The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has awarded a $143,100 grant to Syracuse University to support the processing of the archive of avant-garde publisher, Grove Press, housed in Syracuse University Library’s Special Collections Research Center.
Considered to be the literary engine behind the sexual revolution in America, the Grove Press archive spans the years 1953-1985 and is comprised of manuscript drafts, correspondence and photographs, as well as editorial, film and publicity files for Grove and its landmark literary magazine “The Evergreen Review.” Included are extensive legal records and clippings files relating to the obscenity trials sparked by the publication of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” and “Tropic of Cancer.” The collection includes 2,500 print titles, many of them first editions in excellent condition.
While Grove was based in New York City, its list of titles, authors and subjects was international in scope. Subjects and genres range from Victorian erotica and literary modernism, to post-colonial Latin America and Africa. Grove’s author list included such luminaries as Samuel Beckett, Paul Bowles, Jean Genet, Marguerite Duras, Robert Frank, D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, Pablo Neruda, Frank O’Hara, Charles Olson, Harold Pinter and Gilbert Sorrentino. It was the first to publish many writers of the “Beat” generation, including Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka and William Burroughs.
The Grove Press archive holds individual documents of extraordinary value; for example, it contains Malcolm X’s 1964 handwritten letter to Alex Haley detailing his softening views on race. It also offers opportunities for deeper, more sustained research. In addition to attracting scholars of changing sexual mores, it will also draw those studying the Vietnam War, counterculture, race relations in America and post-colonial revolution. Those interested in the Grove collection will include scholars of history, English, American studies, African American studies, Latin American studies, writing and rhetoric, as well as legal and business history.
For more information on the Grove Press archive, contact Sean Quimby at smquimby@syr.edu.
Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, associate professor of food studies in Falk College, was interviewed for the Syracuse.com story “Why aren’t NY farm workers in the Covid-19 vaccine line?” Minkoff-Zern, an expert on the intersections of food and social justice, comments on the…
Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history in the Maxwell School, was quoted in the Al Jazeera story “Biden to broaden US-Mexican relations, keep immigration at top.” McCormick, an expert on US-Mexico relations, believes that Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador…
Dennis Deninger, professor of practice in Falk College and the Newhouse School, was quoted in the Associated Press story “The long game: COVID changed the way we play, watch, cheer.” Deninger, an expert on sports television and media, believes that…
Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of television, radio and film and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture in the Newhouse School, was quoted in The Wall Street Journal story “Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Ratings: Oprah Interview…
Christa Kelleher, assistant profession of earth environmental science in the College of Arts and Sciences, was quoted in the Newsweek article “7 Women Scientists Who Defied the Odds and Changed Science Forever.” Kelleher, an expert on hydrology, comments particularly on…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
