Aleph Number:
RESTRICTED: Selected correspondence is restricted; see container list for details.
However, collection may contain materials to which the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibilities and Privacy Rights form applies. Patrons must sign this form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.
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[Identification of item], William Blackburn Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
The William Blackburn Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a gift.
Processed by Melissa Delbridge, Tania Roy, Dan Breem, December 2003
Encoded by Melissa J. Delbridge, December 2003
Updated by Meghan Lyon, May 2010
Accessions 2007-0129, 2008-0071, 2010-0013 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.
Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.
William Blackburn was an author, editor, and professor of English and literary composition at Duke University from 1926 until 1969. Born in 1899 to missionaries in Persia, Blackburn spent his childhood in Seneca, South Carolina, and completed his undergraduate studies at Furman University. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1943. His academic scholarship was on Elizabethan poetry; later in his career, he also edited the letters of Joseph Conrad.
Blackburn's influence at Duke, however, stems from his creative writing classes, where he taught and inspired many students who went on to become prominent contemporary writers. His former students include Fred Chappell, William Styron, Reynolds Price, James Applewhite, and Anne Tyler.
The William Blackburn papers are arranged in the following series: Correspondence; Writings; Teaching Material; Duke University Literary and Artistic Projects; Biographical Data and Family Papers; Printed Material; Scrapbooks; Audiovisual Material; and Photographs. Correspondence includes Blackburn family letters, letters relating to Blackburn's teaching and career at Duke University, and typescripts of letters by and about Joseph Conrad. Writings include Blackburn's own writings and speeches as well as those of students and his son Alexander Lambert Blackburn. Clippings mostly concern Blackburn's academic work, literary events at Duke in which Blackburn was pivotal, and reviews of the work of his students (including Anne Tyler, William Styron, and Reynolds Price). The collection also includes numerous photographs of family members and some of literary figures.
Addition (2007-0129) (200 items; 0.6 lin. ft.; dated 1937-1972) contains correspondence between Blackburn and his daughter, Mary April Blackburn Hill.
Addition (2008-0071) (30 items; 0.1 lin. ft.; 1925-1973) includes correspondence between William Blackburn and his brother, Clark, as well as additional papers from Elizabeth Blackburn. Elizabeth's papers include correspondence and two literary compositions.
Addition (2010-0013) (200 items; 0.6 lin. ft.; dated 1928-1985) includes correspondence between Blackburn and his wife, Elizabeth, especially during the breakup of their marriage; notes about William Blackburn from his son, Alexander Blackburn; articles, speeches, and clippings; and materials from his students and colleagues.
These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.
Blackburn's personal and professional correspondence; letters to his students; and correspondence of several members of his family, especially of his son, Alexander Lambert Blackburn, his brothers George and Clark Blackburn, and his first wife Elizabeth Cheney Blackburn. Also contained in the series are copies of letters written by Joseph Conrad to his publishers and much of the correspondence between Blackburn and Reynolds Price.
[Access Restricted.]
Alpha by subject; quotation marks denote instances in which Blackburn's folder titles have been retained.
Grade reports are restricted.
Grade reports are restricted.
Includes unsorted and unarranged photographs of family members, travels, student portraits, and other events from Blackburn and his family's life.
These materials are restricted.
These volumes were from Blackburn's personal library and include his annotations and notes.
Includes correspondence between William and Elizabeth Blackburn written during the breakup of their marriage. Also included are articles, clippings, genealogical materials, a speech, interviews, and miscellaneous printed materials from students and colleagues.