Fonda FBI section. Cases such as Joan C Baez v. U.S. Department of Justice and other cases are included.

1960s-1970s: The Writings folders contain articles written by Hayden in the 1960s-1970s. This is not a comprehensive list of all his articles written during this time period. The majority of the articles are not originals or drafts but photocopies.

The Notebooks section contains spiral bound notebooks of various sizes Hayden used to jot down notes, ideas, outlines for articles and meeting notes. Some of the notebooks outline his trips to North Vietnam. The notebooks are organized according to identifying information on each notebook such as year or location of when the notebook was initially used. Many of the notebooks include various loose sheets of paper or items such as stamps or business cards folded into the notebook. These items have been included in the same folder.

The Students for a Democratic Society section contains bulletins, reports, newsletters and publications under SDS from 1961-1964 and some undated documents. The Indochina Peace Project section has a selection of publications by the organization from 1972-1975 and some undated material.

Personal: The personal section reflects Hayden’s childhood, family, and interests. The files in this section include ancestry information, Royal Oak Dondero High School materials, University of Michigan materials, family greeting cards, and baseball clippings and photographs. The largest file in the Personal section includes ancestry reports Hayden had conducted in 1986 outlining and researching his family history and heritage.

Political Career: The Political Career section is organized according to year and type of campaign. In 1976 Hayden ran for U.S. Senate against John V. Tunney in the Democratic primary. He lost the Senate campaign, but later won the 44th State Assembly seat for the Santa Monica area in 1982. He later went on to serve 18 years in the California assembly and senate. Hayden served five terms in the California State Assembly from 1982-1992 and two terms in the California State Senate from 1992-2000. In 1997, he ran for Mayor of Los Angeles against Republican Richard Riordan and lost. In 2000, he considered a bid for the 42nd California State Assembly District Campaign, but reconsidered and instead ran unsuccessfully for City Council in Los Angeles. He also served as California’s first energy official.

As part of the California State Assembly, he served as Chair of the Assembly Subcommittee on Higher Education and Chair of the Assembly Committee on Labor. As part of the California State Senate, he served as Chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee and member of the Senate Committee on Education, the Senate Budget Committee on Natural Resources and the Joint Committee for Review of the Master Plan.

The correspondence folders contain letters sent to Jane Fonda in regard to Hayden’s campaign which she supported through various fundraisers and campaigning. Also included are "thank you" notes addressed to Tom Hayden and a folder on business cards.The general correspondence section has various letters from constituents and from his political networks throughout the United States. Highlights include correspondence with Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter. Each campaign has a folder labelled propaganda which refers to campaign propaganda such as flyers, pamphlets and mailers used for each campaign.

Of note is the Campaign for Economic Democracy folders, an independent political movement started by Tom Hayden that led the way in progressive issues such as environmental protections, solar energy and renters rights. CED led the campaign for Proposition 65 in 1986 requiring labels on cancer causing products.

The press clippings sections includes clippings Hayden and his staff were reading or collecting during each campaign to research and measure public opinion.

Legislation: This section is divided into general correspondence, budgets, press releases and different types of bills. The Education, Environment and the the Metropolitan Transportation Authority(MTA) sections are three areas in which the archive has the most documents in which Hayden actively researched, authored or co-authored bills. The Senate and Assembly bills folders are legislation that Hayden authored or co-authored while in the Assembly and Senate. The folders are arranged alphabetically according to topic and some single subject folders contain several bills for that one topic. At the end of the alphabetical section the bills are organized by year.

Education: The education section contains correspondence, bills and drafts, and clippings about California’s education system. The higher education section focuses on the University of California and California State University systems as well as independent and community colleges. Admissions contains information about affirmative action across California’s higher education institutions as well as accusations of favoritism at UCLA. Other notable topics include governance, the cost of higher education and legislation aimed at making college more affordable, and the enrollment crisis, which documents how California’s higher education system struggled to handle an increase in the college-aged population. K-12 contains information about the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Notable topics include the potential breakup of LAUSD into multiple districts as well as the Equal Opportunity to Succeed initiative. Information on Toxic Schools and the Belmont Learning Center can be found in the environment section of legislation.

Environment: The environment section contains correspondence, clippings, bills, booklets, and notes about environmental legislation in Califorinia. One of the major issues Hayden tackled in the 1990s was toxic schools, which demonstates his concern for both the environment and education. Materials are arranged by theme, and the themes are then organized alphabetically. The six boxes are comprised of smaller bills that are arranged alphabetically. While there are no subheadings on the folders, materials within boxes are futher grouped by format, and the clippings and correspondence are in chronological order. There are materials in both English and Spanish.

MTA: These files contain information of multiple bills associated with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). The files contain correspondence, general information, bill information, and clippings regarding MTA legislation. The files are organized by date with undated materials at the end of each section.

Publications: The Publications folders contain correspondence, drafts, book tour schedules and reviews of Hayden’s books. This section is not a comprehensive listing of all of Hayden’s book publications or articles. He contributed to a variety of newspapers and journals from 1980-2000 (please see the 1960s-1970s section for writings from that decade).

In the articles section folder sections are organized alphabetically according to topic and another group of folders are organized by year. These folders and their headings are topics created by Hayden and his staff for reference files much like the name and topical files.

International Interests: This section includes other countries Hayden was involved with or interested in besides Vietnam. Hayden’s Vietnam War activism can be found in the 1960s-1970s section.

One of the largest sections, Ireland, includes correspondence, clippings, and notebooks of notes he took while on several trips to Ireland. Please refer to the Publication section to see a section on his writings about Ireland as well.

The El Salvador section contains general information on El Salvador as well as folders on the Alexander Sanchez case. Alexander Sanchez is an ex-gang member from Los Angeles with ties to El Salvador and accused of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder. Charges against him were dismissed. Documents in this section include court documents, court transcripts and notes on the case.

Name and Topical Files: These files contain Hayden’s reference files for people and topics around the world. Several of the topics in this section were later referenced in his writing and legislation. Included in these files are newspaper clippings, reports, and correspondence. Notable topics are President Bill Clinton correspondence and Chicago 7 Trial newspaper clippings. Particularly well documented topics include Kosovo, Corcoran State Prison, and salmon protection.

Los Angeles Name and Topical Files: These files contain Hayden's reference files for people and topics in the Los Angeles area. Files include newspaper clippings, reports, and brief correspondence on people, administrative bodies and various topics relevant to LA. The construction of new buildings in the LA area is particularly well-documented, including especially sports stadiums and arenas such as the Coliseum. Other topics that receive substantial coverage include earthquakes, water policy and the riots and subsequent Rebuild LA effort following the Rodney King police brutality incident.

Photographs: The photographs contain Hayden's family photos and trips and pictures with various political figures including Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, John Kerry and Jerry Brown. Many of the pictures depict Hayden's involvement in social justice and environmentalist movements including his participation with Students for a Democratic Society and trips to Ireland and Vietnam. The unidentified folders contain more pictures of political events and protests between the 1960s and 1980s. Clippings: The clippings include articles from 1965 to 2009 that document Hayden's political career, literary pursuits,personal life, and interests. Many of the clippings contend with themes such as reflections on his time as a radical activist, political campaigns, environmentalism, and the MTA strike. There are also articles that pertain to general news events. Several of the clippings are in Spanish and one is in Japanese.