Pearl S. Buck Collection, 1932-1956

Summary Information

Abstract

The collection consists primarily of carbon copies of manuscripts for Pearl S. Buck's short stories, essays, speeches, and screenplays. Some copies include corrections and additions in Buck's handwriting. The collection also includes publications by other authors including an exhaustive bibliography of Buck's work by Lucille S. Zinn of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation, Inc.

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in two series.

• Series I: Manuscripts by Pearl S. Buck, 1932-1956
• Series II: Manuscripts by other authors, 1930, 1964, 1977

Description

Summary

The collection consists primarily of carbon copies of manuscripts for Pearl S. Buck's short stories, essays, speeches, and screenplays. Some copies include corrections and additions in Buck's handwriting. The collection also includes publications by other authors including an exhaustive bibliography of Buck's work by Lucille S. Zinn of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation, Inc.

• Series I: Manuscripts by Pearl S. Buck, 1932-1956

  This series is comprised of manuscripts for short stories, plays, essays, and speeches by Pearl S. Buck on a broad range of topics. Writings within the collection emphasize the need for global cross-cultural understanding in order to achieve harmony of the human race. The roles of various groups within the United States to achieve this goal are addressed in Buck's "A Letter to Colored Americans" essay and her speeches both to the New York Urban League and the New York Board of Education. Other items of note include the incomplete manuscript for Buck's biography of her father, Fighting Angel: Portrait of a Soul, which includes corrections and additions in Buck's handwriting, and the unpublished play script inserts and prose manuscript for Flight into China, which Buck later expanded into her novel Peony.

• Series II: Manuscripts by other authors, 1930, 1964, 1977

  This series consists of published materials by other authors including an exhaustive bibliography of Buck's work by Lucille S. Zinn of the Pearl S. Buck Birthplace Foundation, Inc.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

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.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single 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 Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Pearl S. Buck Papers; Box and Folder (if known); Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Selected Related Material-- Other Repositories

The Papers of Pearl Buck 1933-1947, University of Virginia Libraries

Pearl S. Buck letters and papers, 1941-1969, Pennsylvania State University Libraries

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Typescripts: Source of acquisition--Asadorian, William. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--06/30/92. Accession number--M-92-06-30.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Papers processed by Jenny Mathias, July 2010.

Revision Description

2010-11-04 File created.

2010-11-05 XML document instance created by Catherine C. Ricciardi.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

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

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Pearl S. Buck is an American-born author and humanitarian best known for her fictional works containing nuanced descriptions of Chinese characters and lifestyles. Buck was a prolific writer credited with authoring more than 100 books of fiction and nonfiction. She was also known by her Chinese name, Sai Zhenzhu, and she published some works under the pseudonym John Sedges.

Born Pearl Comfort Sydenstricker in Hillsboro, West Virginia on June 26, 1892, Buck was the child of Presbyterian missionary parents who were primarily stationed in China. She was educated in Chinese villages until the age of 14 when she was sent to boarding school in Shanghai. She returned to the United States to study at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia where she earned a bachelor's degree in 1914. She received a MA in English from Cornell University in 1926 as well as an honorary MA from Yale University later in life.

With the exception of the one year Buck spent at Cornell University, Buck lived, wrote and taught in China, primarily in Nanking, from 1918 to 1934 when she left China permanently for the United States. She attained international fame upon the publication of her second novel The Good Earth in 1931. The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1932. Buck's impressive body of work earned her the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938. According to the Nobel Prize Committee for Literature, Buck earned the prize "for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces." She was the first American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature and continues to be the sole female recipient of both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize to date.

Buck was also an influential humanitarian who campaigned on behalf of a wide variety of causes particularly those relating to international and interracial adoption. In 1949, Buck founded Welcome House, the first international, interracial, adoption agency in the United States. In 1964-65, Buck established Opportunity House, an organization designed to address the issues of poverty and discrimination faced by children in Asian countries. Buck died on March 6, 1973.