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Series I: Personal Documents, 1921-1970
Series V: Photographs, 1920s-1990s
Series VI: Audio Visual Material, 1956-1981

Diana Trilling papers, 1921-1996

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Series II: Correspondence, 1927-1996

Series II holds Diana Trilling's correspondence. Letters within this series are between other family members, members of the literary community like other authors and publishing houses, fans of her work, friends of both Diana and Lionel Trilling, and invitations to lecture, write or review a literary text. In most cases, the carbon copy of Diana Trilling's initial letter or response to a letter has survived as well as any accompanying documents. The original order of the series consisted of two subseries: one arranged alphabetically and one chronologically. This has been maintained.

Subseries II.1: Alphabetical, 1939-1996

Letters found in Subseries 1 tend to be from Diana Trilling's friends and other family members and are often quite extensive. The Trillings had many friends in common so individuals such as Jacques Barzun, James and Elsa Grossman, Alan Ginsburg and Christopher Zinn have letters in this subseries. Correspondence with Nicolas Nabokov in regards to the American Committee for Cultural Freedom and Diana Trilling's subsequent resignation from the board are also held here. Of interest are letters between Diana Trilling and Lillian Hellman during the time that the two women were publicly fighting over politics and the "correct" history of the intellectual movement of New York within the 1930s and 1940s. Please note that although there are a few letters between Diana and Lionel Trilling, most are located in the Lionel Trilling Papers.


Box 2 Folder 12 Anderson, Quentin and Thelma, 1958-1979


Box 3 Folder 1 A through Barzun, 1939-1979

Box 3 Folder 2 Beichman, Arnold, 1952-1979

Box 3 Folder 3 Bell through C, 1939-1979

Box 3 Folder 4 D through F, 1939-1979

Box 3 Folder 5 Grossman, James and Ella, 1963-1975


Box 4 Folder 1 G through H, 1939-1979

Box 4 Folder 2 Hays, Elinor, 1964-1965

Box 4 Folder 3 I through L, 1939-1979

Box 4 Folder 4 M, 1939-1979

Box 4 Folder 5 N through Q, 1939-1979

Box 4 Folder 6 R, 1939-1979


Box 5 Folder 1 S, 1939-1979

Box 5 Folder 2 T through W, 1939-1979

Box 5 Folder 3 A through B, 1980-1985

Box 5 Folder 4 to 5 B, 1980-1985, (2 Folders)

Box 5 Folder 6 C through D, 1980-1985


Box 6 Folder 1 E through G, 1980-1985

Box 6 Folder 2 H, 1980-1985 (includes Hellman letters), 1980-1985

Box 6 Folder 3 I through L, 1980-1985

Box 6 Folder 4 M, 1980-1985

Box 6 Folder 5 M through R, 1980-1985


Box 7 Folder 1 to 2 S, 1980-1985, (2 Folders)

Box 7 Folder 3 Trilling, James, 1984-1985

Box 7 Folder 4 T through Z, 1980-1985

Box 7 Folder 5 A, 1986-1996

Box 7 Folder 6 B, 1986-1996, (2 Folders)


Box 8 Folder 1 B, 1986-1996

Box 8 Folder 2 C through D, 1986-1996

Box 8 Folder 3 E through G, 1986-1996

Box 8 Folder 4 H through J, 1986-1996

Box 8 Folder 5 K through L, 1986-1996

Box 8 Folder 6 M, 1986-1996, (2 Folders)


Box 9 Folder 1 M, 1986-1996

Box 9 Folder 2 N through Q, 1986-1996

Box 9 Folder 3 R, 1986-1996

Box 9 Folder 4 to 5 S, 1986-1996, (2 Folders)

Box 9 Folder 6 T through V, 1986-1996


Box 10 Folder 1 W through Z, 1986-1996

Subseries II.2: Chronological, 1927-1996

Correspondence contained in Subseries 2 covers a variety of topics. Letters are from personal friends (and may be addressed to both Diana and Lionel Trilling), potential publishers and magazine editors who are inviting Diana Trilling to submit a piece or coordinating the publishing of one her books, other authors inquiring about the craft of writing, fans, individuals who criticize Trilling's many writings and, in particular, the type of political and culturally-biased perspective she employs, and distant relatives. There quite a number of condolence letters from Lionel Trilling's colleagues at Columbia University and other academic institutions, his many personal friends, and admirers , who knew him only through his body of work. This correspondence illuminates the kind of impact Lionel Trilling had, not only on the intellectual world, but on the world at large

Box 10 Folder 2 1927-1943

Box 10 Folder 3 1944-1945

Box 10 Folder 4 1946-1947

Box 10 Folder 5 1948-1949


Box 11 Folder 1 1950-1951

Box 11 Folder 2 1952-1955

Box 11 Folder 3 1956-1957 May

Box 11 Folder 4 1957 June-1958, 1957

Box 11 Folder 5 1959 January-May


Box 12 Folder 1 1959 June-1960, 1959

Box 12 Folder 2 1961-1962 April

Box 12 Folder 3 1962 May-1963 May

Box 12 Folder 4 1963 June-1964 April

Box 12 Folder 5 1964 May-December


Box 13 Folder 1 1965 January-June

Box 13 Folder 2 1965 July-1966 February

Box 13 Folder 3 1966 March-1967 February

Box 13 Folder 4 1967 March-December

Box 13 Folder 5 1968 January-July


Box 14 Folder 1 1968 August-December

Box 14 Folder 2 1969

Box 14 Folder 3 1970

Box 14 Folder 4 1971

Box 14 Folder 5 1972


Box 15 Folder 1 1973

Box 15 Folder 2 1974

Box 15 Folder 3 1975 January-October

Box 15 Folder 4 1975 November-December

1975--Condolences

Box 15 Folder 5 A through H


Box 16 Folder 1 I through R

Box 16 Folder 2 S through Y

Box 16 Folder 3 1976 January-March

Box 16 Folder 4 1976 April-August

Box 16 Folder 5 1976 September-December


Box 17 Folder 1 1977 January-April

Box 17 Folder 2 1977 May-September

Box 17 Folder 3 1977 October-1978 January

Box 17 Folder 4 1978 February-July

Box 17 Folder 5 1978 August-1979 January


Box 18 Folder 1 1979 February-September

Box 18 Folder 2 1979 October-December

Box 18 Folder 3 to 4 1995-1996

Box 18 Folder 5 to 6 Accession 2002, 1928-1991, 2002, 1928-1991