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Rare Book & Manuscript Library |
Summary InformationAbstract
At a Glance
ArrangementArrangementSelected items cataloged; remainder arranged.
DescriptionScope and ContentThe collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, and printed ephemera related to Thomas Parkinson and his involvement in the San Francisco Renaissance literary scene.
Using the CollectionRare Book and Manuscript Library Restrictions on AccessYou will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account. This collection is located on-site. This collection has no restrictions. Terms Governing Use and ReproductionSingle photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron. Preferred CitationIdentification of specific item; Date (if known); Thomas Francis Parkinson Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library. AccrualsMaterials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information. Ownership and Custodial HistoryPurchase, 1987; l988. Immediate Source of AcquisitionMethod of acquisition--Purchase, 400-10.16.87; Date of acquisition--10/16/87. Accession number--M-87-10-16. Gary Snyder letters, manuscripts, and photographs: Source of acquisition--Serendipity Books. Method of acquisition--Purchase-297-08.l6.88; Date of acquisition--08/16/88. Accession number--M-88-08-16. About the Finding Aid / Processing InformationColumbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library Processing InformationProcessed 04/07/88 PL Gary Snyder letters, manuscripts, and photographs. Processed 09/26/88 PL Reprocessed 07/12/10 by Carrie Hintz Revision Description2010-07-13 File created. 2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration. Subject HeadingsThe subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives. All links open new windows. Genre/Form
Subject
History / Biographical NoteBiographical sketchThomas Parkinson was a professor of literature at the University of California Berkeley, a poet, political activist, and scholar of William Butler Yeats and the writers and culture of the Beat Generation. Parkinson was born in San Francisco in 1920. He grew up in the Haight-Ashbury district with his father, a plumber and union leader. His father's political and union activities shaped Parkinson's own political views, and he remained a committed political activist throughout his life. Parkinson graduated from Lowell High School and attended some courses at a junior college, but left to do odd jobs and a brief stint in the army before returning to the University of California Berkeley. He completed his Bachelor's, and then his PhD at Berkeley and stayed on to teach as faculty member in the English Department. He remained at Berkeley for the entirety of his career as a scholar, and was awarded the University's highest honor, the Berkeley Citation, in 1991. In addition to his activities as a scholar, Parkinson was a poet who was involved in the art and literary scene in the San Francisco area in the 1950s and 1960s. He was friendly with poets such as Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, Robert Duncan, and Allen Ginsberg, and wrote an early academic analysis of beat poetry entitles A Casebook of the Beat in 1961. Thomas Parkinson died of a heart attack in 1992, survived by his wife, the artist and theatrical designer Ariel Parkinson. |