Inventory of the Clarence Louis Frank Gohdes Papers, 1811-1990s and undated (bulk 1905-1981)

Contains a brief document resembling a curriculum vita, and clippings of obituaries. Further details of Gohdes's career can be found in the Correspondence and Writings and Speeches series. In particular, the American Literature and Duke University correspondence files provide information about Gohdes's professional life.

Chiefly concerns professional and academic interests. The series is divided into four sections: American Literature, Lewis Chase, Duke University, and General.

The American Literature correspondence mainly addresses administrative issues and editorial appointments. In particular, the letters represent discussions among Gohdes, Duke administrators, the American Literature editorial board, and representatives of the American Literature Section (ALS) of the Modern Language Association over a 1966-1968 reworking of the contractual agreement between Duke and the ALS.

The Lewis Chase correspondence contains letters exchanged between him and libraries and colleagues. All letters concern Chase's research on Edgar Allen Poe.

Duke University Correspondence contains letters about Gohdes's discussions with the University and its English department over hiring, tenure, and his professorship. Included is a series of letters between Arlin Turner, Gohdes, and the administration that concerns a disagreement over the editorship of American Literature. The group also contains one letter from Lyne S. Few, son of William Preston Few, that recounts his memories of Duke faculty and his father's role at Duke. It was written in response to reading Gohdes's booklet, Pioneers in English at Trinity and Duke.

The General Correspondence includes letters from colleagues and peers, contemporary authors, and publishers and librarians. The main topics of discussion are professional, such as job appointments and recommendations, research and reviews, and publishing. The files include letters exchanged with some of the major scholars and authors of the day: Alexander Blackburn, Walter Blair, Van Wyck Brooks, Oscar Cargill, Robert Elias, Norman Foerster, Ima Honaker Herron, James Meriwether, Perry Miller, William Mulder, Arthur Quinn, Louis Rubin, Arthur M. Schlesinger (single item), Upton Sinclair, Henry Nash Smith, Robert Spiller, George R. Stewart, and George F. Whicher. Substantial correspondence exists between Gohdes and Thomas O. Mabbott, Henry A. Pochmann, and James Woodress. Other items of interest include a letter from Martha Baird (Mrs. Eli Siegel) to Gohdes which includes a copy of a letter from William Carlos Williams, letters exchanged with Clayton L. Eichelberger concerning the establishment of American Literary Realism (journal), and invitations to Richard Nixon's 1971 and Ronald Reagan's 1985 inaugurations. Gohdes saved several form letters from major intellectual and political leaders: Albert Einstein; Archibald MacLeish; Richard M. Nixon; Pearl S. Buck; Jacques Cousteau; and Nancy Reagan (letter contains autograph). Arranged chronologically by date within each section.

Consists of clippings, student papers, and notes. Some author files contain only printed materials or other non-original materials. Some, however, contain original notes, lectures, or early twentieth-century student papers. Lectures, usually by Lewis Chase, provide insight into turn-of-the-century literary perspectives on major authors from Poe to Shakespeare. The student papers suggest the scope and range of literary training and pedagogy at this moment in history.

This series contains a large amount of material belonging to Dr. Lewis Chase (1873-1937). It seems that many unattributed items and folders came from Chase, including all student papers. The files which contain material compiled or created by Gohdes include those on Anderson, Dickinson, Dreiser, Eliot, Emerson, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, Frost, Garland, Holmes, Howells, James, Lanier, Longfellow, O'Neill, Ransom, Twain, and Updike. In particular, the Emerson "Notes" and Longfellow folders include substantial original materials by Gohdes. The rest of the folders seem to be heavily weighted to Chase materials, with only some of Gohdes's resources added. Most of the British authors are from Chase, whereas Gohdes is responsible for the American author materials.

Several of the author files contain photocopies of selections or excerpts from the author's writing, for example, most of the Twain and all of the Sidgwick folders. "Mark Twain's Funniest" folders seem to have been one of Gohdes's projects.

Within each folder, arranged alphabetically by author, items are arranged chronologically. Author names have been standardized on folder titles.

Organized into groupings reflecting Gohdes's interests and projects: bibliographies, poetry, travel narratives of the American West, and UNESCO's best books list.

The bibliographic materials contain issues of the Bulletin of Bibliography and bibliographic information that Gohdes requested, such as library holdings in literature in various areas, including Cleveland, St. Louis, and Balboa Heights (Canal Zone).

The poetry files contain copies and mimeographs of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century poetry. "Contemporary Poetry," "Modern Poetry" and "Poetry" all contain early twentieth century materials. The first folder, "Criticism and Reviews," contains reprints of essays and articles by various authors. The only original writing can be found in the second folder, "Introductory Lecture, University of Wisconsin," which Lewis Chase may have written.

The "Travel Narratives and the West" folders contain photocopies and reproductions of nineteenth-century accounts of travel through the western United States, with some notes by Gohdes.

Inspired by the UNESCO translation project, Gohdes initiated a survey of leading American literature critics and scholars in 1949 to determine the best twenty American books. Gohdes and his fellow committee members, Jay B. Hubbell and Lewis Leary, successfully polled approximately twenty-five people. Those polled include many major critics of the day: Ralph Rusk, Walter Blair, Henry Canby, Mark Van Doren, Fred Lewis Pattee, F. O. Matthiessen, Van Wyck Brooks, Clarence Gohdes, Jay B. Hubbell, Charles Anderson, and Henry Nash Smith. Files includes correspondence from these critics discussing and listing their choices for the best twenty American books. The survey seems to have been passed on to UNESCO, and was used for publicity for the American Literature Section of the Modern Language Association by submitting the final tallied poll to newspapers and journals. Arranged alphabetically.

Consists of two subseries: Writings by Gohdes and Writings by Others.

Gohdes, an avid gardener throughout his life, wrote a definitive historical and cultural study of the scuppernong, a white grape of the American South. The series contains Gohdes's extensive research and writing materials pertaining to this book, The Scuppernong, North Carolina's Grape and its Wines.These materials are divided into three subseries: Correspondence, Research and Notes, and Publication Materials.

Within folders, items are arranged chronologically by date.

Clippings not originally filed in the Author Files Series have been included in the Clippings Series. It contains clippings on Omar Khayyam, The Thoreau Society, Upton Sinclair, an editorial on Sinclair Lewis's death, the history of American Literature, Celestine Gohdes's orchids, and Mary Clair Sinclair. Items are arranged chronologically by date.