Inventory of the Kenny J. Williams Papers, 1971-1995

Abstract

Kenny Williams was a professor of English at Duke University.

Her collection includes memorabilia, correspondence, department memoranda and manuscripts.

Descriptive Summary

Repository: University Archives, Duke University
Creator: Williams, Kenny Jackson, 1927-2003.
Title: Kenny J. Williams Papers, 1971-1995
Language of Material: English
Extent: 3.0 Linear Feet, 2, 000 Items
Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Contains greeting cards, brochures, correspondence, departmental memoranda, course materials, committee minutes, and manuscripts of Williams' article "The Masking of the Novelist" and her book In the City of Men: Another Story of Chicago. Also includes documents relating to the President's Council on Black Affairs, the Nixon Library controversy, and the Phi Beta Kappa selection committees. Minutes, private correspondence and reports of the English Department and the University should be restricted. Receipts, recommendation letters, grade disputes and ephemeral correspondence were discarded for processing. Correspondence was removed from envelopes and foldered.

Administrative Information

A majority of collections are stored off site and must be requested at least 24 business hours in advance for retrieval. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »

Access Restrictions

Patrons must sign the Acknowledgement of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.

For a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material, permission in writing from the office of origin and the University Archivist is required for use. After twenty-five years, records that have been processed may be consulted with the permission of the University Archivist.

In off-site storage; 24 hours advance notice is required for use.

Use Restrictions

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Contents of the Collection

Browse List of Series

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Container List

2 Boxes

"The Masking of the Novelist"

Box 1

Miscellaneous Cards, Memorabilia

Box 1

Miscellaneous Cards, Memorabilia

Box 1

In the City of Men, manuscript

Box 1

Correspondence, Department Memoranda, Memorabilia, 1986

Box 1

Correspondence, 1975-1983 (RESTRICTED)

Box 1

Correspondence, 1983-1985

Box 1

Schmid Elementary School Condolences, 1979

Box 1

American Literature to 1865

Box 2

Afro-American Novel, 1853-1906

Box 2

1890s - Literary Profile

Box 2

169s.04 - Spring 1995

Box 2

Department Documents, 1995

Box 2

Department Documents, 1985-1986

Box 2

Department Documents, 1985

Box 2

Department Memoranda, Correspondence, 1981-1988

Box 2

Friends of Art Museum Committee

Box 2

Bevan (Provost) Memos

Box 2

Minority Affairs and President's Council

Box 2

Long-Range Planning Committee

Box 2

Course Outlines - Miscellaneous

Box 2

Presidential Council on Black Affairs

Box 2

Advisory Committee on Afro-American Studies

Box 2

Hiring Advisory Committee Memoranda

Box 2

Curriculum Committee, 1986-1987

Box 2

Afro-American Committee

Box 2

President's Council

Box 2

267 - Outlines and Problems

Box 2

Nixon Library

Box 2

Nixon Flap

Box 2

University Planning Committee Report, 1980

Box 2

177 - Rise of the American Novel

Box 2

Letter to Chairman, 1977

Box 2

Faculty Associates, Admissions

Box 2

Department Documents, 1977-1978

Box 2

Correspondence, 1977-1980

Box 2

Department Documents, 1988-1991

Box 2

Duke Retrenchment, Clippings, 1980

Box 2

Admissions Decisions Committee

Box 2

Academic Plan Draft, 1987

Box 2

Directions for Progress - Report to the Board of Trustees, 1980

Box 2

Phi Beta Kappa Committees and Bylaws

Box 2

Spring Initiation Speaker, 1991

Box 2

Historical Note

Born in Omaha, NE, Kenny Williams grew up in Chicago where her father served as a Baptist pastor. She received a B.A. from Benedict College in 1949, her first M.A. degree from De Paul University in 1950, and her second M.A. and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1959 and 1961, respectively. After teaching at Tennessee A and I State University, and at Northeastern Illinois State University, she joined the faculty of the Duke English Department in 1977, where she specialized in Midwestern and African-American literature. In 1991 she was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to the advisory counsel of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Among her published works include They Also Spoke: An Essay on Negro Literature in America, 1787-1930, In the City of Men: Another Story of Chicago, Prairie Voices: A Literary History of Chicago from the Frontier to 13 and A Storyteller for a City: Sherwood Anderson's Chicago. At the time of her death in 2003, Williams had been writing on literature of the Civil War era for the Dictionary of Literary Biography series.

Subject Headings

Related Material

Department of English Records, 1926 – ongoing. (University Archives. Duke University.)
Nixon Library Controversy Collection, 1981-2001. (University Archives. Duke University.)
Committee Against the Nixon-Duke Library Records, 1981. (University Archives. Duke University.)
Black History at Duke Reference Collection, 1948-2001 and undated (University Archives. Duke University. )