RUTGERS UNIVERSITY

NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

April 17,1950

Dear Dr. Williams:

It gives me great pleasure to write
you that at a meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Uni-
versity on April 14, I was directed to invite you to be
present at the 184th Anniversary Commencement Exercises of
the University on Saturday, June the tenth next - June 10,
1950 - in order that we may at that time welcome you to the
University fellowship and confer upon you, honoris causa,
the degree of Doctor of Letters.

This action has been taken to ex-
press our high personal regard for you and to recognize
your achievements in the fields of literature and medicine.
Naturally our reasons will be stated more explicitly in the
citation which will accompany the degree.

The Commencement Exercises will be
held in the Rutgers Stadium that morning at ten o'clock and
will be followed by luncheon. It will give us great satisfaction if Mrs. Williams will accompany you.

A little later I shall write you
more fully with reference to our plans for the day.

With the hope that I may hear
from you at your early convenience and that we may look
forward with pleasure to having you and Mrs. Williams with
us at Commencement, I am,

Sincerely

Dr. William Carlos Williams
9 Ridge Road
Rutherford, New Jersey

RUTGERS • THE STATE UNIVERSITY

DOUGLASS COLLEGE

NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY

December 9, 1958

Dear Mr. Williams:

The student-faculty committee that plans the Douglass College Assemblies has selected the theme, "The Power of the Written Word" for the weekly programs of the second semester of 1958-1959. It is their hope to bring to the campus outstanding writers and critics who will develop the general theme from a special vantage point. They are interested in the writer's objectives, devices, difficulties and triumphs. They recognize that in the half-hour available a speaker can cover only a small segment and ask that we invite the best people we can get and let them choose their particular topic.

A luncheon was arranged at which faculty members were invited to suggest speakers, and they urged me to ask you to discuss "the power of the written word" in Poetry. Topics were also suggested such as Heaven's Legislators, but I prefer to leave this decision to you.

College Assemblies are scheduled on Thursday mornings at 11:25 a. m. I am holding February 5, in the hope that this will be a convenient day for you. If some other Thursday would be more convenient we would make every effort to arrange a shift. The stipend is $75.00.

For your information, I am enclosing a copy of last year's schedule of Assembly programs. I do hope that you will be able to participate in the series we are planning for the coming semester.

Mr. William Carlos Williams
9 Ridge Road
Rutherford, New Jersey

MIB:rw

enclosure

DOUGLASS COLLEGE

NEW BRUNSWICK, NEW JERSEY

December 23, 1958

Dear Mr. Williams:

I had delayed writing to you until I had responses from some
of the others who were invited to speak in next semester's Assembly
series at Douglass College. We want very much to have you come, but
we do not want to press things when the weather is bad and you are
trying not to take on too many responsibilities.

It now appears that we may have a vacancy on March 19, and
I wonder whether it would not be far better for you to plan to come then
rather than February 5, when driving conditions may be so difficult.
If this would be more attractive I believe we could still make suitable
arrangements for February 5.

It would be very exciting indeed for us to have you come to
Douglass College to speak to our students, and I can imagine no better
way to wind up the series on "the power of the written word". Your
proposal to spend a half hour reading recent poems and discussing their
validity would be entirely appropriate.

William C. Williams, M.D.
9 Ridge Road
Rutherford, New Jersey

MB:rw