Summary Information
Abstract
The Ernest Hunter Wright Collection contains the unpublished
manuscripts, and correspondence of Ernest Hunter Wright, a professor of English
beginning in 1910 and the head of the Department of English from 1933 to 1947, the
collection also contains his wife Mary Heritage Wright's diaries and
manuscripts.
At a Glance
| Call No.: | MS#1395 |
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| Bib ID: | 4079505 View CLIO record |
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| Creator(s): | Wright, Ernest Hunter, 1882-1968. |
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| Title: | Ernest Hunter
Wright Collection,
1892-1968.
[Bulk Dates: 1924-1968]
|
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| Physical description: | 2.5 linear feet (5 document boxes)
|
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| Language(s): | In English.
Some material is in
French
and German.
|
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| Access: |
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library reading room.
More information » |
|---|
Arrangement
Arrangement
This collection is arranged is arranged in five series.
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Description
Scope and Content
The Ernest Hunter Papers comprise manuscripts, correspondence, diaries, legal and
banking papers, and a few photographs. The collection focuses on the period between 1947
and 1968 when Wright died, and is concentrated in the management of the Cragsmoor
Community Properties.
Series I: Manuscripts, 1930-1968
Series I of the Ernest Hunter Wright papers mainly documents the period between
Wright's retirement from Columbia in 1947 and his death in 1968. He was very busy
and prolific during this time, and wrote many articles on a variety of subjects.
The manuscripts in the collection are quite varied, reflecting his many interests,
and most remain unpublished. The manuscripts are almost entirely undated, and are
organized alphabetically. There are multiple drafts of many of the manuscripts,
which are in separate folders, and as close to the order they were written as
could be discerned.
Series II: Correspondence, 1908-1968
A portion of the personal correspondence contained in this series is between
Ernest Hunter Wright and Mary Thomas Branham, a former student who sent also sent
him an unpublished manuscript that she wrote about living in Dublin as a disabled
woman. There is one letter from his daughter written right before his death, and a
few letters from while he was completing his PhD. There is also a group of letters
related to an article Wright wrote in Scientific American posing a question about
the mechanics of skipping stones on water. Many people responded with ideas, and
Wright had an extended correspondence with a young man named Kirtson Koths on the
subject.
Series III: Personal Papers, 1892-1962
The papers are related to his time at Columbia University as well as his
retirement. A number of the papers are related to Mary Edith Branham, a student of
Wright's at Columbia. She was in a wheelchair after a childhood bout of polio, and
worked as an assistant to the President. Branham moved to Dublin with her husband
after Columbia, and wrote a manuscript about life as an academic and handicapped
woman traveling in Ireland. During Wright's time as chair of the English
Department, his responsibilities required him to deal with a variety of department
transactions and this series contains receipts, speeches and notes. The personal
papers also contain Wright's report cards from Lynchburg, Virginia in the 1890's.
There is also a folder of greeting cards and Christmas papers, and a small print
of a hill signed by Heskell. Five photographs are included in the personal portion
of the collection.
Series IV: Cragsmoor Community Properties, 1950-1954
A large part of the collection is contained within Series IV, a group of papers
related to the Cragsmoor Community properties. This series is made up of
correspondence and organization files, with some legal papers interspersed among
the letters. The general correspondence file contains letters regarding the
general fundraising and upkeep up the theater from a variety of local artists and
friends. Wright wrote extensively to raise money, both to buy and maintain the
theater, and organized all of the tenants of the theater and adjoining
restaurants. Many of the letters contain financial pledges to the community, or
responses to his requests. Because of the financial difficulties of maintaining
the theater, Wright also wrote to the creditors of the theater. This series also
contains insurance policies, leases, and other business papers in relation to the
letters. Wright also kept meeting minutes, leases, and legal papers related to the
community ownership of the theater.
Series V: Mary Heritage Wright
Series V is entirely focused on Mary Heritage Wright, and is some of the earliest
material in the collection. Mary Wright's diaries from the 1920's describe the
Wright's daily life at Columbia and Cragsmoor, and detail their personal lives and
work. Mary Wright's series also contains a complete draft of a book she edited,
Your Land and Mine, a compilation of poems and fictional works by a variety of
authors. Many were reprinted versions of published works, including previously
published writings by Robert Frost and Henry David Thoreau. The book is organized
by geographic region and concentrates on New England.
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Using the Collection
Offsite
Access Restrictions
This collection has no restrictions.
This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least
two business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript
Library reading room.
Restrictions on Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML approves permission to
publish that which it physically owns; the responsibility to secure copyright permission
rests with the patron.
Preferred Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Ernest Hunter Wright Collection; Box
and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library
Selected Related Material at Columbia
Columbia University English Department Letters Collection, MS#0257
Selected Related Material at Other Repositories
Cragsmoor Theatre Programs (Cragsmoor, N.Y.). New York State Library
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About the Finding Aid / Processing Information
Columbia University Libraries. Rare Book and
Manuscript Library; machine readable finding aid created by Columbia University
Libraries Digital Library Program Division
Processing Information
Cataloged 09/--/89 Christina Hilton Fenn
Papers processed in February 2011 by Alison Lotto, New York University and the Palmer
School, 2013.
Machine readable finding aid generated from MARC-AMC source via XSLT conversion
June 26, 2009
Finding aid written in English.
2011-02-17
xml document instance created by Lea Osborne
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Subject Headings
The 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
Subjects
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History / Biographical Note
Biographical Note
Ernest Hunter Wright was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1882. He came to New York around
1900 to work with a social worker on the Bowery and attend Columbia College. During
Wright's senior year, with Seth Low as his sponsor, he helped to found a school at the
Young Men's Institute on the Bowery. Wright was responsible for hiring teachers and
beginning instruction while the rest of the staff was assembled. The students paid $12 a
year in tuition, and the school was intended to prepare them for college.
Wright graduated from Columbia in 1906 and received his Ph.D from the University in
1910. He worked as an instructor of English beginning in 1910, became a full professor
in 1928, and from 1933-1947 was the head of the English Department. During that time, he
wrote
The Meaning of Rousseau
and
The Authorship of Timon of Athens.
His academic writing was on a variety of
subjects, including the Romantics and Shakespeare. Wright also edited
The Richards Encyclopedia
in 1933 with his wife Mary Heritage
Wright.
The Wrights owned a home in Cragsmoor, New York where they spent the summers and retired
after Wright left Columbia in 1947. In 1950, the community theater was threatened with
closure, but Wright convinced many of his friends to provide financial support to buy
the theater from its owner. The theater was purchased in 1950 by Cragsmoor Community
Properties, and from 1950-1953, with Wright as President the organization invited
theater groups in to perform in the summer.
After managing the theater for 3 years, Wright retired from the Cragsmoor organization,
and concentrated on writing articles and manuscripts, mainly autobiographical stories
and non-fiction articles, many unrelated to his scholarly texts. Wright wrote about his
early time in New York, particularly when he lived on the Bowery, including an
autobiographical story “Groton on the Bowery.” He wrote on literary topics, particularly
poetry, ethics, and Shakespeare. Wright also became interested in social commentary, and
produced articles about safe driving, rules of the road, and the politics of violence in
film. One of these articles about how to skip stones was published in
Scientific
American
in 1957, and Wright received many responses to the question. Wright also wrote
a series in the New York Times called “Speaking of Books.” His health slowly
deteriorated throughout the 1950's and 1960's, and he died in 1968. Mary Wright died a
year later and bequeathed her husband's papers to Columbia University.
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