This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
The collection contains correspondence, manuscripts, and printed ephemera related to Thomas Parkinson and his involvement in the San Francisco Renaissance literary scene.
Series I: Correspondence, 1950-1985
The correspondence series is comprised of letters to and from Parkinson related to his involvement in the literary scene of the beat generation and the San Francisco Renaissance.
Series II: Manuscripts, 1957-1980
The Manuscripts series includes manuscripts of poetry by Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, and Philip Whalen, as well as a collection of publishing announcements and gallery invitations for writers and artists associated with the San Francisco poetry scene. This series also includes a manuscript of Michael McClure's book of essays, Wolf Net, inscribed to Tom and his wife Ariel.
Selected items cataloged; remainder arranged.
You 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.
Reproductions 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.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Thomas Francis Parkinson Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Purchase, 1987; l988.
Method 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.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Processed 04/07/88 PL
Gary Snyder letters, manuscripts, and photographs. Processed 09/26/88 PL
Reprocessed 07/12/10 by Carrie Hintz
2010-07-13 File created.
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Thomas 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.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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