Reid and Susan Overcash Literary Collection: A.R. Ammons Papers
1935, 1937, 1944-1988, 2007, 2019
Manuscript Collection #1096-001- Creator(s)
- Ammons, A. R., 1926-2001; Wilson, Emily Herring
- Physical description
- 10.96 Cubic Feet, 714 items
- Preferred Citation
- Reid and Susan Overcash Literary Collection: A.R. Ammons Papers (#1096-001), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
- Repository
- ECU Manuscript Collection
- Access
- No restrictions
Papers (1935-2008, undated) pertaining to noted North Carolina-born poet, educator and artist, A. R. [Archie Randolph] Ammons (1926-2001), including manuscripts, books, proofs, broadsides, pamphlets, periodicals and original art by, about, or owned by Ammons; and relating to his family and childhood, near Whiteville, NC, his service in the US Navy on a destroyer escort 1942-1945; his attendance at Wake Forest University (BA, 1949) and University of California, Berkeley (MA, 1951); his career as teacher and principal at Hatteras Elementary School, as an editor, and as an executive at his father-in-law's glass manufacturing company in New Jersey; but primarily relating to his life as a poet and his academic career at Cornell University, 1964-1998, where he was Goldwin Smith Professor of Poetry at Cornell University after 1989; and to his numerous published works of poetry and his two National Book Awards (1973 and 1993) among other prizes.
Scope and arrangement
The Reid and Susan Overcash Literary Collection/A.R. Ammons Papers consists of 18 boxes and 13 oversized folders container a wide variety of materials relating to the life and works of North Carolina-born poet A.R. (Archie Randolph) Ammons. The collection documents virtually the whole of Ammons's working life, ca. 1935-1988, and the donation of his papers to Joyner Libary in 2007. Altogether, the collection holds 713 individual items containing 21,539 sheets of manuscript and other materials, amounting to 10.91 cubic feet of material by volume
The collection is arranged in 5 series: The first series consists of manuscripts relating to the Donation Ceremony on April 25, 2007. The second series contains manuscripts by and about A.R. Ammons. It is arranged in four subseries: Correspondence; Manuscript Volumes; Typescripts & Clippings; and Galleys, Page Proofes & Typescripts. The third series houses four subseries of Printed Works by, about, or owned by Ammons. The fourth series embraces Audio Recordings & Paintings by Ammons. The fifth and final series incorporates Oversized Materials such as calendars, clippings, and original art. The collection contains materials in English, Italian, and Turkish.
Administrative information
Custodial History
April 8, 2021, (unprocessed addition 7) 1 item, 0.050 cubic feet; Emily Herring Wilson's 2019 book titled, "When I Go Back to My Home Country" : a Remembrance of Archie Ammons. It was published by R. A. Fountain, Fountain, North Carolina. Donor: Alex Albright
Source of acquisition
Gift of M. Reid Overcash
Gift of Susan W. Overcash
Gift of Professor Roger Gilbert
Gift of Dr. W. Keats Sparrow
Gift of Amanda Bible Worley
Purchased from R. A. Fountain
Gift of Alex Albright
Processing information
Encoded by Mark Custer, February 14, 2008
Copyright notice
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Metadata Rights Declaration
Related material
Key terms
Personal Names
Ammons, A. R., 1926-2001Overcash, M. Reid
Topical
American poetry--North CarolinaPoets, American--North Carolina
Watercolor painting, American--North Carolina