Research files compiled by Rachel Blau DuPlessis concerning American poet George Oppen, comprising photocopies of Oppen's letters (1930-1982), copies of Oppen's FBI file, and miscellaneous correspondence between DuPlessis and others pertaining to those Oppen materials. The results of DuPlessis's research were published in The Selected Letters of George Oppen (1990). The addition processed in 1993 consists of letters from George Oppen to Rachel Blau DuPlessis from August 1965 to April 1977.
George Oppen Letters, 1930-1982 (MSS 205)
Extent: 1.4 Linear feet (4 archive boxes)
An Oppen family friend for more than twenty years, Rachel Blau DuPlessis is Professor of English at Temple University. She is also both a poet and literary critic. Among her publications are Writing Beyond the Ending: Narrative Strategies of Twentieth-Century Women's Writing (1985) and H.D.: The Career of that Struggle (1986).
In 1980, George and Mary Oppen gave DuPlessis permission to collect, select and edit George's letters. The collected letters were culled from holdings at numerous institutions and in private hands, including libraries at UC San Diego, Yale, Harvard, AND SUNY-Buffalo.
Accession Processed in 1992
Primarily photocopies of the collected letters (1930 to 1982) of Objectivist American poet George Oppen, from which DuPlessis edited and published The Selected Letters of George Oppen (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1990). Also included is a censored photocopy of Oppen's FBI file (1941 to 1966) acquired in 1988 through the Freedom of Information Act. Occasional research notes dot the collection, and some of DuPlessis's inquiries regarding letters and the responses from correspondents are also included.
Arranged in two series:1) CORRESPONDENCE and 2) FBI MATERIALS
Accession Processed in 1993
43 typed letters, 1 autograph letter, 1 telegram, and 1 invitation that George Oppen sent to Rachel Blau DuPlessis between August 1965 and April 1977. Researchers wishing to quote from letters in this series are required to ask for permission from Rachel Blau DuPlessis.
Arranged in one series: 1) LETTERS FROM G. OPPEN TO R. BLAU DUPLESSIS