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THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON, D. C.

February 7, 1941

Dear Williams:

I wish I could give Mr. Turner any
kind of encouragement. His letter to the
editor of Scribner's Commentator (other-
wise known as Payson's Appeaser) is heart-
warming. Unfortunately, however, I don't
think there is much chance here. Most of
the work in the Library requires a con-
siderable degree of special training in
the library field, and that is particularly
true of the positions we have vacant at the
present time or are apt to have vacant
in the near future.

If you are ever down here, do please
let me know. I would love to see you.
It gives a man great courage to know that
you are alive in the world.

Faithfully yours,

Dr. William C. Williams
9 Ridge Road
Rutherford
New Jersey

ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE

WASHINGTON

February 12, 1945

My dear Williams:

Thanks for yours of the 9th.
Muna Lee is right here and will be delighted
to have this word from you. I will inter-
cede - though I am sure no intercession is
necessary.

My warm regards,

Dp. W. C. Williams
9 Ridge Road
Rutherford
New Jersey

The Consultantship in Poetry was established in 1937 by an endowment from an anonymous donor, and the duties of the incumbent were outlined as follows:

1. To survey the existing poetry collections in order to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

2. To initiate recommendations for the purchase of additions to the collections.

3. To engage in correspondence with authors and collectors with a view to securing important gifts of books and manuscripts.

4. To respond to reference questions submitted by mail, and to compile occasional bibliographies.

5. To confer with scholars and poets using the Library's collections and facilities.

To this general outline of responsibilities have been added a few projects of a specific nature, chiefly the recording of poets in the Library's studios and the publishing of their recordings for public use. The Fellows in American Letters, composed of previous incumbents of the Chair of Poetry and a few writers and scholars of note, have acted as an advisory committee to this and other projects.

The salary of the Consultant is $5000.00 per annum plus the fourteen per cent increase voted by Congress for government employees in 1946.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS · Washington · 25 · D.C.

REFERENCE DEPARTMENT

Division of General Reference and Bibliography

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

Dear Mr. Williams:

March 28, 1945

The Library of Congress is much interested in recording for its archives examples of the best work of a limited number of contemporary poets as read by the poets themselves. For the present, these recordings will not be for public distribution, but if such a program is developed in the future the recordings in the archives will provide a source from which commercial discs can be drawn. Since these recordings are for the archives, there is now no remuneration for the poet; if a program of general distribution is initiated, the matters of copyright and offset fee to the poet will be arranged. For the present, however, the poet will have for his pains only the consciousness of having rendered a public service and the possession of one set of his own recordings.

The Library hopes that you can be persuaded to record some of your work for the archives. There is no fund for bringing poets to Washington for this purpose, but if you find yourself in this vicinity and are willing to make the recording, will you kindly notify the incumbent of the Chair of Poetry (my own term expires in June of this year) so that he can make the proper arrangements? Advance notice is especially important now, for constant demands are being made on the Library studio by the armed forces, and appointments for civilian projects must be fitted into time left over from more pressing concerns.

I sincerely hope that you will be willing and able to read for the Library, and that this shall have the pleasure of seeing you.

THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D.C.

February 25, 1948

Dear Dr. Williams:

It's a pleasure for me to inform you that the Fellows in American Letters have unanimously recommended you to become the Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress for 1949-1950, and that I have approved the recommendation. We shall be delighted to welcome you to the Library on about the first of October, 1949. The exact date can be arranged between us some time next year.

In the meantime I expect you will be interested to have a summary of the range of your duties, while you hold the Chair of Poetry. The enclosed list is more formidable in appearance than in actuality. The Library is very anxious for its consultants to be practicing writers, and for them to continue with their own work, while they are here.

We will be very much honored, if you will accept.

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

THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D.C.

DEC 28 1948

Dear Dr. Williams:

It gives me sincere pleasure to invite you to be-
come a Fellow of the Library of Congress in American Letters.
The group of Fellows was organized in 1944 for two purposes:
to aid in the development of the national collection in
American letters and to establish a closer and more continu-
ing relationship between the Library of Congress and those
men and women who, by scholarship or by literary criticism
and composition, are endeavoring to keep alive the tradition
represented in those national collections. Your associates
among the Fellows, should you accept, will be Willard Thorp,
Katherine Anne Porter, Katherine Garrison Chapin Biddle, Allen
Tate, Robert Penn Warren, T. S. Eliot, Paul Green, Louise Bogan,
Theodore Spencer, Conrad Aiken, W. H. Auden, Karl Shapiro and
Robert Lowell. The incumbent of the Chair of Poetry in English,
now Leonie Adams, acts as Secretary to the Fellows.

To be more specific in regard to the function of the
Fellows, I may say that the Library will expect them to act,
authoritatively but unofficially, in cooperation with the Ref-
erence Department and the Acquisitions Department in the for-
mulation of policies concerning such fields as literary manu-
scripts, phonographic recordings of poetry by the poets, photo-
stats and microfilms of materials held elsewhere, certain bib-
liographies, rare books, and the basic collections in American
literature.

The Library's plans for phonographic recordings of
poets will illustrate what I have in mind. As you know, the
Library has for some years been building an archive of poetry
readings made by the poets themselves. This material has been
carefully studied by the Fellows and the Consultant in Poetry
for the purpose of issuing recordings for the use of schools,
libraries, and other institutions, as well as for all interested
persons. By January 1949, we shall have available for public
sale five albums of five recordings each, under the title
*Twentieth Century Poetry in English*, and another similar se-
ries is expected to be ready before the end of next year.

- 2 -

What policy should be followed in the further development of
this program? Or, take as an example a bibliographical prob-
lem we have before us. The Library has a vast quantity of
material in American history in all its aspects. What kinds
of bibliographies prepared by the Library would best serve the
purposes of students and best call attention of writers to the
treasury of stimulating records accumulated here? Again, there
are numerous problems associated with the recently established
*United States Quarterly Book List*, a review of the most signif-
icant American contributions to the sciences and humanities.
This publication is circulated widely throughout the Americas
and abroad and cannot fail to have a lasting influence on writers,
librarians, and scholars of other countries.

But these are examples only. What the Library really
hopes to get from its Fellows in American Letters is advice on
the development of the basic policies which will control the de-
velopment of our holdings in this field and the organization of
our services. A very valuable by-product of the relationship -
if one may refer to anything so important as a by-product - will
be the personal connection between the Fellows and the Library
staff. Members of the Library staff need a fuller sense of their
role in the general cultural community.

The Fellows in American Letters are invited to meet
in Washington not more than once a year, for two days. The next
meeting will be held during January, 1950, and we earnestly hope
that you will be able to attend. Thus, we are asking you in the
plainest sense of the word to give your time and talents to a
public service which I feel is of first importance to the growth
of the national literature. I am convinced that your association
with the Library of Congress would enhance the prestige and vital-
ity of American culture and I am very glad, since we cannot have
you as consultant this coming year, to look forward to this asso-
ciation by way of compensation.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SECURING COPYRIGHT IN A BOOK PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED STATES

PAGE 2a

The term "book" includes not only bound volumes but also pamphlets, leaflets and even single sheets.

The Copyright Act provides that any person entitled thereto may secure copyright for his book by publication thereof with the prescribed notice consisting of the word "Copyright" or the abbreviation "Copr." accompanied by the year date of publication and the name of the copyright proprietor, which should appear on the title page or the page immediately following.

Promptly after such publication with the prescribed notice of copyright, two complete copies of the best edition should be sent to the Register of Copyrights, Library of Congress, free of charge if delivered to the postmaster with such request. There should also be mailed (in a separate envelope bearing letter postage) these four pages (1, 2, 1a and 2a) with the statutory fee of $2 for registration and certificate. (Make remittance payable to the Register of Copyrights.)

The "date of publication" is defined in the Act as "the earliest date when copies of the first authorized edition were placed on sale, sold, or publicly distributed by the proprietor of the copyright or under his authority."

The term "author" in the case of a book includes not only authors of original text but also translators, editors, compilers, illustrators, and the like. The copyright law also provides that the word "author" shall include "an employer in the case of works made for hire."

The first term of copyright is 28 years from the date of first publication. In the 28th year a renewal application (furnished upon request) may be filed for a second term of 28 years.

Unpublished manuscripts of novels, short stories, poems, words of songs without music, or any other literary work properly designated as a "book" are not subject to copyright registration until after publication with the copyright notice.

* * * * *

If you desire information or application forms (supplied free) for any work listed below, please advise which:

CLASS A—Books (if for book first published in a foreign country request application form A Foreign)

CLASS B—Periodicals, newspapers (application Form B).

Periodical contributions (application Form B5).

CLASS C—Lectures, sermons, addresses, prepared for oral delivery.

CLASS D—Dramatic or dramatico-musical compositions.

CLASS E—Musical compositions.

CLASS F—Maps.

CLASS G—Works of art; models or designs for works of art.

CLASS H—Reproductions of a work of art.

CLASS I—Drawings or plastic works of a scientific or technical character.

CLASS J—Photographs.

CLASS K—Prints and pictorial illustrations (application Form K).

Prints or labels used for articles of merchandise (application Form KK).

CLASS L—Motion picture photoplays.

CLASS M—Motion pictures other than photoplays.

(Do not write on this page)

U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 16-51925-2

465 Nassau Street
Princeton, New Jersey
September 23, 1949

To the Fellows in American Letters:

Over the week-end of September 17, 1949, five of the Fellows met in Princeton to discuss the problems of the position growing out of the decision of the Congressional Joint Committee on the Library to abolish the Bollingen Award. The Fellows present were: Leonie Adams, Louise Bogan, Karl Shapiro, Allen Tate, and Willard Thorp.

To the five Fellows three main problems, demanding immediate attention, seemed to confront us as a body:

1. The "Statement of the Committee of the Fellows of the Library of Congress in American Letters in Reply to Published Criticisms of the Bollingen Prize in Poetry" you have already seen. The Library, you will recall, issued this Statement as a press release to about 1,000 newspapers. It was quoted widely in part, but never reproduced in full. And it did not reach the academic and literary elements presumably most interested, or most affected by the SRL attacks. Subject to the approval of the Fellows, we have therefore arranged, with the Editor of POETRY (Chicago) to reissue the Statement, with revisions and supplements noted below, as a pamphlet. It is planned to have it ready for circulation by October 20. The pamphlet will contain the following items:

1. Preface, by Thorp and Tate. This will explain the purpose of the reissue and rehearse briefly the main incidents.

2. The Statement itself, with revisions and additions. But in no instance will the revisions effect a substantial change.

3. Letter of the Librarian of Congress to the SRL (July 2, 1949).

4. Announcement of the Award.

5. The three documents which you have seen under the heading "Annexes" to the Statement, by Tate, Shapiro, and Miss Adams.

6. Editorial by Haydon Carruth from POETRY (August 1949).

7. Article by Malcolm Cowley from The New Republic. This article will appear next week in time for our use.

8. Letters in opposition to the Hillyer attacks which the SRL declined to publish, by Archibald MacLeish, Katherine Anne Porter, Mark Van Doren, Samuel H. Monk, William Meredith, etc.

-2-

The present financial condition of POETRY will not permit the Editor to issue the pamphlet without a guarantee. He estimates the cost at $500.00. Four of the Fellows have each guaranteed $50.00, or a total of $200.00. We thus need more guarantees to the amount of $300.00. However, it should be noted that Mr. Carruth anticipates a sale, at $1.00 a copy, of about 500. If the sale falls considerably short of this figure, our deficit would still not reach the total cost. We have some hope of a private subsidy. However, we wish to go ahead with the project, for we feel that the risk is justified by the emergency: we shall find the money.

II. We call your attention to the attached letter, by Thorp and Tate, to the Librarian. It was the sense of our informal meeting that there must be no further delay in asking the Librarian for a redefinition of our status and function.

III. It seemed to us, in our discussions, highly desirable to continue the Bollingen Prize. Whether this will be possible no one can predict, but steps are being taken to explore the possibility. POETRY has invited the Bollingen Foundation to transfer the Prize to its auspices, under the jurisdiction of the Fellows. Similar invitations will probably be issued by The Hudson Review and The Sewanee Review.

We need to know two things at your earliest convenience: (1) Are you willing to put your signature to the revised Statement? And (2) are you willing to contribute to the guarantee, and, if so, how much?

Please reply to Allen Tate, at the address above.

Until the Librarian of Congress calls a formal meeting, we shall try to keep you informed of the progress of events.

willard sharp

Allen Tate

Princeton, New Jersey

September 19, 1949

Dr. Luther H. Evans
The Library of Congress
Washington, D. C.

Dear Luther:

Five of the Fellows in American Letters of the Library of Congress (Louise Dogan, Leonie Adams, Karl Shapiro, Allen Tate, and Willard Thorp) met informally and, of course, unofficially, in Princeton over the past week-end. In the course of our discussions of the SRL attacks on the Fellows and on modern poetry and modern criticism, an important point was raised on which the five Fellows present wish to have your opinion. It is a matter which, we feel sure, will be of concern to the other Fellows.

This is the point which we discussed. The decision of the Joint Committee on the Library to abolish prizes and awards given by the Library (which decision was made known to the Fellows by a press release from the Library, dated August 19, 1949) may well have serious bearing on the activities of the Fellows, beyond the particular matter of the Bollingen award. The question we raised is this: if the Fellows may not act as a jury in awarding a prize for poetry, may it not be that they will hereafter be forbidden to make other decisions which involve similar value judgments? May it not be objected that it is wrong for them to select certain poets for inclusion in the record albums, thus, by implication, rejecting others? May it not be asserted that it is incorrect for them to recommend to the Librarian of Congress, each year, the new incumbent of the Chair of Poetry? Such selections and recommendations rest upon value judgments identical with those which lead to a poetry award. May the Fellows thus expect to confine themselves to activities in which the results of their decisions will be relatively inconspicuous, for fear of Congressional interference?

In brief, we feel that the Fellows will be at a loss to know what their duties are to be until you clarify for them their present position in relation to the Library. It is our earnest desire that you call a meeting at the earliest possible date so that they may know what is henceforth expected of them. The gravity of the situation, in our view, calls for a face to face discussion of their situation.

REPORT TO THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS ON A MEETING OF THE
FELLOWS OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS IN AMERICAN LETTERS

FEBRUARY 29, MARCH 1, 1952

The annual meeting of the Fellows of the Library of
Congress in American Letters was held in the Poetry Room on
Friday and Saturday, February 29 and March 1. The Fellows met
from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Friday, when they adjourned
for a luncheon, generously provided by Mrs. Whittall, in the
Whittall Pavilion, and met again from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Friday
afternoon, and from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday morning.
Fellows present were: Miss Léonie Adams, Mr. W. H. Auden,
Mrs. Francis Biddle, Mr. Richard P. Blackmur, Professor
Cleanth Brooks, Mr. Robert Penn Warren, and Mr. Conrad Aiken,
the Consultant in Poetry, who acted as Chairman. Also pre-
sent were Dr. Evans, who greeted the new Fellows, Dr. Burton
W. Adkinson, Director of the Reference Department, Mr. Robert
C. Gooch, Assistant Director of the Reference Department,
Miss Phyllis E. Armstrong, Assistant to the Consultant, and
Mrs. Florence Whichard, who took the minutes of the meeting.

The proceedings have been summarized in topical
form.

Dr. Evans, in his address to the Fellows at the opening session, discussing the function of the Fellows and Consultant vis-à-vis the Library, stressed their importance as an influence on the activities of the Library, in the making of collections and of bibliographies, in the shaping of public presentations, and in the framing of programs of recordings. With regard to these functions, he felt it desirable that they might perhaps be somewhat more clearly defined, in order that on the one hand the Library might benefit, and on the other that neither the Consultant nor Fellows be unnecessarily overburdened. He felt, in agreement with Archibald MacLeish, that if the Consultant so wished, he should feel free to travel about, for lectures, readings, attendance at literary or university conferences, and that expenses be forthcoming for this whenever possible; but that such endeavors should not be obligatory, nor his office hours either. He also thought it might be proper for the Consultant to have two months off in the summer, for creative work, and not improper that he accept pay for lectures elsewhere while at the Library. He gave it as his opinion that the tenure of office be flexible, one or two years, at the option of the individual.

- 2 -

Dr. Evans then spoke on the position of the Consultant and Fellows with regard to the administration of the poetry programs under the Whittall Fund. He pointed out that the Library is adhering to Mrs. Whittall's expressed wishes as regards the general character of the readings, that people can have different opinions about the programs given so far, but that the general reaction of the public has been fairly good. As to the comment that the Meredith-Wertham program had been criticized a great deal, Dr. Evans said that as far as he knew such criticisms had not reached the Library.

In subsequent discussion, the Fellows, finding themselves in unanimous agreement that a matter of principle was here at stake, while sympathizing with the Library in the predicament in which it found itself, passed the following resolution to be presented to the Librarian:

A RESOLUTION
PASSED BY THE FELLOWS OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
IN AMERICAN LETTERS

FEBRUARY 29, 1952

The present confusion between the Reference Department and the Consultant in Poetry in the administration of the funds for the poetry programs seems to the Fellows deplorable. It seems to them that the Consultant should have a decisive voice in all such matters, especially when, in the public view, he is held responsible. If he can not have a decisive voice in any particular program, it should be clearly announced that the program is being given under other auspices. In any case, there should be consultation between the Library and a committee of the Fellows with the principle in mind that, if there is to be a Consultant in Poetry, he should be concerned with the administration of any permanent poetry funds.

This resolution was received by the Librarian at the Saturday morning session, and after considerable debate as to possible avenues of procedure it was decided by him that one possible solution might be the setting up of a committee, which he would be glad to appoint on the Fellows' recommendation, to advise the Consultant on the Library's

- 3 -

program, and to act as liaison with Mrs. Whittall. This
failing, Dr. Evans said he could not foresee just how the
Fellows' Resolution could be worked out administratively,
but he hoped that a program could be found that would meet
with the genuine approval of the Consultant in Poetry. After
Dr. Evans had left the meeting, the Fellows recommended, for
this advisory committee, Miss Léonie Adams, Mr. Willard Thorp,
Mrs. Francis Biddle, and Miss Marianne Moore (it being gener-
ally agreed that it need not be restricted to Fellows), with
Mr. W. H. Auden, Mr. Robert Penn Warren, Professor Cleanth
Brooks, and Mr. Richard P. Blackmur as alternates. It was
suggested that Miss Armstrong be attached to the committee as
secretary. In the event of these meetings being held in New
York, where it was thought Mrs. Whittall might be willing to
join in their discussions, Dr. Evans, had thought the Library
might take care of the expenses. There was considerable
discussion of the nature of the programs, and general con-
currence of the Fellows in the opinion that their quality
left something to be desired, and that in this the Library
was conspicuously behind the times, when one considered such
programs as were offered in Washington by the Institute of
Contemporary Arts and in New York by YMHA. One further
suggestion was made, that in the event of it becoming
necessary to announce publicly that the poetry programs were
not under the auspices of the Consultant, there might be
provision for one or two programs annually which *would* be
under his auspices, and so announced.

The matter of endowed Fellowships, under the
Fellows of the Library, which had been suggested by Mr. Aiken
in the previous year, was brought up by Dr. Evans at the first
morning meeting. He made the point that the *modus operandi* of
these needed clarification—the method of choosing the recipi-
ents, and for what tenure, and with what stipend, the more so
as the Rockefeller Foundation had themselves requested such
clarification; but he added that if these issues could be
considered, and a reasonable proposal submitted to him, he
would be willing in principle to interest the Rockefeller
Foundation, or some other, in providing funds for that
purpose. The Fellows, in later discussion, agreed that the
fellowships should cover the entire field of creative writing—
fiction, drama, criticism, biography, poetry, even history;
that they be for a term of two years; that the stipend be, if
possible, as much as $4000; that the recipients be nominated
in the first instance by the Fellows; passed on by the group
as a whole, then recommended for appointment to the Librarian;

- 4 -

that the recipients be asked for a statement of project, as
definite as possible; that the recipients be permitted to do
their work wherever they wished, with one exception, *one* of
the fellowships, possibly biography or history, to be "tied"
to the Library; and that, at the end of the term, the
recipient should present a manuscript copy of the work to
the Library. It was suggested that the different fellowships
be designated by name, such as the Anne Bradstreet, Michael
Wigglesworth, William Blackstone, Roger Williams, Increase
Mather, Benjamin Franklin, fellowships, and also, as the sum
of money necessary would be large, that perhaps the Ford
Foundation might be the better to approach first. It was
pointed out that as the Guggenheim Foundation had latterly
been making its grants to older people, and less and less in
the humanities, the Library fellowships might fill a very
great need in the creative arts, especially if the age limit
were set at thirty, and if the fellowships were not at any
time restricted to particular fields, nor indeed restricted
in number. (In the previous year, it was thought that a
beginning might be made with five or six.) Mr. Aiken agreed
to draw up a recommendation on the whole matter to be sub-
mitted to the Fellows and the Librarian.

In the matter of the Poetry Recording Program, a
report was made on the completion of the series, *Twentieth
Century Poetry in English*, and consideration was given to
future undertakings. It was agreed that the work should
continue, and suggested that the Rockefeller Foundation was
definitely now interested in such work. It was requested
that Mr. Aiken ask Mr. John Marshall about this, and, if he
received a favorable reply, invite the Fellows to submit a
list of poets whom the Library would then invite to record.

The Consultant's activities in connection with the
weekly broadcasts of poetry over WCFM were briefly surveyed,
and the programs reviewed, copies of which were handed the
Fellows.

Turning to the appointment of a Consultant in
Poetry for 1952-53, the Fellows recommended that the perma-
nent panel of "elder" poets be expanded to seven, adding, to
the names of William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, and
John Crowe Ransom, those of Delmore Schwartz, Yvor Winters,
Theodore Roethke, and E. E. Cummings. In the event that
none of these should accept, the annual panel of "younger"

396

poets was then nominated, in order of preference: Randall Jarrell, Richard Wilbur, John Berryman, Anthony Hecht, and William Merwin.

In nominating new Fellows of the Library of Congress, it was felt, in view of the recent resignations of Allen Tate, Willard Thorp, and Louise Bogan, and of the forthcoming resignation of Robert Penn Warren, that this year a somewhat more extensive list of candidates be submitted to the Librarian, and, if possible, in somewhat wider range. Without indicating any order of preference, the following candidates were nominated: Wallace Stevens, Edmund Wilson, Kenneth Burke, Kerker Quinn, Morton D. Zabel, Francis Fergusson, Austin Warren, Harry Levin, Kenneth Rexroth, Louis O. Coxe, Richard Eberhart, Eudora Welty, Saul Bellow, Eric Bentley, and Lionel Trilling.

On Friday, Mrs. Whittall gave a luncheon for the Fellows and members of the Library staff in the Whittall Pavilion, which was attended by Miss Adams, Mr. Warren, Mr. Blackmur, Mrs. Biddle, Professor Brooks, Mr. Aiken, and Mr. Auden from the Fellows; Mr. Huntington Cairns, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Gallery of Art; Mrs. Conrad Aiken; and from the Library staff Miss Morsch, Mrs. First, Mrs. Wall, Mrs. Hamer, Miss Armstrong and Messrs. Evans, Mearns, Buck, Adkinson, Gooch, Goff, Aguilera, Wagman, Waters, and Blickensderfer.

William Carlos Willian
Library of Congress

On December 9, 1936, the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board accepted on behalf of the United States a gift of funds from Mr. Archer M. Huntington of New York, one of the purposes of which was to establish in the Library of Congress a Chair of Poetry in the English Language. It is the Library's practice to fill this Chair on an annual or biennial basis, at the option of the incumbent. The Consultant in Poetry in English is ex-officio a member of the Fellows, serving as secretary at the Fellows' meetings, and retains membership after the expiration of his term. The duties of the incumbent were outlined as follows:

Miss Armstrong, recently named Special Assistant for Poetry, will be on hand to assist you. As you know, she is familiar with the Library as a whole and with the problems of the Poetry Chair in particular.

The fund which has been established by gift for the position of Consultant in Poetry yields an annual income of approximately $7500.00 per annum, payable quarterly or bi-weekly as desired by the incumbent. Retirement deductions are not made from this stipend.

YCAL MSS 116
Box 12, Folder 396

THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D.C.

April 1, 1952.

Dear Dr. Williams:

I am delighted to have your acceptance of the
Consultantship in Poetry for 1952-53 and I can assure you
that Dr. Evans will be equally enthusiastic when he hears
of it. The Library will be greatly honored to welcome
you to this association.

Since May of last year we have been presenting
readings of poetry on the fund established by Mrs. Gertrude
Clarke Whittall who, as you may know, has provided for
chamber music concerts in the Library during the past
fifteen years. We are now considering plans for the 1952-53
season and we are most anxious to talk with you as to the
general pattern of readings and the selection of programs
and readers. The arrangements for readings require con-
siderable time and correspondence and we would like to be
well advanced in drawing up the schedule by October. Would
it be possible for you to come to Washington soon to discuss
this with us? I do not wish to impose upon you, but as an
early meeting would be advantageous to all of us, I am
hopeful that a visit in the very near future would not be
inconvenient for you.

I remember with great pleasure our meeting in the
Whittall Pavilion in 1951 and I am looking forward to a re-
newal of our acquaintanceship.

PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPY: ORIGINAL MATERIAL RESTRICTED

April 18, 1952

Luther Evans, Librarian of Congress
Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Evans:

As I have told you, I have been laid low. Though I am not quite yet myself there are signs at least that I am coming around - at least let us hope so.

So I am thinking that since you want me to sit in
on a conference you are planning for your conference, you
say that I hope to be ready for you by early next week. That
is, by Tuesday May 6 I ought to be fairly ready to go to
Washington for the meeting.

I do not expect to be completely well by that
time but since you seem to see me rather urgently I can
I think accommodate you then at the earliest.

I do not imagine you will need me for long.
May I hear from you at your earliest convenience so that
my arrangements for the trip can be made in time.

9 Ridge Road, Rutherford, N.J.

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

REFERENCE DEPARTMENT
OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

July 22, 1952.

Dear Dr. Williams:

Please accept my apologies for the undue delay in this letter. During your visit to the Library of Congress I raised three questions with you and you asked that I put them in writing so you could study them.

1. Do you wish to continue to cooperate with WCFM, a non-profit radio station in presenting poetry programs every Monday evening from 8:30 to 9 P.M.? Mr. Jack Ross, the manager of the Special Events Programs of this station, is anxious that the Library assume full responsibility for these programs during the coming year. This would entail planning such a series to run for about 40 weeks and would start sometime in September and continue until July, 1953. The programs would be recorded on magnetic tape which would be furnished to the Station. If we do not wish to assume full responsibility for preparing these programs WCFM would appreciate the Library's sponsorship and your advice as a consultant. This consultantship would entail advising on people to read poetry and the continuity of the programs. Dr. Roy Basler, Chief of the General Reference & Bibliography Division and Miss Armstrong, Special Assistant in Poetry could help in developing the programs, but the Library could hardly assume the burden of preparing a half hour program each week unless you are willing to assume much of this responsibility.

2. The Library wishes to continue the series of poetry reading which were started two years ago under the Gertrude Clarke Whittall Poetry Foundation. Mrs. Whittall in establishing this foundation expressed a strong desire that the present programs should consist of the readings of classics in poetry by well-known readers. She also is anxious to be kept informed of our plans.

Two years ago Burgess Meredith read selections from Edwin Arlington Robinson and Dr. Cleanth Brooks presented a commentary on Robinson.

- 2 -

Last year Margaret Webster read selections from Shakespeare and Dr. Frederic Wertham presented a discussion on Poe with selected readings by Burgess Meredith to illustrate points that were made during the discussion.

Finally, Basil Rathbone presented an evening of selected poems by such authors as Shelley, Keats, Shakespeare, Browning, and Tennyson.

Mrs. Whittall was well satisfied with the pattern developed last year and has indicated that she would like to see us continue along these lines. Preliminary negotiations were started with Basil Rathbone, Charles Laughton, the Frederick Marchs, and Elwyn Williams, from England, for appearances during the 1952-53 season. No commitments, however, have been made and we would like your suggestions concerning a series this year and also your recommendations as to whether we should continue the above negotiations so that definite programs can be developed.

Mr. Laughton wishes to do an evening of Thomas Wolfe, Walt Whitman, or Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Rathbone has indicated that he is open to suggestions, but would like to have considerable time to prepare a program. No discussions on programs have been held with the Marchs or Elwyn Williams, but the latter, of course, will want to do his Dickens show if he returns to this country, which we are assured by his manager in the U. S. is true.

Mrs. Whittall urges that we engage the quartet that did *Don Juan* in Hell. She has agreed to pay for this over and above income from the foundation. As you probably know she gave an additional $50,000, income from which can be used for performance of public readers of English literature other than poetry. We will appreciate your advice on the programs and readers, but will not expect you to assume the onerous burden of arranging and presenting the programs. This will be done by the regular Library staff.

Third in regard to broadcasting of these Readings. WCFM does not wish to broadcast the readings when they are given, but prefers to have them taken on tape and then presented in half hour broadcasts subsequent to the performance. They feel that a one and a half hour reading of poetry would become boresome to the listener and therefore do not want to commit themselves to do this, although they are anxious to broadcast the entire show.

Another radio station in town has indicated an interest in wanting to broadcast the readings as they are presented or have them taken on tape and then broadcast them in their entirety at a later date. They do not seem too concerned about a one and a half hour reading of poetry causing the listeners to become disinterested.

THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

April 2, 1953.

Dear Mr. Murray:

I acknowledge your note of March 25, 1953 with
its enclosure.

I accept Dr. Ehrenfeld's statement as satisf-
fying the condition regarding Dr. Williams' prospective health
contained in my letter of February 16, 1953 to Miss Leonie
Adams.

It is also a matter of great interest to me to
hear from that Dr. Williams desires and intends to enter on the
duties of the position as our Consultant in Poetry in English
on or about May 15, 1953.

I shall, accordingly, once more set the wheels in
motion to complete the investigation which was previously initia-
ted and then countermanded, as soon as I hear from him that the
second condition contained in my letter to Miss Adams has been
met--namely, that Dr. Williams is ready to disavow the assertions
of a claim of right connected with our disallowance of his assump-
tion of duties.

Mr. James F. Murray, Jr.
880 Bergan Avenue
Jersey City, New Jersey

Tangled Tale of Library's Poet
Who Never Quite Got the Job

Williams Still Waits
Word on FBI Check
Started 2 Years Ago

By Mary McGrory

America's closest equivalent to a poet laureate is the Poet in Residence of the Library of Congress. This post has been vacant for two years, and the question is, has poetic justice been done?

The answer, even by present Washington standards, is a tangled one. It revolves around clean bills of health, both political and physical. There are those who regard the whole business as a fresh outrage on civil liberties perpetrated by overcautious bureaucrats. Others see it as a less sinister matter of ruffled feelings in high places. Finally, there is a third group which holds it was just one of those things that inevitably happen when the uncongenial worlds of poetry and politics collide.

Never Took Office.

A 71-year-old poet-doctor, William Carlos Williams of Rutherford, N. J., is at the center of the controversy. He was appointed to the "poet laureate" post—twice, as it happens. But he never took office, and he has

-AP Photo.

DR. WILLIAMS.

never collected any of the $7,000 salary provided by private entowment. At this writing, Dr. Williams is still waiting for word about the outcome of an FBI investigation into his loyalty.

Dr. Williams was originally selected for the Library's poetry chair in 1952 by the Fellows in American Letters of the Library of Congress, a group of distinguished writers which includes Thornton Wilder, T. S. Eliot, W.

(Continued on Page A-17, Col. 3.)

loyes at the Naval Research
Laboratory received outstanding
performance ratings. They are
Thelma W. Aiken, William D.
Bailey, Doris A. Baster, Ralph
A. Carpenter, Robert M. Conlyn,
Edward E. Eggleston, Harold M.
Forkois, Robert J. Ginther, Jo-
seph A. Grand, Aubrey B. Har-
ung, Clifford C. Klick, Donald
S. Pittman, Warren H. Ramey,
Donald G. Scorgie, Guy H. Sea-
ver, jr.; Albert E. Showalter,
Hershel L. Smith, jr.; Ella A.
Teague, Ralph A. Tobin and
Thomas R. Walsh. . . . The fol-
lowing employes of General
Services Administration's build-
ings management division, re-
ion 3, have received cash
awards for meritorious sugges-
tions: Ruper Q. Painter, Ferdi-
and Beckert, George M. Bladen
and Alphonso B. Dean. . . . The
Marine Corps has given superior
accomplishment salary step in-
reases to Eleanor T. Archsav-
ge, Betty J. Day, Edna M.
Smith, Vernelle G. Jones, Mar-
tha J. Sheffey, Winona D.
Daugherty, Marion C. Sprick,
William J. Miller and Charles
L. Reid. Beneficial suggestion
awards went to Edna A. Brill,
Carolyn W. Marshall, Esther D.
Holbert, Melanie A. Shereb,
Bruce R. Barnhart, Ann K.
Serkemeyer, Iona F. White, El-
bert H. Duncan, Wilbert T. San-
er, Rita M. Callahan and
George E. Miller. . . . Richard
J. Kuhn, a Veterans' Adminis-
ration document analyst, has
been awarded $1,000 for his in-
vention of an electronic "magic
eye" which helps the Govern-
ment unmask fraudulent docu-
ments. The device enables the

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BREAKFAST

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HOTEL RALEI

October 14, 1954

Mr. Arthur Hays Sulzberger, President
The New York Times
229 West 43rd Street
New York 36, New York

Dear Mr. Sulzberger:

On October 12 there appeared a prominent story in the NEW YORK TIMES about Dr. William Carlos Williams' difficulties with the Library of Congress. Because this case may involve an incroachment on cultural freedom, this organization has interested itself in the issue.

Dr. Williams is very much concerned about the story in the TIMES which purports to be an interview with him and yet which, in Dr. Williams' view, is extremely inaccurate. The story is datelined Rutherford, N.J. "Special to the New York Times," yet no TIMES reporter ever talked to Dr. Williams and the one that did reach his wife was advised that she had no comment. It is strange indeed that under these circumstances Dr. Williams should be quoted in the TIMES and the illusion given that he had been consulted about his side of the issue when actually the NEW YORK TIMES' story was prepared exclusively from information furnished by the Library of Congress, the other party in the matter.

I wonder if I may have the views of the NEW YORK TIMES in this matter so that I might report them to our executive committee, which will be discussing Dr. Williams' case at its meeting on October 19. I am sure that the ethical considerations involved and your own high standards of journalism will encourage your immediate attention to this matter.

SS:bm

October 14, 1954

Mr. L. Quincey Mumford, Librarian of Congress
The Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.

Dear Mr. Mumford:

This organization has concerned itself with a matter which seems on
the face of it to involve an encroachment on cultural freedom on the
part of The Library of Congress. I am referring to the case of Dr. Wil-
liam Carlos Williams.

It has been very difficult to ascertain the facts in this case be-
cause of the extremely garbled newspaper stories which have appeared.
The most recent story we have seen says an accord has been reached by-
tween the Library of Congress and Dr. Williams but Dr. Williams advises
us that no such accord was reached. The _New York Times_ on October 12
printed a rather prominent story on the matter which was datelined Ruth-
erford, New Jersey and purported to be an interview with Dr. Williams,
yet we have learned that no such interview took place and that at no time
did Dr. Williams talk to a _Times_ reporter, although he was quoted in the
article. From the news stories it is very difficult to determine if there
is indeed a security matter involved in the failure to appoint Dr. Williams
to the post of Consultant in Poetry or not. If such charges were in fact
obstacles to Dr. Williams' appointment, the matter would seem rather lud-
icious; it is hard to conceive of a way in which the Consultant in Poetry
to the Library of Congress might compromise American security. One of
the officers of this organization said that if security charges were real-
ly the issue then, in his opinion, the bureaucratic controls exercised in
the selection of a poetry consultant would resemble the Stalinist controls
of the Soviet Union much more than any American tradition.

But perhaps a security matter is not involved at all. It has been
alleged, with what propriety we are in no position to determine, that Dr.
Williams' appointment may merely have been the occasion for getting rid of
the office of Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress by less than
direct means. If this is true, the matter would be of very grave concern
to the members of this organization.

I should appreciate learning the Library of Congress' official posi-
tion on the matter so that we shall be able to ascertain its side of the
story, which the newspapers do not permit us to do with any degree of
precision.

38:bm

- 2 -

of books and manuscripts. Results appear to have been slight, and the matter was again brought to the attention of the Fellows by the Librarian in the last meeting held, February 29 - March 1, 1952. The Consultant, Mr. Aiken, shortly thereafter drafted a letter for use in soliciting manuscripts, and a program of increased effort was formulated, to be carried out by his successor.

In the matter of recording living poets reading their own works, considerably more progress was effected. With the assistance of two grants from the Bollingen Foundation, under the direct supervision of the Consultant in Poetry, advised by the Fellows, the albums of "Twentieth Century Poetry in English," Series I and Series II, were issued by the Library. The reception of these recordings by the press and by the public has been very gratifying.

Because of a series of circumstances with which you are familiar to some extent, the Library has been without a Consultant in Poetry since Mr. Aiken's second appointment terminated three years ago. In consequence, we have not been able to continue as actively as is desirable in the development of recordings of additional poets and in re-recording poets already issued in Series I and Series II for ampler representation on Long Playing Records.

In view of the foregoing considerations, I propose to appoint a Consultant in Poetry who can actively assist in the development of plans for recording and issuing further poetry records and who can undertake to supervise the selection of poets, the process of recording, and the preparation of the new records. Although this is the most immediate need, the matter of the Library's acquisition of manuscripts should also receive attention, and there are numerous opportunities for consultation on literary matters which, as in the past, continue to make the absence of the Poetry Consultant felt.

I would therefore appreciate your sending me the names of one or more candidates whom you would recommend for appointment as Consultant, to take office this fall for one year, with the possibility of renewing this appointment

-3-

for a second year. I recognize that it may not be possible
to fill the appointment this fall or for a full year, and,
if such is the case, I will consider making an interim
appointment until such time as a desirable appointment
can be made. I am also asking for recommendations from
the other Fellows and from a few other persons.

There is the further question concerning the
future of the Fellows on which I should like to have
your comment and advice. As now appears, I do not foresee
any possibility of profitably re-activating the meetings
of the Fellows in the Library of Congress on the basis
of available resources. There is thus also a question
as to the utility of making new appointments of Fellows
in American Letters. Mr. Aiken has on several occasions
during the last two years represented that the Fellows
as a group feel their association with the Library of
Congress has been fruitless and pointless. I must confess
that this feeling, together with a considerable sense
of frustration that it should be so, seems to be held by
the several administrative officers of the Library with
whom I have discussed the problem. Although we have
collectively given no little thought to this state of
affairs, we have not been able on our part to formulate
any more meaningful or more frequent matters on which to
consult. For this reason I am hesitant to consider making
new appointments to replace Mr. Aiken, Mr. Auden, and Mr.
T. S. Eliot, whose seven-year terms expired in the fall of
last year.

It has been suggested that when the Chair of
Poetry has been filled and regularly maintained again,
consultation by correspondence and personal conference
with individual authors, both present and past incumbents
of the Fellowship, as well as other authors, might be
carried on through the Consultant equally well without
benefit of formal appointment of additional Fellows.
This would mean that upon the expiration of the respective
seven-year terms of each of the present incumbents the
formal appointments would lapse and thereafter the
Library would seek suggestions and advice from the
literary profession on an ad hoc basis.

THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS

WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

November 18, 1955

Dear Dr. Williams:

On August 31, 1955, I addressed similar letters to the Fellows of the Library of Congress in American letters, presenting some of the problems regarding the continuation of the group and its relation to the activities of the Library of Congress, and requesting advice on the selection of the next incumbent of the Chair in Poetry in English. In response to these letters I have received very considered replies from Miss Adams and Messrs. Blackmur, Lowell, MacLeish, Morison and Ransom. These have provided me with excellent suggestions for the Chair, and in the light of them I am now giving consideration to an appointment.

The replies have not, however, provided me with similar assistance in the matter of the continuation of the Fellows. They present, indeed, somewhat divergent and inconclusive suggestions as to the future of the group which reflect my own uncertainty as to the possibility of a role which would justify the continuance.

Mr. MacLeish has suggested that, in view of the obstacle to meetings of the Fellows which I cited in my August letter, but in view of the desirability of having such a meeting at which I could discuss these matters with you, the Fellows might be willing to meet, say in New York, at their own expense. I am happy to accept this proposal, and now offer it to you. Do you concur that such a meeting is desirable, and would you be able to attend on either December 15 or 16, or on December 27, 28, or 29? If a majority of the Fellows should desire such a meeting, I shall be glad to make the necessary arrangements.

I should appreciate hearing from you at an early date.

July 7, 1958

573 West Ferry Street
Buffalo 22, New York

Dear Dr. Williams,

I know that I am imposing on you by writing to you--
but I really do need some help.

First--let me tell you who I am. You do know me--but
I doubt if you remember me. I was, at one time, married to
George Caluori, Jr., and saw you professionally a few times.

Secondly--let me tell you why I need help. I am a
student at State University College for Teachers at Buffalo,
New York. I am working on my Masters' Degree, and am writing
my paper this summer. I am doing this under the direction of
Dr. Drew of that college. My subject is Modern American Poets,
and my chief subject is William Carlos Williams.

I selected you because I thoroughly enjoy and admire your
poetry. However, I haven't been able to find much background
material. Now--for the favor. I thought perhaps that you
might have some printed material--anything about yourself and
your poetry. I certainly don't expect you to go to any trouble
or work--but thought that you might have some available
material. I really need it badly.

Enclosed is a self addressed envelope--of course I will
gladly pay for this material.